Rockville sanctuary city public hearing time change

The public hearing on whether or not Rockville should formalize a sanctuary city policy regarding illegal immigrants on Monday, March 6 has shifted on the Mayor and Council meeting agenda that evening. An executive session has been added to discuss the possibility of the City purchasing the property where the Chestnut Lodge mental institution once stood at 6:00 PM. The public is not allowed to attend that closed session.

At 6:30 PM, the Mayor and Council will reconvene in open session, 30 minutes before the usual 7:00 PM start time for meetings. The sanctuary city public hearing is now scheduled to be taken up at 8:45 PM.

All speakers will have only 3 mins. at Rockville Sanctuary City public hearing March 6

Speakers for organizations and civic associations will have only 3 minutes to speak, instead of the standard 5, at this coming Monday's public hearing on the proposed Sanctuary City legislation. Rockville Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton proposed the change near the end of last night's Mayor and Council meeting. Councilmembers agreed with the change, which was suggested to trim the length of what is expected to be a long public hearing with many speakers.

Some residents have expressed dissatisfaction with having only seven days to review an extensive amount of material on the legislation. If adopted, the new policy would codify the role of the Rockville City Police Department in relation to federal immigration law. In plain English, it would formally establish the city's currently-informal status as a Sanctuary City for those who are in the country illegally.

Such status could result in the loss of federal funds for Rockville, one reason the county executives of Montgomery and Howard counties have opposed similar legislation. It is largely a question of semantics for Montgomery, as it currently meets the definition of a Sanctuary County, but does not formally refer to itself as such.

The public hearing will be at 7:00 PM at City Hall this coming Monday, March 6, 2017. To sign up to speak, call the City Clerk's Office at 240-314-8280 by 4:00 p.m. on the day of the meeting.

Early opportunity to speak to Mayor & Council on FY-18 Rockville budget Nov. 1

In an effort to get more public feedback about the Rockville budget before it starts to take shape during the official process, the Mayor and Council are holding a public hearing on Tuesday, November 1, at 7:00 PM at City Hall. If you have comments about taxes, fees, spending and priorities, this is the time to make them known.

Anyone wishing to testify should call 240-314-8280 before 4:00 PM on November 1 to get on the speakers’ list.

The proposed FY-2018 budget is scheduled to be introduced by the City Manager on February 27, 2017, and the Mayor & Council will vote on its adoption in May.

Residents unanimous in opposing Chestnut Lodge amendment in public hearing

Chestnut Lodge, as it appeared in
2003

No Rockville resident came out last night in support of a developer's request to amend an approval governing redevelopment of the site of the historic Chestnut Lodge. A public hearing before the Mayor and Council on the fate of the spot where the famed mental health institution once stood found developers standing alone in support of their proposal for seven townhomes. Residents and historic preservation experts who spoke strongly supported the option of reconstructing the building.

Nancy Pickard, Executive Director of historical preservation organization Peerless Rockville, said the group supports the Planning Commission recommendation to reject the proposed amendment. There is a "substantial difference" between the original proposal to modify the now-destroyed Chestnut Lodge as a multifamily residential building, and the more horizontally-oriented townhome proposal. Townhomes are "inconsistent with the historic district," she said.

Pickard said the vote gives the Mayor and Council the opportunity to step back and consider the best future for the site. "Reconstruction should be given consideration," she concluded.

Dr. Alan Shiffenbauer spoke about the history of Chestnut Lodge, and urged that its significance "should be valued, it should be preserved, and it should at least be honored."

There is "widespread community opposition" to the townhome proposal in the West End neighborhood, West End Citizens Association President Noreen Bryan told the Mayor and Council. 180 residents have signed a petition opposing the amendment to allow townhouses on the site, she said. Bryan noted that residents made many concessions to the previous applicant for the sole purpose of keeping the original building in place. Now that it fell victim to a suspected arson, the agreement remains in effect, she argued.

