Rockville Mayor & Council to hold public hearing on Lincoln Park design guidelines

The Lincoln Park of the future is up for public discussion next week. Rockville's Mayor and Council will hold a public hearing on new design guidelines for residential development in the historic neighborhood at its Monday, November 18, 2024 meeting at 6:30 PM at City Hall. Several potential amendments have been drafted, which include input collected from residents. The amendments under consideration "seek to update existing building standards to provide greater clarity and predictability for residential development in the Lincoln Park neighborhood," a statement from the City Department of Community Planning and Development services says.

You can read the latest draft of the proposed guidelines update here. If the Mayor and Council reach a consensus to approve the new guidelines, and public comment trends favorably, they could be adopted at their December 9 meeting. Should the public raise strong objections at Monday's hearing, the calendar might be extended for further revisions.

Police investigate assault at Rockville recreation facility

Rockville City police were summoned to a recreation facility in the Lincoln Park area Saturday afternoon, January 13, 2024, after someone reported being the victim of an assault there. The incident was reported to police at 4:28 PM Saturday, at a facility in the 1000 block of Westmore Avenue. 

Assault on residential street in Rockville

Rockville City police were called to a residential street in the Lincoln Park area late Saturday night, July 29, 2023, for an incident of disorderly conduct. An individual in the 200 block of Spring Avenue reported being the victim of a 2nd-degree assault there at 11:16 PM Saturday.

Rockville construction site burglarized

Rockville City police responded to a report of a burglary at a home construction site in the Lincoln Park area yesterday morning. The burglary was reported in the 300 block of Frederick Avenue. Officers found evidence of forced entry at the scene. It is believed the burglary occurred between 7:00 PM Saturday and 7:13 AM Sunday.

Bethesda Juneteenth event to be meaningful celebration with march to save a Montgomery County Black cemetery

Macedonia Baptist Church at 5119 River Road in Bethesda will host a Juneteenth celebration this Sunday, June 19, 2022 from 2:00-4:00 PM. The event will be about a current civil rights struggle as much as a remembrance of past history, as the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition will lead a march from the church to the nearby site of the Moses African Cemetery. Desecrated by construction workers building the Westwood Tower apartments in the late 1960s, the majority of the gravesites remain hidden under paved parking spaces at the apartment tower, and on a second site across the Willett Branch stream next to the self-storage construction site behind McDonald's. The church and coalition have been battling Montgomery County officials and developers to restore and memorialize the burial ground, prevent any further construction on it, and potentially transfer stewardship of the land to the church.

A banner will be raised on the Capital Crescent Trail bridge over River Road during the ceremony, and a traditional African libation ritual will be presented by Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). Speakers at the event will include former resident of the lost black community on River Road Harvey Matthews, historian C.R. Gibbs, County Council At-Large candidate Brandy Brooks, Circuit Court Judge candidate Marylin Pierre, and activist Robert Stubblefield. 

Musical and dance performers will include Luci Murphy, Karen Wilson Ama Ethefu, Freedome Nsaroma Lee-El, Martha Peterson, and EverGreen Productions. Representatives from the Poor People's Campaign, UNIA, Party for Socialism and Liberation, The Claudia Jones Organization, and the Green Party will also be in attendance.

It will be a celebration, and also a tremendous educational opportunity to learn more about not only the past, but the direct legacy of that past in our own community of Bethesda and Montgomery County. Impacts of the loss of the River Road community in the 1960s included former residents moving and making major contributions to historic and growing African-American communities in East Rockville, Silver Spring and beyond, while still representing that living legacy of the Loughborough plantation in Bethesda. That makes this event of interest to residents of the entire Washington, D.C. region seeking meaningful ways to celebrate Juneteenth this year.

Armed carjacking in Rockville

Rockville City police responded to a report of an armed carjacking in the Lincoln Park area Tuesday night. The carjacking was reported in the 700 block of Lenmore Avenue at 11:30 PM, according to crime data. That is around the Rocklin Park apartment complex, between Spring and Frederick Avenues.

