Rockville construction update: Chopt at Congressional Plaza (Photos)

Chopt is still on track for a spring opening at Congressional Plaza in Rockville. Some flooring and light fixtures are in place, and the sign is up outside at the future salad shop.

Rockville stormwater fee squeezing non-profits

Rockville non-profits who own their properties are being hurt by the City's stormwater management fee. Churches and other organizations have faced a similar issue statewide, under Maryland's "rain tax." Large church parking lots can draw a big charge, sometimes more than a congregation can afford to pay.

Mary Caroline Colletti said her church, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Rockville, is one of them. The congregation received a $4000 stormwater fee bill from the City last year alone, Colletti told the Mayor and Council at their Monday night meeting. 

"We’re being charged just like a business," Colletti said. "It’s not a business. We can’t charge to come to our services.” And, unlike a business, a church cannot write off expenses or raise prices. Colletti said the congregation's main revenue source is the collection plate during services.

Colletti noted that the church provides many services within the City, including donating thousands of dollars a year to the Mansfield Kaseman Health Clinic. She said the church is also helping the environment by adding solar panels. The current situation is not fair to non-profits who own property, Colletti said, and “I’d just like that to be reviewed.”

City manager takes oversight role in Rockville purchasing

Rockville City Manager Barbara Matthews has now added oversight of purchasing by the City to her long list of responsibilities, after the Mayor and Council adopted a change recommended by a consulting firm. This was one of the more significant adjustments the report by Calyptus Consulting suggested. The City Council voted last October to delay implementation of the report's recommendations 90 days, in part to give Matthews the opportunity to get her staff up to speed to take on the new authority.

“I want to commend the city manager for her decision to accept the consultant’s recommendations that the purchasing division report directly to her," said Jack Kelly, chair of the City's Financial Advisory Board at Monday night's meeting. "I believe that this was the correct decision.” Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton also thanked Matthews, adding, "you have helped the Mayor and Council greatly."

After a recap of the report and discussion, the Mayor and Council voted unanimously to move purchasing oversight to the City Manager's office. Kelly called the move "a great start," but he had some concerns that two other recommendations - the creation of service level agreements and targeted improvement plans - were not getting enough attention.

“It’s not been easy, but it has been well worthwhile,” Newton said of the delayed reform.

Photo courtesy City of Rockville

Mellow Mushroom adds Coming Shroom signage at Rockville Town Square (Photos)

After a long wait, construction is going full steam ahead inside the future Mellow Mushroom at Rockville Town Square. The results of the work are still hidden behind a wall, of course. But some new Coming Soon - or as they call it, "Coming Shroom" - signage has been added outside. They're also still hiring, for all of you aspiring pizza chefs in Rockville.

Meanwhile, over at Finnegan's Wake (remember that?) the activity hasn't been quite as frantic, but I can confirm construction is actually underway now. Place your bets as to whether or not they can open before the biggest day on the Irish pub calendar - St. Patrick's Day.

Rockville construction update: Mosaic Cuisine and Cafe (Photos)

Mosaic Cuisine and Cafe is in the midst of a complete renovation at 186 Halpine Road in Rockville. The restaurant expects to reopen as soon as March 1.

Mayor and Council to discuss pending Siena Corporation litigation in closed session Monday

Before Rockville banned self-storage facilities within 250' of schools last year, Siena Corporation's attorney threatened the City with legal action should it do so. The move by the Mayor and Council foiled construction of a Siena facility near Maryvale Elementary School in East Rockville, where residents organized to stop the project. Rockville's Planning Commission had previously concluded that there were no legal grounds upon which they could deny the EZ Storage application.

Now the Mayor and Council will receive legal advice on the matter in a closed Executive Session at 6:00 PM Monday night, February 1. The regular meeting schedule will follow at 7:00.

Also on the agenda, is a critical purchasing study report by an outside consulting firm that raised serious questions about procurement practices by the City last fall. The Calyptus consultant also outlined how implementation of his recommendations could potentially save the City up to $4.6 million.

But the report became controversial in the contentious run-up to last November's election, resulting in a split vote to delay implementation of the report, and a recommendation that the same presentation be delivered again to the newly-elected Mayor and Council. City Manager Barbara Matthews also indicated that she would need time to prepare herself and her staff to assume the oversight role over purchasing that the report suggests she take on.

A separate executive session at the end of Monday night's meeting will discuss the King Farm Farmstead.

Photo courtesy City of Rockville

Rockville planning commissioners want more historic designation options

Planning Commission Chair
Charles Littlefield

Members of the Rockville Planning Commission would like the City to take a more varied approach to historic preservation, as planners and commissioners consider a report on the past and future of such efforts. Rockville's Chief of Long Range Planning David Levy told commissioners that one of the main objectives of the report is to get feedback from the public on historic preservation during the Master Plan process currently underway. Levy and planner Cindy Kebba said the topic has not really come up in the many public listening sessions the City has hosted so far.

While communities such as Lincoln Park have welcomed preservation efforts, other neighborhoods like Twinbrook have been wary of what historic designation would mean for property values and redevelopment options for the small homes there.

Commissioner Don Hadley said sometimes the current designation process goes too far. Not every historic building is of the same importance or value, and some restrictions on properties are cumbersome while adding little value to preservation efforts. Hadley gave the example of a homeowner who can't easily obtain a particular siding material for a small outbuilding being forced to pay for custom manufacturing.

The City needs "a more nuanced set of tools," Commissioner Jack Leiderman concurred. He suggested having several gradations of preservation that could be more flexible, and put the property in question into the right context. When it comes to historic designation in the City today, he said, "people are a little bit scared what that means."

Commission Chair Charles Littlefield asked staff why the thresholds to start and complete the designation process are so high. It currently takes 40% of residents to agree to start the process, and 85% to apply the designation. Littlefield said that is much higher than the simple majority (51%) or two-thirds majority more often applied to legislative decisions. Zoning Chief Jim Wasilak said the City intentionally set a "high bar" for designation, to ensure that such decisions wouldn't be rammed through easily by a minority of residents. The current system requires clear buy-in by the community in question, Wasilak said.