That Planned Residential Unit agreement remains the crux of the debate. Larry Giammo, who was mayor when the PRU was agreed to, asked the Mayor and Council to imagine a reconstructed Chestnut Lodge being a conversation starter about the site's history. The "most significant mental health facility, arguably, on the planet...My God, that building was stunning," he recalled. What the developer has proposed, by contrast, is a "Disneyesque facade treatment," Giammo suggested. He recommended the amendment be denied. "Give reconstruction a chance," he said.

"Perhaps we're asking the wrong question," Paul Newman, President of the 30 Oaks homeowners association, said. "We're in a PRU, and in a historic district." Why a development should not have to honor the PRU, he said, "it seems to me that is the question we should be asking."

"Think about what is the right use of the property," said Peerless Rockville Board of Directors President Patricia Wolff, "and figure out a way for us to get there. The result of (your decision) is going to be there for a long time." She said she would like future passersby on W. Montgomery Avenue to look at whatever is ultimately built, and say, "'Wow!' Not, 'can you believe what they've done to that site?'"

The applicant professed to believe their project would generate the former, rather than the latter, response. "You have before you the best possible outcome," attorney Stephen J. Orens of McMillan Metro, PC said. He suggested denying the application would be "a taking" by the City, and a case of inverse condemnation, although he did not explicitly threaten legal action. Orens and an architectural historian hired by the applicant cast doubt on the viability of reconstructing Chestnut Lodge.

Such a structure would give "a false sense of history that, frankly, would not be consistent with the Secretary of the Interior standards," Orens argued.

Preservation advocates strongly disagreed.

"My experience leads to a different conclusion," said Rockville historian Eileen McGuckian, who has been familiar with the site for fifty years. "There are hundreds, hundreds of documents" readily available for reconstruction purposes, she said. These include specific architectural studies of the site done in the 1970s, articles, papers, documentaries, photos, bricks retrieved from the fire that destroyed it, postcards, two County Cable Montgomery segments filmed prior to the fire, and raw footage from an unfinished documentary that also captured the structure on film.

West End resident Andrew Sellman, who also served on the WECA Chestnut Lodge committee, said he had traveled the region ahead of the public hearing to investigate other reconstructed buildings. He found several, including the Appomattox Courthouse; the Staunton, Virginia Shakespeare Theatre; and the All Hallows Parish Courthouse, which were reconstructed from far less documentation than exists for Chestnut Lodge, he reported.

Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton said her involvement in the issue goes back many years. As WECA president, she helped to reach the agreement with developer Morty Levine to preserve Chestnut Lodge. "It blows my mind" that the City Attorney and staff did not take a proactive approach to enforcing the existing PRU after the destruction of Chestnut Lodge, she said.

Newton also questioned a precise and short timeline for approval of the applicant's proposed amendment shown by staff at the outset of the public hearing. She asked why dates were given by staff, when agendas are supposed to be set by the Mayor and Council. "When did that start," she asked.

"You're obviously under no obligation to abide by those," responded Zoning Chief Jim Wasilak. "I personally don't have a problem with staff making a recommendation," Councilmember Mark Pierzchala said. He questioned why the Historic District Commission was limited to conducting a courtesy review of the application, rather than taking a larger role in determining the best course to proceed on for the Chestnut Lodge site.

Pierzchala also said that the opposing opinions on what meets the Secretary of the Interior guidelines need to be clarified. City staff should weigh in definitively on the issue, he suggested. "That's a very important thing," he said.

Photo courtesy City of Rockville

Rockville Pike plan hearing is "The B.F. Saul Show"

Better call Saul. Last night's first public hearing on the Rockville Pike Neighborhood Plan was dominated by two complaints: the width of the Pike proposed in the plan is too wide, and the recommended building heights are too short. A good number of residents turned out to hammer these points home, likely to the delight of property owner B.F. Saul, which has been making both arguments for some time.