Rockville Historic District Commission to determine if N. Stonestreet Ave. house can be demolished

The Rockville Historic District Commission will consider whether or not the home at 903 N. Stonestreet Avenue should be declared historic at its April 21, 2022 meeting. An applicant is seeking permission to demolish the home and build another on the property. The one-and-a-half-story home was built in 1937, and has a later addition in the rear. An aluminum-siding shed is located in the backyard.

A structural engineer retained by the applicant determined that the home is in poor condition with extensive wood rot. Along with foundation cracks and water damage, the engineer concluded that the cost of repairs that would make the home habitable again would meet or exceed construction of a brand-new home. The home has been passed down through the same family since it was first built, and the new home proposed for the site would be for a nephew of the most-recent owner, who passed away in 2019.

City of Rockville Preservation Planner Sheila Bashiri evaluated the property, and has determined it does not meet any of the criteria for historic designation. Bashiri has therefore recommended against declaring the property historic.

Photos via City of Rockville

Rockville Historic District Commission to consider historic significance of Lincoln Park house

The Rockville Historic District Commission will consider the historic significance of a single-family home in Lincoln Park, to determine whether the owners may demolish the structure. 215 Lincoln Avenue is located off of a shared driveway. It began as part of a larger, single kinship lot shared by a family in 1932. The lot was subdivided in 1989, at which point the home was given its present address.

A review by city planning staff member Sheila Bashiri found that the home does not meet any of the criteria for historic designation. While the community of Lincoln Park is very significant in the African-American history of Rockville and Montgomery County, the house itself has been altered to the point that it has lost its historic physical integrity, Bashiri wrote. Construction of additional homes around it have erased the only historical context for the site, which was the phenomenon of shared kinship properties, Bashiri noted.

The HDC will consider the historic significance of the property at its December 16, 2021 virtual meeting, and issue a recommendation. Bashiri's staff report recommends against historic designation.

Photos via City of Rockville

Proposal to demolish historic Rockville home postponed at Historic District Commission

A review of a controversial proposal to demolish an historic home at 725 N. Horners Lane in Rockville has been "postponed until further notice" by the city's Historic District Commission. City staff had determined the home, which has importance to African-American history in Rockville and Lincoln Park, met several criteria for historic designation. The reason for the postponement was not discussed at the HDC's monthly meeting, but Chair Matthew Goguen said he anticipated the issue would return for review "at a later date."

Rockville cooling centers to open if temperature reaches 95 degrees, or Code Red alert issued

The City of Rockville will open four designated cooling centers should the temperature reach 95 degrees or higher - or if a Code Red air quality alert is issued - today or any other day. Visitors can rest for free in the designated public area inside the cooling center. Those wanting to utilize fitness centers, computer labs or other amenities can upgrade by paying a fee. All children must be accompanied by an adult.

Rockville's cooling centers are at the following locations:

• Lincoln Park Community Center, 357 Frederick Ave.
• Thomas Farm Community Center, 700 Fallsgrove Drive.
• Twinbrook Community Recreation Center, 12920 Twinbrook Parkway.
• Rockville Senior Center, 1150 Carnation Drive.

Comment period extended for proposed East Rockville asphalt crushing plant

The public will have an additional 60 days to comment on the proposed M. Luis Company asphalt crushing and screening plant at 14900 Old Dover Road in Rockville. This comment period will close on October 6, 2017.

Comments may be sent by U.S. Mail to Maryland Department of the Environment, Air Quality Permits Program, 1800 Washington Boulevard, Suite 720, Baltimore, MD 21230-1720 or emailed to shannon.heafy@maryland.gov.

If you were unable to attend the July 19 public hearing, and have questions beyond what is covered in that report or my previous report, a docket with full information on the project is available for review at the Rockville Memorial Library in Rockville Town Square.

Noise, traffic, dust, lack of community engagement top concerns about proposed East Rockville asphalt crushing plant

About forty Rockville residents, community leaders and City officials attended a public hearing last night, regarding the asphalt crushing plant proposed for 14900 Old Dover Road in East Rockville. Natalia Luis, Chairman and COO of applicant M. Luis Products, Co., and company President David Slaughter said locating the plant in Rockville would eliminate 5000 annual truck trips through the city. Nearby residents expressed concerns about noise, dust, odors, traffic and a lack of notification of the proposed plant.

