" HORSEWHIPPED " APPLICANT RETURNS TO ROCKVILLE PLANNING COMMISSION TO SEEK PARKING REDUCTION

A car wash, senior housing and a controversial parking reduction request for Rockville Town Center Phase II are among the items on the agenda at Wednesday night's meeting of the Rockville Planning Commission.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car is seeking permission to construct a car wash behind its current facility.

A 7-story multifamily building for seniors and the disabled is proposed by Shelter Development, LLC. The developer is asking for several waivers - to allow the rooftop deck to extend beyond the wall of the building, to add 2 above-ground electrical transformers, and an exemption from the city's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance for school requirements. That latter request is due to the planned demographics of the residents. However, projects built as "senior housing" have been known to later shift to being all-ages apartments.

Item #2, the parking reduction request by Hungerford Retail II, LLC, could prove the most interesting of the meeting. The town center project's waiver request imploded during its initial presentation to commissioners this spring, and left the applicant subject to what the body's chairman later described as a "horsewhipping."

The meeting begins at 7:00 PM in the Mayor and Council chambers at City Hall, and will be broadcast live on Channel 11.

COSI, PHO & ROLLS CLOSE IN ROCKVILLE TOWN SQUARE (PHOTOS)

Rockville Town Square could have been renamed Shutter Island in recent days. Two restaurants have shuttered for good - the ubiquitous Cosi, and the trendy Pho & Rolls. The closure of Cosi is perhaps the more shocking of the two. After all, how often do you see a Starbucks, Panera Bread, or Chipotle close? Although Cosi resided in a quieter, out-of-the-way spot in the town center, the closure does raise questions about whether any other locations of the chain might be under financial pressure to close.

Pho & Rolls

Interior of Pho & Rolls

Pho & Rolls

Cosi

Cosi gets the classy paper
window treatment

DOUGH ROLLER OPENS IN ROCKVILLE (PHOTOS AND VIDEO)

The much-anticipated Dough Roller in King Farm Village Center opened on Saturday. A first step in the Ocean City, MD-favorite's expansion into the DC area, the Rockville location is currently the only Dough Roller outside of the Maryland resort town. This is arguably one of the biggest restaurant openings in the region this year, given the following Dough Roller has among Ocean City vacationers.

Although the restaurant is open, some finishing touches will be added in the coming weeks, according to a Dough Roller spokesperson. One example is a new exterior sign that is directed toward pedestrians passing outside the store. A sign holder appears to be in place to the left of the main sign, for a third sign installation. A lot of work has been done on the gleaming interior since I came past a week ago.

The menu for the Rockville Dough Roller features breakfast (starting at 7:30 AM), burgers, a hot dog, sandwiches, salads, chicken wings and fingers, crab bites, and - of course - their famous pizza and all-day pancakes. I like that their crab cake is made with 100% blue crab.

What from the OC menus doesn't show up here? Dayton's Chicken (which is only available at one of the OC locations, anyway); the Dough Roller Supreme, Meat Explosion and Pepperoni Obsessed pizzas; Italian and Seafood Dinner platters; and funnel cake fries. But many favorites did make the leap across the Bay, including the Crab Burger. And at least a couple of items that seem to be exclusive to Rockville. Having said all that, the menu changes with the time of day (for example, the breakfast items were not on display in these photos), and additional items may be added over time.  Click menu photos to enlarge for detail:

I stopped by the new Rockville location to pick up a cheese pizza, and here is my review.

HERR'S SLOPPY JOE POTATO CHIP REVIEW (VIDEO)

One of the great American dinner solutions for decades has been the Sloppy Joe. Some say it was invented in Iowa in the 1930s, but many of us tend to think of the Manwich of the 1970s-present.

"What's a Manwich?"

Of course, now Manwich-type products exist that don't even require you to add your own ground beef - it's already in there. Now Herr's of Pennsylvania brings us a Sloppy Joe potato chip. As a major Sloppy Joe/Manwich fan, I'm skeptical it can be done. Particularly given the fact that I don't see either beef or green pepper on the ingredient list.

Let's go ahead and test it out. Will it be just the equivalent of a sandwich, or a Manwich? Watch my review and find out.

PUBLIC RECORD NOW OPEN FOR ROCKVILLE PIKE PLAN FINAL DRAFT

The public record is now officially open for written comment on the final draft Rockville Pike Plan, the master plan that will guide future development along MD 355 within the city of Rockville. Rockville's Mayor and Council will be briefed on the draft plan at their July 21 meeting.

A public hearing will be held after Labor Day. You can start reading the plan draft here.

To submit written comments, email cityclerk@rockvillemd.gov, or mail them to: City Clerk’s Office, Rockville City Hall, 111 Maryland Ave., Rockville, MD 20850.

ROCKVILLE MAYOR AND COUNCIL APPROVE 4 YEAR TERMS FOR CITY ELECTED OFFICES

Rockville's Mayor and Council ended years of debate over whether 2 year terms were too short to accomplish the people's business Monday night, voting 3-2 to extend them to 4 years. Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton and Councilmembers Beryl L. Feinberg and Virginia D. Onley voted for the longer terms, but the change was opposed by Councilmembers Tom Moore and Julie Palakovich Carr. The new terms take effect in the 2015 city election. A 54% majority of voters approved of the idea in a 2013 city ballot question.

SIGN INSTALLED AT FUTURE ROCKVILLE DOUGH ROLLER! (PHOTOS)

Construction continues inside the future Dough Roller restaurant, in the King Farm Village Center in Rockville. The popular Ocean City, MD-based pizza and pancake chain's first DC-area location now has its permanent sign installed. It looks like there is still some more work to do on the interior, however. But this has to be one of the most-anticipated restaurant openings in the region for 2014.

The sign was actually lit last night, but the circular part with the Dough Roller character would only occasionally light up for a millisecond.