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.

ROCKVILLE MAYOR AND COUNCIL APPROVE CHANGES TO DUBALL TOWN CENTER PROJECT

Rockville's Mayor and Council approved changes to the Duball project for 198 E. Montgomery Avenue last night. The developer had sought an increase in residential units for the proposed second tower in Town Center, but also asked for a 25% parking reduction.

The seemingly incongruous requests did not sit well with some. Councilmember Virginia Onley, a resident of nearby Americana Center, said parking was a mess already. Some frustrated parkers try to use Americana Center spaces as it is, she noted. Ultimately, Onley, Mayor Bridget Newton and Councilmember Beryl Feinberg voted 3-2 to reduce the parking waiver to 15%.

Councilmember Julie Palakovich Carr then offered an amendment to eliminate the valet parking requirement for Duball, arguing that the increased parking space requirement negated the need for that service. Councilmember Tom Moore seconded the amendment, which ultimately passed.

Moore said he disagreed with the parking increase, but still believes the project will be a boon for the city's town center. The Rockville Planning Commission had previously recommended against permitting the unit increase and parking decrease. Duball's first tower is nearing completion next to the municipal parking lot where the proposed tower will be built, in front of the Regal Rockville theater.

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.