The crushing plant recycles asphalt, which can be up to 30% of the material mixture M. Luis uses as road surfacing. Luis said the firm limits recycled asphalt to 30% because using much more than that would produce weaker material that would not meet the company's high standards for durability. She said that as a small, family-owned firm, M. Luis has difficulty obtaining a steady, sustainable supply of recycled material, so it is "better to do it ourselves." M. Luis is currently the only women-owned, minority-owned asphalt business in America, and has received recognition from Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump in recent years.

Slaughter told attendees that M. Luis currently has to either crush asphalt in a cramped space at their property on Southlawn Lane, or send it as one of those 5000 truckloads to a crushing plant in Laurel. He said they leased the Old Dover Road site from the current junkyard tenant, and have cleaned it up, getting rid of tractor trailers, cars and auto parts languishing on-site. Slaughter added that M. Luis would like to buy the property in the future, if possible. Luis expressed pride in the appearance of the company's other properties and promised this one would be held to the same standards.

The plant would have two full-time employees, and crush about 60,000-70,000 tons of recycled material annually, Slaughter estimated. A new crushing machine has been purchased by the company. He and Luis said they will make every effort to require trucks coming and going to use Gude Drive instead of N. Horners Lane through the adjacent residential neighborhood.

Residents were most concerned that they, and their civic associations, had not been alerted by the company about the proposed plant. Alexandra Dace Denito, VP of the Lincoln Park Civic Association, said she and the association received no notice of last night's hearing, nor of a previous meeting in March. "I find it disturbing there has been no outreach to the community," resident Susan Clemons said.

Rockville Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton suggested to the Maryland officials presiding over the hearing that the state add a new requirement that future industrial applicants contact City officials including the City Manager, appropriate department heads, and all residents within a 2-mile radius of a proposed site. She noted that over the decades, the City has "not done a good job protecting this neighborhood. There's more we can do."

One Lincoln Park resident criticized the company for not considering what else is around a site they plan to operate on. She discounted the promised reduction in truck traffic, saying they would still have to contend with trucks cutting through the residential neighborhood to reach the site. Slaughter and Luis both promised to do everything they could to enforce the Gude-only access policy. Newton urged them to not only forbid trucks to use N. Horners, but to stipulate that in their subcontracting contracts, which would help the City enforce the ban.

Another resident said her main concern was seeing or hearing the plant. Slaughter said there is no odor from a crushing plant, only from an asphalt manufacturing plant. Luis explained there is no dust issue, because the liquid asphalt has already bound and encased the solid material in the mixture. She said dust complaints at the company's former Baltimore site were actually caused by an adjacent concrete plant, which a City Councilman mistakenly blamed on them.

Dace Denito said she lives just slightly over 1000' from the proposed plant site, and already suffers from the daily impacts of other industrial businesses nearby. She asked the company to consider that there is an elementary school nearby, as well as a heavily-used community center.

"What is the worst case scenario?" asked Suzan Pitman, President of the East Rockville Civic Association, regarding potential air pollution disasters at the future plant. She gave a fire as an example. Many scientists live in the neighborhood, Pitman said, and they have been warning of potential air pollutants in such a scenario. 

An air quality specialist with M. Luis said that while vapor can be emitted from burning asphalt, scientists currently do not consider such emissions as a cancer-causing agent. She added that the EPA recently delisted asphalt plants from the federal "major sources of air toxins" list.

Since some objections and concerns were raised during the hearing, the state will now review those comments and produce a report responding to them. Parties of record will be notified of the report, and it will also be announced in a local newspaper. If the resident concerns are found to be legitimate in the state's view, the permit will not be issued. If the state finds the concerns without merit, they will issue the permit for the plant, and residents can file a legal challenge to the permit in Montgomery County Circuit Court.

Mayor and Council seek permission to demolish Rockville home for parking lot

The Historic District Commission will consider whether or not to declare a 1977 home in Lincoln Park historic at their meeting tomorrow night, May 18, at 7:30 PM at City Hall. Rockville's Mayor and Council purchased the home recently, for the purpose of demolishing it to make room for a parking lot at the Lincoln Park Community Center.

