ROCKVILLE PLANNING CHAIR TO MAYOR & COUNCIL: YOU DON'T HAVE LEGAL POWER TO CHANGE APFS

Rockville Planning Commission Chair Don Hadley dropped a bombshell in the heated debate over the future of the city's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance/Standards last night. During his annual presentation on city planning and development, Hadley touched on the APFO issue. Just as some councilmembers are prepared to loosen school overcrowding restrictions on development, Hadley cited a recent legal opinion by Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler that suggests they lack the authority to do so.

The opinion resulted from a 2011 request by the Mount Airy Town Council to settle the question of whether the council could amend or change a comprehensive plan or plan element formulated by the town's planning commission. The council and its attorney believed it could. "Respectfully, we disagree," Gansler wrote back in his November 18, 2014 opinion.

Based upon Sections 3-202 and 3-205 of the Maryland Code’s Land Use Article, the 2012 Code Revision notes, and his review of legislative history, Gansler concluded the council lacked the legal authority to change a planning commission plan or plan element without receiving a new recommendation from the planning commission. Gansler's opinion argued that the council could only approve or disapprove of a plan, not alter it.

The opinion does not apply to counties or Baltimore City, but does apply to municipalities like Rockville.

Accordingly, Hadley suggested at last night's Mayor and Council meeting, the APFS changes proposed by some councilmembers are in conflict with both the current Rockville Master Plan, and also state land-use laws.

Councilmember Tom Moore, an advocate for changing the APFS school standards, vigorously disagreed. "You made a pretty bold claim," Moore charged, saying that Rockville City Attorney Debra Yerg Daniel had concluded the opinion did not apply to the APFS change "because it's not a Master Plan item." 

But Daniel's legal opinion has not been made public, and - under Mayor and Council privilege - must remain secret unless the Mayor and Council waive their right to confidentiality. Hadley asked if the city attorney's decision would remain "under a rock" where the public cannot review it.

Mayor Bridget Newton and a majority of the council said they were willing to waive their legal right to confidentiality, although Moore raised the question of whether there were any negative implications for the city in doing so. The APFS issue "is on a fast train, and four of us have asked you" to make the decision public, Newton said to Daniel.

Daniel agreed to make her opinion public, but it is not known how soon it will be released as of this writing.

An extra dash of intrigue has now been added to the debate, which had tensions high all evening. Near the meeting's end, Newton and Moore clashed on a labor relations item being added to a future agenda. Moore opposed the item, interjecting repeatedly. "Councilmember Moore, you are out of order," Newton said firmly, as Moore continued to protest.

Hadley said that, as chair of the commission, "I'm a dummy if I sit here and watch" the APFS matter be resolved by the council, if it has no legal authority to do so. He pointed to the city's master plan language and state land use rules, both of which explicitly emphasize that school capacity must be provided to support new development. The Mayor and Council should ask Gansler for an opinion on their authority to tamper with the APFS before doing so, Hadley suggested.

"I wouldn't mess with the APFS until the Attorney General rules," Hadley advised. "The city doesn't want me to do this, but we've got to do it."

ROCKVILLE COUNCILMEMBER HOSTING MEETING ON PROPOSED APFO/APFS CHANGES

Rockville Councilmember Tom Moore is hosting a public meeting on December 17 at City Hall at 7:00 PM, regarding the proposed changes in the city's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance and Standards that would alter how school overcrowding calculations are made. This is another chance to have your voice heard on this contentious issue that has great implications for the future of the City.

CHRISTMAS DECORATION DONATIONS NEEDED AT FISHER HOUSE IN BETHESDA

The Fisher House Foundation operates a network of homes nationwide where military spouses and families can stay free of charge, while family members are being treated at medical facilities. Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda has 5 Fisher House homes.

Two of the smallest homes still need to be decorated for the holidays, and that's where you can help.

Donations of Christmas decorations are greatly needed to accomplish this task, and bring the holiday spirit to families staying there this month. Help families far from home who are enduring an often-stressful situation in Bethesda have some semblance of a normal Christmas, by giving extra decorations you have, or purchasing some to donate.

Items that would be most helpful include tree ornaments/tinsel/holly berries (they already have the trees to put them on), small wreaths so they can put one on every door (8) in each house, reindeer, stockings for the fireplaces, and Santa hats and scarves.

If you have items to contribute, please email Megan Jones A.S.A.P. They are hoping to have all of the supplies by December 15. 

Share this article on Twitter and Facebook if you can, to help spread the word. For more information about the Fisher House Foundation, visit their website.