Todd Pearson, VP with B.F. Saul, testified on behalf of the company, showing a rendering of its planned Pike development that would cover 17 acres from the intersection of Halpine Road and Chapman Avenue up to Party City, and east to the railroad tracks. Pearson warned that height caps of 7 stories for residential and 10 for commercial could have "unintended consequences."

Those could include severe reductions in public and green space, and a lack of varying heights within a large building, Pearson predicted.

The width of the Pike should be more like what Montgomery County has planned for White Flint, 162', Pearson suggested. With the 252' width suggested by the plan, he said, there will be seven "pedestrian conflict points" for those making what he said would be a 1-minute crossing on foot. I think he had a good point when he cited the importance of extending East Jefferson through the Woodmont Country Club site, as well as the planned extension of Chapman, as important congestion relief projects.

Including a jobs-to-housing ratio also irked Pearson, who suggested that if one were to be in the plan, it should encompass a much wider geographic range.

Several residents testified that they moved to Twinbrook not only for the proximity to Metro, but also because they were aware of projects such as B.F. Saul's, and wanted that type of urban development.

Resident Brigitta Mullican called the B.F. Saul proposal a "fantastic project." Ellen Bogage, whose firm Chesapeake Public Strategies is managing community outreach for B.F. Saul, said a petition to reduce the Pike's width has received 218 signatures as of last night.

"Anything is better than what's there now," argued resident Colleen Reed. She encouraged the Mayor and Council to "recognize that Rockvillle is a city. I have no reservation about having taller buildings along the Pike."

Many who testified at public hearings during the process did have reservations, however, leading the Planning Commission to scale back what would be possible on the Pike.

Not everyone is on-board for narrowing the Pike. David Green, a longtime resident of Twinbrook, said he was "painfully aware" of how hard it is to get around Rockville due to the manmade barrier known as Metro. He said a 270' right-of-way was reserved along the Pike for that reason.

Green termed the shrink-the-Pike effort "slick marketing. Of course the developers want more land," he said. He urged the Mayor and Council to do everything they could to promote better traffic flow in Rockville.

"Please approve the Rockville Pike Plan with no more changes," Green said.

Rockville Pike Plan transmitted to Mayor and Council, public hearings set for April 11, May 16

The Rockville Pike Plan was officially transmitted to the Mayor and Council at last night's meeting. Planning Commission Chair Charles Littlefield was there in person, as the plan process reaches its conclusion with two public hearings, worksessions and adoption.

Public hearing dates were set by the Mayor and Council for April 11 and May 16. Yesterday's transmittal triggers a 90-day review period for the plan. Should the Mayor and Council ignore the plan for 90 days without adopting it, it would either take effect as is, or the City could grant itself one extension if it can demonstrate a good-faith effort to complete it.

Report to Rockville Planning Commission shows effect of APFS school capacity change on student generation

The Rockville Planning Commission will take public testimony on the city's Bikeways Master Plan at its meeting tonight at City Hall at 7:00 PM. Also on the agenda are the much-discussed Avalon Bay townhome proposal for Twinbrook Parkway, and the future Richard Montgomery Elementary School No. 5.

One other notable agenda item: a report from city staff showing an estimate of 127 students being added to the Richard Montgomery school cluster, by projects proposed since the City Council voted to weaken the Adequate Public Facilities Standards for school capacity. Prior to that change, only 64 students were expected to come from projects already in the development pipeline, according to the memo.

The total will now be 191 students.

SECOND PUBLIC HEARING ON ROCKVILLE APFS SCHOOL STANDARDS MONDAY, JAN. 26

The Mayor and Council will hold a second public hearing on the proposed changes to Rockville's Adequate Public Facilities Standards regarding school capacity, which have been proposed by Councilmember Tom Moore, on Monday, January 26. These changes would adopt Montgomery County's weaker school standard of permitting 120% overcrowding, and allow school capacity to be measured by cluster, rather than by individual schools, as the city does today.

