Rockville expected to add new Rock East District

Rockville's Mayor and Council may officially designate a new district within the City at its meeting on Monday, July 19, 2021. Rockville Economic Development, Inc. (REDI) has formally submitted a request that elected officials declare the East Gude Drive corridor as the "Rock East District." If the Mayor and Council approve Monday night, REDI will fund and install pole banners along East Gude Drive for a targeted formal launch of the branding in September. Banners, signage and other branding materials will illustrate the breweries, "trendy shopping" and recreational opportunities found along the industrial-oriented corridor.

Rockville Mayor & Council to consider changes to remainder of 2021 event schedule

While the Biden administration earlier this year targeted July 4 as a symbolic ending to the pandemic, new virus variants, debates about the necessity for booster shots, and a failure to reach vaccination targets have made it hard to make such a declaration. In this context, the City of Rockville is now re-examining events that had been anticipated to take place over the remainder of 2021. "The pandemic is better, but not quite over," a staff report prepared for the Mayor and Council meeting for July 19 summarizes. 

Staff recommendations include postponing a planned Post-Covid 19 Pandemic Celebration until next year, as well as the State of the City address and the annual Volunteer Appreciation Party. The report notes that, in addition to health concerns, staff shortages at security firms have massively increased costs for hiring event security this year.

Other recommended changes are to move the Rocktobierfest from Rockville Town Square to RedGate Park, and to proceed with the 9//11 ceremony, the Rockville Antique and Classic Car Show, and Veterans Day ceremony at Veterans Park as scheduled, as all of these events are outdoors.

The Mayor and Council will review the recommendations at Monday's meeting, and instruct staff to implement any schedule changes.

Photo courtesy City of Rockville

Montgomery County to rifle through residents' recycling bins with camera crews in tow

Montgomery County is experiencing a violent crime wave, but has defunded 27 police officer positions. The County was chastised last year for leaving 54 positions unfilled at its 911 call center, a failure that was highlighted by a 36 minute response time to a fatal drowning incident. Those are far from the only areas of government understaffed, as witnesses to the collapse of a rusted-out traffic signal pole in Bethesda this week can attest. But the County's Department of Environmental Protection appears to be well-staffed, as it will demonstrate this morning in Bethesda. 

According to a press release, DEP inspectors will go house-to-house in the neighborhood near Walt Whitman High School, and rifle through each resident's recycling bin. "Reporters and camera crews will be able to follow the inspectors" starting at 6:30 AM this morning, in what appears to be a massive violation of residents' privacy. This was clearly the wrong week to toss your unshredded sensitive documents or Playboy collection. Do you read the wrong newspaper, or drink too many boxed alcoholic beverages? We may find out this morning!

The "Oops Tag" program quietly began two months ago, the press release states. Inspectors have had the time and manpower to already sweep through those early-targeted neighborhoods "two to three times." Rummaging through residents' recycling bins, they have left a tag on those which contained items that cannot be recycled, identifying the ineligible items. Such ineligible items cost taxpayers approximately $750,000 in 2020, the press release says.

Rockville Pike Mobil completes garage conversion to convenience store

The Mobil gas station at 890 Rockville Pike by Edmonston Drive has a new, more modern look. A recent project to convert the auto repair garage bays into a larger convenience store space is now complete. This is definitely an above-average size of convenience store as far as Rockville Pike gas stations go, and somewhat more competitive with the Dash In-style convenience store model found on corridors like MD 650 and US 301 in Maryland, or the smaller 7-Eleven gas stations.

Inotiv to lease space in Rockville after acquiring Biolreliance genetic toxicology unit

Inotiv, an Indiana-based non-clinical contract research organization, has acquired the genetic toxicology unit of MilliporeSigma’s BioReliance portfolio. While MilliporeSigma 's parent Merck is headquartered in Germany, it has a Bioreliance facility at 14920 Broschart Road in Rockville. As a result, Inotiv announced plans today to lease space in Rockville near that Bioreliance facility "to help boost its new buy," Fierce Biotech's Ben Adams reported this morning.

Rockville police chief to address Asian community safety Thursday night

Rockville Police Chief Victor Brito will address the safety of the city's large Asian-American community in a virtual forum this Thursday night, July 15, 2021 at 7:00 PM. You can register online in advance to participate in the meeting, which will also include representatives of the Asian and Pacific Islander community. The forum is being organized by the City of Rockville's Asian Pacific American Task Force.

Rockville zoning change would allow self-storage use at office buildings in mixed-use employment zones

U-Haul, Inc. has filed a request with the City of Rockville for a zoning change that would permit a self-storage use on existing properties citywide that are currently zoned as MXE (mixed-use employment) zones. The applicant is seeking the change because it would like to install self-storage units in an office building it owns at 1355 Piccard Drive. Self-storage warehouses in MXE zones were eliminated as a permitted use in 2019 by the Mayor and Council, and became a conditional use, and only if the site adjoins property that allows heavy industrial uses.

A zoning text amendment (ZTA) proposed by U-Haul would allow the self-storage use under the following conditions

• Self-storage would be operated in conjunction with an existing permitted use in the MXE zone
• Access to the self-storage units is internal-only, from inside the building
• Self-storage use is located inside an existing office building

The Rockville Planning Commission will receive a briefing on the proposed ZTA at its July 14, 2021 virtual meeting. 

Planning staff have advised against adopting the ZTA. At U-Haul's Piccard Drive building in particular, staff suggests the area proposed for conversion to self-storage is large enough to make that the principal use, rather than a use "in conjunction with" an existing principal use. The change would also reduce the job-creating potential in existing office buildings, staff argues. Any existing, "underperforming" office building could add self-storage as its principal use under the ZTA as proposed, which staff indicates goes against the reasoning behind banning self-storage facilities in MXE zones in the first place.

The ZTA will come back before the Planning Commission on July 28. At that time, commissioners will have the opportunity to discuss and make a formal recommendation to the Mayor and Council on the ZTA.