ROY ROGERS OPENS IN ROCKVILLE! (PHOTOS)

Roy Rogers made a triumphant return to Rockville yesterday, and RockvilleNights.com was on the scene. The Fixin's Bar takes center stage inside the restaurant, just as it did in the old days. One feature not found at the old Congressional Plaza Roy's? Two new Coca-Cola Freestyle soda fountain machines, from which I dispensed myself a refreshing Mello Yello. Just remember that the soda jet is slightly forward from the ice-dispensing cup position, or you'll get more soda on your hand than in your cup.

If you can't trust Roy Rogers,
who can you trust? Great to
see a tribute to Roy Rogers on
the wall, keeping his memory
alive for future generations

Another nice touch was the prominent image of Roy Rogers himself on the wall, with his now-legendary Promise to customers. Some menu items have been tweaked to be more premium, such as the use of brand-name Hormel Cure 81 ham atop the Double R burger, and Edy's ice cream in the milkshakes. The flavors of the Double R, famous Roy's fried chicken, and french fries - I ordered the Holster Fries version, of course - were reassuringly familiar and delicious. Roy's veterans like myself will have to get over the fact that the fry holster is now red, instead of the faux-leather, realistic brown gun holster design from the 1970s and 80s. At first, I thought they'd given me the wrong fries, but realized my mistake when I saw the words, Holster Fry, on the side.

What was my verdict on the 2014 Double R Burger? Watch my review to find out, and get all the details. For those who were more familiar with Roys in the mid-to-late 90s, you'll be glad to find the Gold Rush Chicken Sandwich is still on the menu.

Never thought I'd be strapping
on a pair of these again...

They've got side dishes you'll remember, like cole slaw - and new ones you wouldn't expect to find at Roy's, like macaroni and cheese. For dessert, I can never pass up a brownie sundae. Roy's had a brownie in the old days, but not a brownie sundae. The new Roy's has the sundae, and I'm looking forward to trying that on a future visit.

Double R Burger

With the addition of Roy Rogers, Rockville Pike between Montrose Parkway and N. Washington Street now offers a smorgasbord of some of the top fast food restaurants in America: Chick-fil-A, McDonald's, Taco Bell, Wendy's, Popeye's, and now Roy Rogers. It's a shame that A&W left College Plaza, because they have no other location in the Montgomery County area. Fortunately, Roy's has brought a another classic American burger to the Pike to take its place.

How can you not like
this guy's enthusiasm?

No grand opening is complete
without balloons

Fixin's Bar

Roy Rogers rides again
in Rockville!

STABBING NEAR ROCKVILLE METRO STATION

A stabbing attack left 2 people injured this morning near the Rockville Metro station. Montgomery County emergency medical personnel arrived to the scene at Park Road and E. Middle Lane to find two men with lacerations. One victim had serious injuries; the other's were non-life-threatening, according to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue spokesperson Pete Piringer. Both adult males were transported to an undisclosed hospital. Police are investigating.

SAZON INKA TO OPEN IN ROCKVILLE (PHOTOS)

A new restaurant is coming to Federal Realty's Courthouse Center in Rockville. Sazon Inka will be the newest tenant in the retail center perhaps best known for the Apollo restaurant. Courthouse Center is across from Federal Realty's Rockville Town Square property, and two blocks from the Rockville Metro Station.

Sazon Inka will serve the popular Peruvian-style chicken, pollo a la brasa, as well as parrilla grilled selections. Stay tuned for an opening date.

ROY ROGERS ROCKVILLE OPENING MONDAY, DECEMBER 15!

Yeehaw! Yahoo! Roy Rogers fans, your prayers have been answered. The new Roy Rogers in Rockville, located at 718 Rockville Pike (across from Marlo Furniture) is opening this Monday, December 15, at 10:30 AM!

The first 50 guests in line will receive a year's supply of free Roy Rogers food. Monday's opening marks a historic return for the legendary Roy Rogers chain, which had operated decades ago in Rockville. Started by the Marriott Corporation, Roy's is now owned by Plamondon Company, which was founded by a Roy's franchisee.

Get ready to grab those fry holsters, Pilgrim!

PLANNING COMMISSION FINDS SELF-STORAGE ZTA QUESTIONABLE

The Rockville Planning Commission voted 5-1 Wednesday night to recommend the Mayor and Council drop a proposed Zoning Text Amendment regarding self storage businesses. Commissioner Charles Littlefield cast the lone dissenting vote.

Self Storage facilities have been a hot button issue in recent months, as neighbors of a potential such facility fought plans to build one near Maryvale Elementary School. The attorney representing that EZ Storage project, Bob Dalrymple, warned commissioners that his client would pursue other avenues if they approved of the ZTA.

