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 construction update: Supercuts (Photos)

The storefront of Supercuts has been revealed in the ground floor of the Cambria Suites and Hotel, facing E. Middle Lane in Rockville.

Redevelopment of Rockshire Village Center could create parking problems in Rockville

Redevelopment of the Rockshire Village Center in Rockville as a residential community could create serious parking problems in and around the Rockshire neighborhood. A developer preparing to submit plans to the City of Rockville for the property has met with Concerned Citizens for Rockshire Center, a grassroots organization representing community concerns.

Out of those recent discussions, five issues of mutual interest to residents and the developer were identified:

(1) Retail space

(2) Parking on the site

(3) Traffic

(4) School capacity

(5) Overall design, layout, and land use

A CCFRC representative spoke about the parking issue before the Mayor and Council Monday evening. He said loss of the ample surface parking currently on the Rockshire Center site would create problems for the adjacent Korean Presbyterian Church next door on Hurley Avenue. The church has a very small parking area, and has relied for years on the shopping center for overflow parking.

Wooton High School students are also currently able to utilize some of the spaces at the shopping center. Should a future development there have limited parking, this would understandably create parking issues for the surrounding area.

The shopping center is located at the intersection of Wooton Parkway and Hurley Avenue.

New developer to try again with 900 Rockville Pike (Photo)

Update: 12:43 PM - I have removed reference to an earlier design proposal for the site after learning it is not affiliated with the current design study now underway. I apologize for any confusion.

A new developer, J. Danshes, LLC, is exploring the potential of developing one of the few greenfield properties along MD 355, 900 Rockville Pike. The 25,863 SF plot is also one of the most challenging to utilize. Just a few years ago, the latest applicant was unable to obtain approval from the Rockville Planning Commission for a billiards business there.

The primary issue has been the "landlocked" nature of the site. Hemmed in by the Pike, Edmonston Drive, the CSX/WMATA tracks, and a commercial development directly south of the property line, previous applicants have been unable to get satisfactory ingress and egress curb cuts for the site. First the Maryland State Highway Administration rejected the idea of an additional curb cut access from the Pike, and curb cuts on the Edmonston side were deemed unsafe. Then the property owner next door, understandably, objected to patrons of 900 using that property's curb cuts to gain access to the Pike.

This new potential applicant has hired the local architecture firm of Steven J. Karr, AIA, Inc. to come up with a plan for the (currently unknown) use it is considering there. Karr's firm designed the first retail building you encounter when entering the City of Rockville from the south, the successful Rollins Center on The Pike, at the southwest corner of the Pike and Rollins Avenue. That building was fully-leased when it was delivered a few years ago.

Perhaps an agreement has been reached with the property owner to the south, such as compensation, that makes it a win-win for both parties. We'll likely find out when the plans are eventually submitted to the City for review.

The Karr design study is expected to be complete by June.

Signage installed at World of Beer in Rockville

The signage is up at the future World of Beer, at the corner of E. Montgomery Avenue and Helen Heneghan Way in Rockville Town Center. Work continues on the interior build-out, although the real work may be how to stock 500 different beers under the Montgomery County Government liquor monopoly.

Photo: Tom Moore

Staten Island experience shows Montgomery County BRT will "create a horrific situation" for drivers

Dedicated bus lane on Richmond Ave.
on Staten Island

Montgomery County is bulling ahead with plans for Bus Rapid Transit despite widespread public opposition. Officials might want to consider the disastrous implementation of a similar express Select Bus Service plan on Staten Island.

Stretches of dedicated lanes were added to Hyland Boulevard and Richmond Avenue, roads similar to those where BRT is being proposed in Montgomery County.

Remember what I've been saying for about four years now about losing 33% of vehicle capacity where lanes are taken from cars for BRT? And how that will make congestion worse, not better?

Now listen to New York State Senator Andrew Lanza (R - Staten Island) report on the "success" of BRT there, in these remarks at a Subcommittee on Transportation hearing on June 20, 2013:

"The City came in and painted. We had so few lanes for traffic, and so we have, you know, so few roads for the number of cars. So in order to facilitate, uh, this new service, uh, we took one lane out of service, we painted it red. 

So we told people in cars - who need to be in cars because they don’t have service - that, you know, a third of the road space on the major roads is now not available to them. And by the way, um, buses often go in [one of the remaining automobile lanes] anyway. They need to, it’s not the driver’s fault, because cars are making turns in front of them. So cars can no longer travel in those lanes, and yet buses are still traveling in those other lanes anyway.

We talk about the fact that we save people seven minutes [on express buses]. That’s only if you go end-to-end. The majority of people don’t go end-to-end. We spent millions of dollars painting roads to save seven minutes. We don’t talk about the thousands of people in their cars who have had 10, 20, 30 minutes added to their shuffle because now they’re a choke points, uh, because where there was once a lane for them, it is no longer there. It’s just a parking lot now. And because there’s this red lane, that…and by the way, there’s hardly ever a bus coming through. Hardly ever.

We can’t just talk to the people on the buses. You can find that one person who now has the express stop in front of their house that now saves seven minutes. They’re gonna like it. People stuck in cars, it’s really created a horrific situation."

Should Rockville eliminate long-vacant government positions?

Rockville City Councilmember Beryl Feinberg urged her colleagues to eliminate several city government positions that have long been vacant at last night's Mayor and Council meeting. Reasoning that the City has managed without those employees for an extended period, Feinberg concluded they could be safely eliminated, to constrain the budget going forward. She brought up the issue during an FY-2017 budget worksession.

Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton and Feinberg's Council colleagues strongly disagreed with her proposal that they discuss the possibility. "We need to stay in our lane," Newton said, referring to the City's Council-Manager form of government, which gives the City Manager purview over personnel. Councilmembers Mark Pierzchala, Julie Palakovich Carr and Virginia Onley agreed with Newton.

Feinberg stressed that no current City employee would face a salary cut or termination, as all of the positions are currently empty. Newton suggested that the vacancies may not be as clear-cut as they appear, and might not remain vacant far into the future. On the code enforcement position Feinberg cited, Newton noted that the shortage of such City inspectors has been to blame for delayed restaurant openings in Rockville Town Square.

Acting City Manager Craig Simoneau backed up her line of argument later in the discussion. He said one of the positions became vacant because that employee was on a military deployment overseas. Another is in the process of being filled. And Simoneau hinted that he might well fill some of those vacancies, and put those new employees to work where current staff are most-overtaxed.

With no support for her targeted proposal, Feinberg then asked for $300,000 in general cost savings to be found in personnel. She noted that in her years of government experience, she has not found government departments to be willing to voluntarily eliminate chronically-vacant positions. Simoneau candidly acknowledged that he would not seek to eliminate these positions at this time.