Residents can sign up to speak by calling the City Clerk at 240-314-8280 by 4:00 PM on January 26. The meeting will be held at 7:00 PM at City Hall, and the public hearing is only one item on the evening's agenda. You can also sign up in person, but you will have to wait until the speakers who signed up in advance are finished.

One public hearing has already been held, and the Mayor and Council are scheduled to act on the proposals in February.

ROCKVILLE PIKE PLAN PUBLIC HEARINGS SET

The Mayor and Council will hold 4 public hearings on the new Rockville Pike draft master plan this fall. Their dates are September 29, October 27, November 17 and December 8. These hearings will be agenda items during the regularly-scheduled Mayor and Council meetings on those dates. To testify, call 240-314-8280 before 4:00 p.m. on the date of the hearing in question.

ROCKVILLE RESIDENTS DIVIDED ON LONGER COUNCIL TERMS AT PUBLIC HEARING

Rockville residents had the opportunity to address the Mayor and Council on the proposed lengthening of 2-year elected terms to 4 years at a public hearing last night. A majority of city voters supported the proposal on last November's ballot. Far fewer turned out to speak at the hearing Monday night at City Hall.

Former city councilmember Mark Pierzchala testified in favor of the change, but lamented the "construct" of the less than 17% of registered voters who voted speaking for the other 83%. Pierzchala, an expert on surveys and statistics, urged the mayor and council to put a second issue - moving city elections to presidential years - back on the ballot again in 2015. That particular calendar change was rejected by city voters in 2013. This time, Pierzchala suggested, the ballot question language should include a statement explaining the benefit intended by the initiative's supporters - namely, increasing voter turnout.

Resident Joe Jordan, who served on the Rockville Charter Review Commission, noted that the majority of voters who didn't turn out last November had the same chance to vote as those who did. Jordan also spoke in support of 4-year terms Monday night.

Twinbrook Civic Association President Christina Ginsberg was more skeptical of the change. Ginsberg said elected officials' efforts to avoid frequent elections, and put forward additional changes that would favor incumbents, were "very dangerous." She recommended the council take the opposite approach, and make changes that would reduce the advantages of incumbency. Such changes, she said, could motivate new challengers to run. Ginsberg mentioned several ideas, including public financing, campaign finance reform, and a limit on how many mailings city candidates could send out.

Another resident, who lives in the Rockshire neighborhood, said she and her husband specifically chose to move to Rockville 37 years ago for its frequent elections, which she believed made municipal government more accountable.

The Mayor and Council are now expected to act on the change to 4 year terms, on the basis of voters' recommendation last November.

PUBLIC HEARING JUNE 23 ON INCREASING ROCKVILLE MAYOR/COUNCIL TERMS TO 4 YEARS

You've had a chance to be heard once at the polls; now you'll have a second chance to speak to the question of whether or not Rockville's mayor and council should serve 2 or 4 year terms. The current 2-year term has provided voters with greater power to hold elected officials accountable swiftly for their actions. Many have suggested that 2-year terms are too short to maintain momentum, and follow through on big initiatives.

53.5% of Rockville voters expressed a preference to adopt 4-year terms during last November's city elections.

Residents can speak at a public hearing during the Monday, June 23 Mayor and Council Meeting, at 7:00 PM, in the Mayor and Council chambers at Rockville City Hall.

ROCKVILLE PLANNING COMMISSIONER QUESTIONS LACK OF DETAIL ON BIKEWAY MASTER PLAN

Can you tell what impact
bike facilities will have
on College Parkway
from this map?

Would you buy a car sight unseen, if the salesman said he could only tell you it was a 4-door sedan? Rockville residents are being asked to comment on the draft update of the Rockville Bikeway Master Plan at a public hearing on April 9. But critical information is missing from the draft, according to Rockville Planning Commissioner Jack Leiderman.