The sense that the ZTA was targeting the EZ Storage project ultimately led to its dismissal by the commission. A majority of commissioners found that the ZTA was too narrowly targeted, was arbitrary, and did not provide an adequate public process to sort the matter out.

ROCKVILLE PLANNING COMMISSION FINDS NO COMPELLING NEED TO CHANGE APFS SCHOOL STANDARDS

The Rockville Planning Commission voted unanimously last night to oppose proposed changes in the city's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance regarding school capacity standards. Some on the city council are in favor of replacing the current school standards with those used by Montgomery County. The changes would include averaging school populations over a cluster, rather than measuring overcrowding at each individual school, as the current Rockville standard does.

Commission Chair Don Hadley reiterated his previous remarks that the recent legal opinion handed down by Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler suggests the Mayor and Council lack the authority to change the APFS school standards. Hadley said they and the commission "need to find out what the rules of the road are," before changing the standards. Commissioner John Tyner said the recommendations of the city's APFO Committee a couple of years back - to implement no changes to the Rockville school standards - were forwarded by the Planning Commission to the Mayor and Council. "My opinion has not changed on that," he added.

There was a sense among some commissioners that something fishy is going on, and that the proposed changes are being pushed behind the scenes for an unstated purpose. "I'm fearful something non-transparent is going on that should be made transparent," Commissioner David Hill said. Commissioner Jack Leiderman said the demand for changes is certainly not coming from the city's residents. "Whenever there has been a proposal to weaken the APFO, this room has been filled to capacity" with citizens opposing the change, Leiderman noted. He said the January 5 date for the APFO public hearing - during holiday vacations - appeared to have been "frankly, chosen to minimize" public input.

Hill said he welcomed a "vibrant public debate" on school standards, but agreed that January 5 was not particularly conducive to having one. He reiterated Tyner's point that the commission had already spoken to the school matter by forwarding the committee report to the Mayor and Council. "I am not ready to change" school standards, Hill said. He said other jurisdictions in the state have used Rockville's 2005 APFO standards as a model, and therefore, the authority issue is very appropriate for Gansler to address at this juncture. Commissioner Anne Goodman concurred that the city should get a legal opinion from Gansler before acting on the APFS. "We have a legal uncertainty," Hadley said. "It leaves us in a very tenuous position."

Leiderman suggested the commission go on the public record regarding the controversial January 5 public hearing, and send a formal letter to the Mayor and Council. Hill said he agreed "it's the Planning Commission's place to make a recommendation."

Hill prepared language for a commission resolution that would reiterate the body's support of the 2012 APFO committee recommendations. He said they should emphasize to the Mayor and Council that those recommendations were "the product of a citizen committee that spent many hours" studying the complex issues related to adequate public facilities. Leiderman argued the commission should add one element missing from the committee recommendations, namely, to affirm that 110% of capacity is the maximum allowable in a particular school. He also said that passing the proposed changes would not be a mere alteration of regulations, but a de facto repeal of the APFO - an act that would require a text amendment. Leiderman warned that the county has even considered raising its weaker standard to a higher level of acceptable overcrowding - which would leave Rockville's schools well over the 120% county standard.

Ultimately, the commissioners came to a unanimous recommendation that the Mayor and Council should not change school standards at this time. 

Meanwhile, former mayor Larry Giammo posted a second article on his blog regarding the APFO controversy. Giammo was mayor when the city passed the original ordinance, which several commissioners argued last night is clearly working to prevent further school overcrowding. This latest post is devoted to debunking the stated rationales for loosening school standards in Rockville.

FORMER ROCKVILLE COUNCILMAN CALLS PROPOSED SCHOOL STANDARDS CHANGES "DEATH BLOW" TO CITY'S APFO

Two-term former Rockville City Councilman John Hall testified before the Mayor and Council Monday evening that adopting Montgomery County's weaker policy on school overcrowding would be a "death blow" to the city's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance. Currently, Rockville measures overcrowding at each individual school, and once a school is termed overcrowded, development in that school district is halted.

The proposal by some councilmembers to adopt the county standard, by contrast, would allow an averaging of schools by cluster. Hall pointed to data that suggested averaging would provide a much looser school capacity standard than the current city rules.

Under Montgomery County's APFO, "the most lax and least effective apfo in the entire region," Hall added, individual schools can exceed the supposed 120% overcapacity cap without triggering a development moratorium. At this time in the county, Hall said, 8 public schools exceed 150% of capacity, and 1 is at 180%. "That’s absurd, it’s almost criminal," Hall argued, but it's allowed by cluster averaging methods.

Adopting such a plan, while representing it as a 120% cap on overcrowding, "misleads our parents and residents," he added. Hall urged the council to not act hastily under pressure from developers, and to rely on guidance from the city's Planning Commission.