Although the area is historic for being one of the first subdivisions in Montgomery County available for purchase by African-Americans, the home itself is on a parcel that was created in 1976, 313 1/2 Frederick Avenue. Staff liaison Sheila Bashiri is recommending against historic designation.

For my part, having attended a number of events and meetings at the community center, I can attest that additional parking spaces are desperately needed at this facility.

Mayor & Council nix dramatic changes for Southlawn industrial area in Rockville

Rockville will likely take a more conservative approach to improving the co-existence of the Southlawn industrial area and the residential neighborhoods that adjoin it than a consultant study recommended. The study provided a range of options from modest to dramatic for review by the Mayor and Council. Last night, there was unanimous agreement on most issues that it is too early to take a radical approach.

Transportation is one of the biggest concerns of residents in East Rockville, especially cut-through traffic. Several residents testified during the Community Forum earlier at last night's meeting that they were displeased with City staff's recommendations to not take more drastic action to curtail such traffic. They noted that neighborhood plans from years ago were already recommending such changes prior to the Southlawn Industrial Area Study.

The Mayor and Council, while seeking further study of the citywide implications of more dramatic options like closing sections of streets, generally felt that more modest measures could have an impact. These could include stricter enforcement of truck traffic restrictions, and more speed cameras on N. Horners Lane.

Regarding potential road network changes, Councilmember Julie Palakovich-Carr said she was "not quite ready to take this one off the table." She asked for further study, including whether adding more direct road connections rather than closing sections of roads might help reduce cut-through traffic. Councilmember Mark Pierzchala did not favor road closures at this time, saying it could actually hurt access for residents by making the neighborhood "one big giant cul-de-sac." He suggested a better approach would be to "make it a real pain to traverse that area," by adding more stop signs and increasing funds in the next budget for traffic enforcement in that area.

Of 10 transportation recommendations, the Mayor and Council ultimately gave the green light to Recommendations 1 through 6. They asked for further study of #7, the potential realignment of Southlawn Lane to straighten the bend north of Lofstrand Lane. Recommendations 7 and 8 were eliminated, and they asked staff to come back with more potential options for #10, long-term changes to the street grid.

The other major decision was whether or not to rezone the public housing development David Scull Courts. Clark Larson, project manager for the City on the Southlawn study, said staff concluded the development's current industrial zoning is not an issue. As public housing, David Scull Courts retains a public use rather than being a private residential development. To rezone it as residential would essentially be a semantic change, rather than a practical one.

"I don't see the need to change the zoning," Pierzchala said. Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton, Palakovich Carr, Onley, and Councilmember Beryl Feinberg concurred with Pierzchala on leaving David Scull Courts as industrial. They did not favor reducing setbacks between industrial and residential uses where an opaque wall separated the two uses, nor did they want to change zoning for properties in the industrial area at this time.

The formal process of addressing concerns in the Southlawn area began 13 months ago, when the City began a long-asked-for review of community issues there.

Leggett removes Carver and Westmore from bus depot list - who's next?

Residents in Lincoln Park and around the Carver Educational Services Center in Rockville are celebrating the success of their efforts to stop Montgomery County from relocating the Shady Grove school bus depot to their neighborhoods. County Executive Ike Leggett sent a memo to County Council President Nancy Floreen yesterday announcing he is withdrawing the current Declaration of No Further Need for the existing depot on Crabbs Branch Way, and is removing Carver and 1000 Westmore Avenue from the list of potential depot sites.

While neighbors of 1000 Westmore won't likely complain, the County did end up blowing $12,000,000 on its purchase of the Westmore site in what it claimed was a budget time so tight that taxes were raised to the highest level in County history last month.

The Crabbs Branch depot was to be vacated in 2017, and sold to a developer who would build townhomes and apartments on the site near Shady Grove Metro station.

But the letter makes clear that this so-called "Smart Growth Initiative" is not over. Leggett states that he is having his staff find more suitable locations than Carver or Westmore.

The problem, of course, is that every potential depot site also has residents nearby.

You'll notice that, despite fierce community opposition, Leggett pointedly did not remove the Blair Ewing Center from the potential depot sites in his memo.

And another bad choice, the Oaks Landfill at 6001 Olney-Laytonsville Road, is one councilmembers like Hans Riemer explicitly stated they want to have a public discussion about. There are several residential subdvisions right around the site, and homes directly across the road from it. 410 buses would honk their horns and test their backup beepers each morning at 6:00 AM.