While the document illustrates many common on-road bike facilities, and lists a recommendation for specific roads within Rockville, Leiderman noted that residents have no way to know how the proposals will affect parking, the width of existing travel lanes and other relevant details.

Andrew Gunning, the city's assistant planning director (and staff liaison to the planning commission) said planners hadn't gone into that level of detail at this stage. "I'm requesting it," Leiderman responded. "How am I going to comment" on the plan without knowing the details, he asked.

This situation is virtually identical to that of the recent Montgomery County Transit Corridor Master Plan process. With relatively few details worked out on the specific design and traffic impact of the county's proposed bus rapid transit system, the plan was rammed through by the council, with promises that the details would be known later. But if some of the potential impacts were untenable, why would a citizen allow the BRT Master Plan to pass?

The same applies to the bike plan. Should the plan be approved, it will become the document that can be referenced to justify a wide range of changes to city roads. Once adopted as a master plan, those changes - like BRT - will become "a fait accompli," as Leiderman put it Wednesday night.

"I'm not just going to rubber stamp a list of streets," Leiderman said.

Also at Wednesday night's meeting, Planning Commission Chair Don Hadley discussed his upcoming  appearance before the Mayor and Council at their April 7 meeting. Hadley invited his fellow commissioners to attend, but said he has not yet been informed of the format of the discussion. Commissioner John Tyner somewhat jokingly suggested Hadley review the comments of Councilmember Tom Moore on the topic prior to the evening. Moore was critical of the commission's pace last week.

Leiderman advised Hadley to emphasize the importance of taking time to get the plan right: "Measure twice, saw once," he said.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY BRT PUBLIC HEARING

Apparently, some opponents of the proposed Montgomery County Bus Rapid Transit system are big fans of American Idol and/or The Office.

The ratio of BRT fans to opponents was much closer at last night's Montgomery County Planning Board public hearing in Silver Spring than it was at the first public hearing last summer.  This time around, developer-backed groups turned out more speakers than last July, when opponents dominated the debate.  The meeting was certainly poorly advertised.

But the arguments remained the same.

Proponents, and certainly, developers, want the development BRT will allow, and the pain it will cause drivers.

One problem is, the type of community they want Montgomery County to be is not necessarily what a majority of taxpaying residents want. The idea that a small faction can impose itself on the majority, and in a winner-take-all fashion, is simply contradictory to not only the founding principles of America, but to reality itself.

In my testimony, I urged the Planning Board to put the Transit Corridors Master Plan in the context of the county as a whole. They are the county planning body, not the White Flint planning commission.

And we have to run the numbers - the real-world numbers.

With limited transportation money, and an indefinite structural budget deficit, we can't afford to waste money on a bus system that will worsen congestion.

For example, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments' American Legion Bridge study showed that 23% of Maryland drivers using the bridge are headed to the Dulles area.

What that means in real terms, is that a new Potomac River bridge via the unbuilt Rockville Freeway or I-370 would reduce Legion bridge traffic by nearly a quarter. BRT proponents' most Fantasy Island projection of congestion relief, by contrast is 15%. The contrast speaks for itself, especially when the BRT system under discussion will cost $5 billion.

But let's examine that BRT traffic "relief" using real numbers, not Planner Larry Cole's fantasy numbers.

Rockville Pike is currently 70% over capacity.

The draft plan takes 2 lanes from the Pike, reducing vehicular capacity by 33%.

Okay, now we're 103% over capacity.

Now, pretend that the wildest, most fantastical BRT projection came true, just for the sake of argument: Under that dreamy scenario, 15% of drivers "get out of their cars" and start commuting by bus.

That brings us down to 88% over capacity on Rockville Pike.

So, we've spent $5 billion, and increased road rage, and pollution through idling car engines, and...

...traffic is now 18% worse than if we had done nothing!

Does this make sense to you?