APFO DISCUSSION, SELF-STORAGE ZTA, KING FARM ON ROCKVILLE PLANNING COMMISSION AGENDA

Two current hot-button issues will come up during the next Rockville Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday, December 10, at 7:00 PM. Commissioners and staff members Jim Wasilak and Deane Mellender will discuss the Adequate Public Facilities Standards changes proposed by the Mayor and Council. The commission will also take public testimony on a Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) that would prohibit the construction of self-storage facilities on land within 250 feet of a public school.

This comes during a major controversy over an EZ-Storage facility that is proposed to be built near Maryvale Elementary School in Rockville.

Two townhome projects that would add a total of 129 housing units to King Farm will also be reviewed. Those project sites are located at 900 and 901 King Farm Boulevard.

The meeting will be held in the Mayor and Council chambers at City Hall, and also broadcast live on Channel 11.

CELEBRATE THE REPEAL OF PROHIBITION AT BAR LOUIE ROCKVILLE DECEMBER 5

No, we're not talking about free parking at Rockville Town Square. This Friday is the 81st anniversary of the end of Prohibition in the United States. Bar Louie in Rockville Town Square will be celebrating the occasion on Friday with 3 special cocktails, period jazz, and a costume contest for those who arrive in 1933-era style.

ROCKVILLE, GAITHERSBURG, MOCO TO DISCUSS BUS RAPID TRANSIT AT MEETING WEDNESDAY NIGHT

Leaders of Rockville and Gaithersburg will hold a discussion Wednesday night at City Hall with Montgomery County officials, regarding the county's Bus Rapid Transit plan. Much about BRT remains sketchy in detail, with no funding source yet identified, no credible ridership forecasts, and the potential for extensive property condemnations throughout the proposed network.

A photo op event at the Montgomery County Fair last summer backfired when the bus on display turned out to look like any ordinary, articulated Metrobus in service today in the DC area - not the futuristic, railcar-like vehicle BRT boosters promised. And there's no getting around the fact that the current plan to take lanes from cars on Rockville Pike will reduce automobile capacity on that already-congested road by 33%.

Wednesday night's meeting will be held at 7:00 PM in the Mayor and Council chambers, and also will be broadcast live on Rockville Channel 11.

ROCKVILLE CITIZENS, FORMER MAYOR SOUND ALARM ON ATTEMPT TO WEAKEN CITY'S APFO

Rockville City Councilmember Tom Moore's push to change the city's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance/Standards is generating controversy among residents, and the former mayor who ushered in the ordinance in 2005. Moore has referred to the status quo rules regarding schools as "failed," and tweeted last month that "Our schools & City deserve standards that work." 

Former Mayor Larry Giammo, widely credited for guiding the construction of the city's town center, is urging residents to turn out in force at the January 5 Mayor and Council Public Hearing on the APFO, and oppose the changes. The changes under consideration include adopting a weaker school capacity test similar to Montgomery County's, which would allow more overcrowding (120%) than exists today. They would also use an average across school clusters that could mask specific schools' severe overcrowding issues, and change the school capacity test period from 2 to 5 years. 

Moore proposes charging developers a fee for their projects when school overcrowding reaches 105-120% of capacity, and says the current mechanism to request funds when overcrowding hits 110% hasn't generated the construction money necessary.

Giammo rebuts Moore's assertion that the APFO has failed Rockville on adequate school construction, arguing that the APFO was never intended as a solution to begin with; only to prevent overcrowding from getting even worse. "Why propose to loosen controls which are keeping the problem from getting worse, if you actually care about the problem?" wrote Giammo on his blog ten days ago.

Residents are organizing around a petition to keep the current standards in place, and are also urging concerned citizens to attend the January 5 hearing, or email their testimony if they cannot attend to speak in person. East Rockville resident Peter Wizler, who recently helped lead citizen efforts to prevent a self-storage facility from being constructed near Maryvale Elementary School, wrote on his blog that "I am sure we can all agree that school over crowding compromises the education of our kids." Loosening standards would lead to a rapid increase in development and overcrowding, many residents fear. Such development has been restrained by the current APFO standards.

The diverging opinions on the APFO/APFS have been a constant source of debate in City politics in recent years, and in the past election. Equally on the front burner has been the push to get more funding for school expansion and construction across Rockville. Mayor Bridget Newton and Councilmember Julie Palakovich Carr recently testified before the Montgomery County Board of Education about the need for funds, and more accurate planning for future student populations.

The January 5 public hearing will be at 7:00 PM in the Mayor and Council chambers at Rockville City Hall. A vote on the APFO changes is currently scheduled for January 26, 2015.