The only other site given serious public consideration last year was a property near the intersection of Woodfield Road and Snouffer School Road, also near homes.

Houses directly across
from 6001 Olney Laytonsville Road

Much of Rockville is now off the hook in this crazy, developer-fueled crusade - but the battle is just starting at these, and potentially other, poor choices for the depot site around the County. Residents near those locations are waking up to find the MoCo political cartel is headed their way.

Should part of the Southlawn industrial area be redeveloped as residential? (Photos)

One residential vision for
currently-industrial land on
N. Horners Lane in
Rockville

Consultants unveiled two possible visions for the future of Rockville's Southlawn industrial area, and its interactions with the surrounding residential neighborhoods in East Rockville, at a public meeting last night. They wanted feedback from residents and business owners on what strategies and directions the City should pursue in the short and long-term in that area. Also there to hear that feedback were Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton, Councilmember Beryl Feinberg, and members of City staff.

Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton
and Councilmember
Beryl Feinberg

The basic choice offered was to make some modest improvements in pedestrian safety and cut-through traffic, or to allow a part of the industrial area along N. Horners Lane to be redeveloped as residential, a transformation that would cut off several roadway connections that currently exist between the industrial uses off Gude Drive and the residential neighborhoods.

The more-modest
Alternative A 

Alternative B's
more radical makeover,
including townhomes

To encourage redevelopment along Horners, a new road would be constructed. Horners would no longer have an industrial use, and be fully integrated with the residential area. Townhomes and low-rise apartments would have industrial uses behind them, and a buffer zone in-between.

Buffer area for
proposed new residential
development along
N. Horners Lane

One option for buffer
area between homes
and industrial along
N. Horners

The latter plan is more ambitious, sure to be controversial, more expensive and involves private property not under City control. But, "everything's for sale, my brother," one of those private landowners said last night.

Another major proposal in both alternatives is to rezone the public housing development David Scull Courts from industrial to residential. I asked one of the consultants if that would make David Scull Courts vulnerable to redevelopment through a public-private partnership. In other words, does the inability to build residential on the currently-industrial site prevent a knock-down such as is being proposed at Halpine View, where residents end up scattered - if they are lucky - to other affordable housing, while their building is replaced with a luxury development most will never return to.

He suggested the new residential zoning might actually help preserve David Scull Courts from being replaced by an industrial use, by zoning it what it actually is today.

During break-out sessions following the presentation, residents discussed a number of concerns. These included how the changes would relate to the new Maryvale Elementary School building, which will eventually include the addition of the Carl Sandburg Learning Center, which will relocate from Meadow Hall Drive. That will add at least 100 more students and 100 staff members, Melissa McKenna of the MCCPTA CIP Committee said, as well as 15-17 more buses and a second bus loop to the site.

Those types of changes could determine what the City should and should not change regarding pedestrian safety and parking in that vicinity. Currently, cars line up on both sides of the street to pick up kids after school, which offers a county-wide French immersion program. Sandburg is also a countywide magnet program.

These pylons or other
signage would attempt
to brand the neighborhood

Helicopter view over Gude Drive looking down
Taft Street at First Street

Both alternatives show improvements at the intersection of First Street and Taft Street. But there is also a middle school and high school bus stop at that intersection, McKenna said.

Plans to use signage to discourage cut-through traffic met with skepticism from some residents. "I don't think it will work," one predicted. "[Drivers] don't pay attention to it."

Scenario A
recommendations

Attendees' feedback on
Scenario B 

Scenario B
recommendations 

Southlawn Industrial Area study team offers initial recommendations

Consulting firm VHB offered options its team believes could improve the Southlawn industrial area of Rockville, and make it more compatible with the residential neighborhoods that surround it, at a public meeting last night. Also attending the meeting at Maryvale Elementary School were David Levy, Chief of Long Range Planning and Redevelopment for the City of Rockville; Susan Swift, the city's Planning and Zoning Director; Rockville Planning Commission chair Don Hadley; and City Council candidates Richard Gottfried and Patrick Schoof.