Anyway, the majority of turnout last night was from Bethesda, Chevy Chase, and Silver Spring.

Civic associations from Woodmor-Pinecrest, Locust Hill, Bethesda Crest, Chevy Chase West, and Chevy Chase Valley expressed serious reservations about the plan as drafted.

The Montgomery County Sierra Club, the City of Takoma Park, Indian Spring Civic Association, Hillandale Civic Association and Greater Colesville Civic Association were in favor of the BRT plan.

Michelle Riley of the Woodmor-Pinecrest association said her neighborhood will be the most-affected residential area in the county, if BRT goes forward. Riley said the system makes little sense for Woodmor, as the major traffic is related to the Beltway, not the routes targeted for BRT.  She also warned of property seizures below New Hampshire Avenue.

Locust Hill and Chevy Chase West shared concerns about losing already-limited neighborhood access due to BRT lanes and turn restrictions.

The Bethesda Crest HOA noted that BRT would eliminate an existing Forest Conservation Area along their community.

While Tony Hausner of Indian Spring supports BRT, one position I do share with him is that zoning along BRT routes should not be changed. Of course, such protection will never be extended to existing residents, as redevelopment of the Georgetown Square and Wildwood Shopping Center are just two of the secret developer objectives with BRT. The others, of course, are to build cities in the country at Science City and Olney, as well as Burtonsville.

There were some 1984-esque arguments made by the Sierra Club. First, that BRT will reduce emissions. That is patently false. BRT could well be powered by fossil fuels. No one has committed to clean fuel buses.  Secondly, it is a scientific fact that traffic jams actually increase smog and vehicle emissions. BRT will worsen congestion by 18-33%, at a minimum. Meaning up to 33% greater pollution in Montgomery County.

They also repeated Rollin Stanley's old line, "They're coming." This refers to armies of new residents who are en route to live in Montgomery County in the coming decades. This is complete bunk as well.

Our population can only grow as much as our Planning Board and County Council allow it to. We have absolute control over our own destiny - and density - despite the theatrically-panicked claims of developer-backed politicians and citizens.

Finally, the Sierra Club parroted a popular developer talking point: "More young people are not using cars. They prefer high-tech."

Yeah. Okay.

As this plays out in hipster urbanization journals, kids are forgoing cars so they can have iPhones instead.

I'm assuming the Sierra Club hasn't seen the "Cars of GW" slideshow that went viral online. For a less elite example, visit the Montgomery College parking lot in Rockville at 11:00 AM. I rest my case.

Oh,  and those coveted smartphones the kids are "saving up" for? Anyone who has attended a movie recently knows that parents buy these phones for kids long before they can even get a license.

And I'd like the anti-car elites to tell us if their $70000-to-start jobs have "must have own transportation" as a requirement in the job announcement?

Get out in the real world with working people and find out what it's like, and why cars are often a necessity. There's a reason why a Baltimore non-profit gives low-income single moms cars so they don't have to use transit anymore. Time and access to more employment opportunities equals more income.

I was glad to see Debra Alfarone of WUSA9 covering the hearing last night. This story has been under-the-radar too long.

One sentence of my testimony ended up in the 11:00 news report.  In light of the need to move over a million people in Montgomery County, and the anti-car arrogance of the draft BRT corridor plan, I said "an anti-car attitude at this point is counterproductive."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

ROCKVILLE PIKE PLAN PUBLIC HEARING TONIGHT, 7:00 PM

The Rockville Planning Commission meets tonight at 7:00 PM at City Hall. Second on the agenda is a public hearing on the revised draft of the Rockville Pike Plan.

This is your chance to speak out. Do you like Rockville Pike the way it is, as a successful suburban commercial area? Or do you support the Plan's idea to urbanize the Pike with dense, mixed-use development?

Make your opinions known tonight.

First on the agenda, is a request from First Baptist Church at 55 Adclare Road. They are asking for a one-year extension for their church addition.