KING FARM AUTO BREAK-INS - NIGHTSWATCH: ROCKVILLE CRIME UPDATE

At least four vehicles in King Farm were broken into on Friday, according to crime data. If you live in King Farm, make sure your car is locked, and all valuables removed from the cabin. Report any suspicious persons or vehicles to Rockville or Montgomery County Police immediately.

Here's a roundup of crimes reported across Rockville on July 25:

Vehicle burglary. Ivy League Lane at Martins Square Lane.

Burglary. 200 block Martins Lane.

Vehicle burglary. 200 block Marsh Hollow Place (King Farm).

Vehicle burglary. 600 block Grand Champion Drive (King Farm).

Vehicle burglary. 500 block Lawson Way (King Farm).

Vehicle burglary. 200 block King Farm Boulevard (King Farm).

COURT ORDERS I-270 SOUND BARRIER PROJECT TO STOP AT WOODLEY GARDENS SHOPPING CENTER

I-270 is located behind this
barrier at the
Woodley Gardens Shopping
Center in Rockville

A Montgomery County judge ordered the Maryland State Highway Administration to terminate a planned sound barrier project along I-270 in Rockville last week.

The Daily Record reports that the judge determined the state violated the property rights of the Woodley Gardens Shopping Center on Nelson Street. Soil sampling and jackhammering of asphalt on shopping center property were determined as not permissible under Maryland's eminent domain law.

Daily Record reporter Danny Jacobs writes that the SHA has not yet determined if it will appeal the ruling. Now imagine what might happen should the county and state decide to widen 270!

TOWN CENTER PHASE II DEVELOPER GETS PARKING WAIVER ON 2ND TRY

The Rockville Planning Commission voted unanimously to grant a parking waiver to Hungerford Retail, LLC at last night's meeting. While virtually every future transit-oriented project in the city will likely meet the basic criteria for a parking waiver, the issuing of one is at the discretion of the commission. The planning body reached a consensus around the suggestions of commissioners Charles Littlefield and Jack Leiderman. Littlefield argued that the impact of the future Dawson Avenue extension was detrimental to the JBG Companies' project at 275 N. Washington Street, and reduced their available space for parking. It should be noted that future Town Center road extensions will also impact the Walgreens and an Asian grocery store's property and parking, as well.

JBG was credited by commission chair Don Hadley for its efforts to work with the adjoining property owners, and the West End Citizen's Association, to revise its initially-disastrous waiver presentation. Susan Prince spoke on behalf of WECA, and expressed concern at the downsizing of the planned restaurant space in the development. Prince said the neighborhood would prefer that JBG be required to contract with its neighbor, to provide additional parking in its monthly garage.

Ultimately, the commission declined to stipulate such a contract, which Sam Stiebel of JBG said would put the developer in a poor negotiating position, were it required to make a deal. It deemed sufficient, with some reservations, a deal JBG reached with Town Center II neighbor Shelter Development, that will provide 18 attended spaces in its future Brightview residential project for 275 N. Washington Street customers. A below-grade garage will hold 45 spaces, in addition to some surface parking. In addition, a valet service must begin immediately, rather than the original proposed delay.

The eventual agreement was briefly threatened when Commissioner John Tyner made a motion to grant the waiver, as he preferred to include the findings of the basic waiver criteria in the language. Leiderman and Littlefield said they could not support such a motion. After Leiderman advised Tyner to present a motion a majority could agree upon, Tyner relented. Littlefield seconded Tyner's motion.

There was still a matter of JBG's ability to be released from the parking agreement, should it be able to show there was indeed a surplus of parking available on two occasions, between 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM. A friendly amendment by Leiderman restored the criteria to the original number of 5 study times.

Overall, several commissioners expressed the feeling that the desire for development in Town Center Phase II - as well as JBG's good-faith efforts in revising their proposal - outweighed their remaining concerns that parking will be a problem there in the future.

ROCKVILLE NAMED 8TH SNOBBIEST SMALL CITY IN AMERICA

Rockville, snobbish? Hard to believe. But Rockville has now been named the 8th "Snobbiest Small City in America," tied with Encinitas, CA. The list, created by the Movoto blog, claims to represent a serious study of data on small towns across America.

Criteria for earning a high place on the list included median home price, median household income, percent of population with a college degree, private schools-per-capita, performing arts-per-capita, art galleries-per-capita, and the number of fast food restaurants.

The only snobbish attitude I've encountered in decades in Rockville, is coming from outsiders who want to urbanize the small-town atmosphere that exists in it today. People who believe that state highways are not designed to move commuters, but are places well-suited to dining on croissants and cappuccinos.

To suggest the presence of the arts equals snobbery makes little sense, when you consider that the arts often flourish in areas less wealthy than Rockville. H Street?

"Fast food restaurants per capita (the more the better[)]?" Either Movoto needs to hire a copy editor, or this was off-base. Ordinarily, fast food restaurants are not considered snobbish. Rockville could actually use more fast food restaurants, in my opinion. Starting with restoring one to the now-vacant Chicken Out in College Plaza, which used to be an A&W Restaurant.

" 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.