The suggestions fell into the categories of traffic, land use, and improving the viability of the current industrial uses.

Traffic concerns were covered in the most detail last night. Dan Lovas of VHB said the team's traffic study suggests that 10-30% of traffic in the study area is cut-through traffic. The fact that much of the cut-through activity occurs during the rush hours, Lovas said, can make the amount seem greater than those numbers suggest.

Schoof, who has been working with residents and business owners in the study area on several issues in recent years, asked if the study was an actual count using license plate data. That would more accurately show where cars ended up after driving through, and whether they were residents, or cut-through drivers. Lovas said they "haven't done a full-scale origin-destination study." Schoof said there have been ongoing concerns and questions regarding the accuracy of City-conducted traffic counts in the past.

The options proposed by Lovas were:

1. Change traffic patterns.

This was the most dramatic change proposed to reduce cut-through traffic. Access to N. Horners Lane from Southlawn Lane and Dover Road would be cut off, and a new loop would be created using Mason Drive to connect Southlawn and Dover.

There is also a piece of land owned by Montgomery County that would be an alternative route for the potential road connection. When these options were presented, one current business owner was not pleased. "One of [the route options] takes my property," he said. He added that there is an African-American graveyard in a junkyard there, "so good luck with that."

Cutting off the industrial area to the north, and preventing customers from reaching Southlawn businesses from the residential streets, were other concerns about this option.

Regarding such current customer trips via neighborhood streets, land use attorney Bob Harris warned "You'll kill that once you cut off access to town center."

Hadley said a larger issue is the overall lack of access from the study area to MD 355, which is cut off from East Rockville by the Metro Red Line tracks. He suggested the City explore the possibility of annexing land to permit a new vehicular crossing of the tracks into East Rockville.

Swift said residents might not agree to such an idea, noting that past discussions regarding connections via Westmore Road/Avenue have not sat well with some residents in Lincoln Park. "There's not an easy fix" to the 355 connectivity problem, she said.

Less drastic options included installing wayfaring signage that would encourage drivers to use Gude Drive and Route 28 to reach the Metro station and Rockville Town Center, and traditional traffic calming measures such as turn restrictions, speed humps, partial street closures and roundabouts.

Another member of the VHB team said he was told that N. Horners Lane is considered a primary through street by the City, and may not be eligible for speed humps or severe restrictions on speed.

Nancy Fox of VHB outlined possible strategies to improve economic conditions in the industrial area. She said the City could use its economic development tools and incentives, and smooth the regulatory and permitting processes.

Businesses could also take active steps, she said. One approach recommended was for the Southlawn industrial businesses to form a Southlawn Business Association. Similar to a merchants' association, Fox said it could potentially be administered by an existing group like REDI or the Rockville Chamber of Commerce. The group could raise funds to facilitate streetscape improvements, and work with larger industrial associations.

Schoof said he had concerns that the Chamber might not be the right fit to represent industrial businesses, and that REDI has programs primarily to attract new businesses and help current ones expand, as opposed to simply sustaining enterprises. He also warned of outside organizations being brought in from the region or state, if they did not have the best interests of the Southlawn tenants in mind. Harris concurred. Swift said that Southlawn having its own organization "is where the strength would be."

On land use, VHB's Paul Mayer suggested making the properties along 1st Street and N. Horners Lane a "transition area" could better connect the residential neighborhoods with the residents of David Scull Courts, a public housing complex at Taft Street and 1st Street. He also suggested changing the zoning of David Scull Courts from industrial to residential, and creating a gateway to the community at the 4-way intersection of Taft and 1st. The latter would involve better pedestrian crossing infrastructure, and streetscape improvements to give a more residential character.

One question that didn't come up regarding a zoning change for David Scull Courts - does the current industrial zoning protect those affordable homes from redevelopment? With all of the development occurring in the Shady Grove/Gude/Crabbs Branch vicinity, residential zoning would surely make the David Scull property worth a fortune.

There was some consensus among attendees that many of the traffic issues in the study area may need to be addressed with the larger traffic congestion issues along MD 355 and Veirs Mill Road. Swift encouraged stakeholders to give feedback on those wider concerns, so that they can be taken into account in the study. Levy suggested the current citywide Master Plan process could also provide "a broader lens" for discussion of big-picture issues.

The next Southlawn public meeting will be on December 9 at 6:30 PM at Lincoln Park Community Center. An additional meeting will be held in January, and in February, the study recommendations will go to the Planning Commission and Mayor and Council.

Southlawn business owners remain wary of industrial area study in Rockville

Business owners whose enterprises are located within the Southlawn industrial area, and in other currently-industrial parts of Rockville, are wary of the motives behind the Southlawn Industrial Area Feasibility Study now underway. Those concerns were expressed by some who attended the third public meeting on the study last night, at the Lincoln Park Community Center.

The study, which was supposed to have occurred years ago, was resurrected after a dust-up over a proposed self-storage facility next to Maryvale Elementary School in East Rockville. Residents protested, and the Mayor and Council ultimately voted to ban self-storage facilities within 250' of schools citywide.

That vote was "a very dangerous precedent," Rockville Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Michelle Day said at last night's meeting. The ban now has industrial businesses citywide spooked that they will be next, Day said. Along with real estate redevelopment pressures, the sense that industrial is on the way out was palpable among some business owners who attended the meeting.

A business owner (far left) comments on
the Southlawn Industrial Area Study
last night in Rockville

"Where are the industrial businesses going to go, besides Frederick," the owner of an auto repair shop not far from Southlawn asked. Before moving to Rockville, he recalled, "I had an auto repair shop by White Flint. I paid $3000 rent" per month. The repair shop that took it over when he moved is now "paying $6000. Bullying somebody out because, 'I can make more money.' I know, because that's what they have done."

Susan Swift, Planning and Zoning Director for the City of Rockville, said "nothing's being proposed yet. These are facts and findings so we can move forward. There may be that nothing in these plans change; there may be a lot that changes. But we're not trying to pit one use against another. We really are trying to benefit everybody."

Residents said they didn't want the businesses to leave, either. One who was instrumental in getting the study revived said "I'm totally fine with [industrial businesses] existing. It's part of my community. I get my car repaired there."

Another resident noted that the residential neighborhoods in Lincoln Park and East Rockville were actually there before the Southlawn industrial area. But, she added, "I don't think the purpose of this is making change. It's so we can co-exist."

Brigitta Mullican, a candidate for Rockville City Council, said "it's important to indicate to business owners that this plan is not about pushing them out."

A landowner in Southlawn said there is far more demand for the warehouse space he currently offers to his tenants than for office space.

The fate of the industrial area will indeed partly be determined by the real estate market, which was a major focus of last night's study update.

Consulting firm VHB did a more detailed study of the market since the last meeting in June. VHB's Nancy Fox noted that the vacancy rate in the Southlawn industrial area had actually increased to 16% in the second quarter this year. Southlawn industrial rents are higher than those in industrial sites in the northern part of the county and beyond. But they are lower than those in the two industrial submarkets it straddles in Rockville.

Considering what other land uses might work in Southlawn did not turn up many promising alternatives. There is already too much vacant suburban office space for this to be an appealing location to build any more, Fox said. Retail is performing better around Southlawn, however, she said. The retail vacancy rate is 5.4% within a 3 mile radius of the study area, and 6.6% along the Gude Drive corridor. By comparison, the County's moribund office market has a 15% vacancy rate.

What kind of tenants might want to redevelop or repurpose industrial sites in Southlawn? Fox said gyms, recreational space, showrooms, retail warehouse outlet stores, biotech companies and business incubators all currently find such sites appealing. Not only do they need features such as high ceilings, space, and loading facilities, but the rents are far lower than in traditional commercial space.

VHB's Paul Mayer said the team has reached a few preliminary conclusions at this point, while stressing they won't make final conclusions and proposals before running them by the public for feedback:

• Expanding land-use types is worthy of study, but not very optimistic
• The current industrial uses have value both for residents, and the region as a whole
• Better dialogue is needed between industrial businesses and nearby civic associations
• Traffic calming measures are needed
• But there is "limited ability to change traffic patterns" on public streets

Mayer said the next meeting will be in mid-to-late October, and that VHB will have completed a traffic study by then. It couldn't be done earlier, he explained, because school was not in session and that would have generated inaccurate traffic volumes.