It'sugar installs Coming Soon signage at Rockville Town Square (Photos)

It'sugar will be home of the 1 lb. candy bars. Fittingly, the future candy boutique at Rockville Town Square has more entertaining "Coming Soon" window screens than those who just put a blank wood wall out front.

You could spend a lot of quality time identifying all the candy bars on the part of the window that challenges you to do just that. A defiant schoolgirl engages in the same behavior that apparently earned her detention in the first place. What's going on in the other scenes, I'm not even sure.

What is sure, is that the store is expected to open this spring.

Finnegan's Wake construction update - Rockville Town Square (Photos)

A source has told me Finnegan's Wake could open in less than two weeks, but there is no official confirmation of that yet. The signage and awning are up.

There currently is no contact information, website or Facebook page for the Irish pub. Just the potential that this may actually open in time for St. Patrick's Day. Keep your fingers crossed.

Residents upset after Montgomery County Council drops bus depot in Rockville neighborhood

Many Rockville residents are wondering why they weren't informed by Montgomery County or the City of Rockville that Montgomery County Public Schools planned to turn the front parking lot at the Carver Educational Services Center into a makeshift bus depot. Now it's happened, as the Montgomery County Council yesterday provided MCPS with the funds to do so - $1,725,000, to be exact.

Expect 100 school buses to eventually appear on the lot at Mannakee Street and Hungerford Drive, as a result of the County's so-called "Smart Growth Initiative" - also known as "public officials making sweetheart real estate deals with County assets for private developer profit." The result of the Shady Grove bus depot site being sold for private real estate development is that all those buses have to go somewhere. Others will be stored nearby at 1700 Crabbs Branch Way.

MCPS will have to submit its plans to the City for review and to receive the necessary permits.

The West End Citizens Association did not receive notice from either governmental party, and residents there - and in Woodley Gardens and College Gardens - are wondering if these buses will have to traverse parts of their neighborhood. This particular location does not have curb cuts that exit directly onto a major road, meaning residential streets will have to deal with bus traffic. Another concern is that buses will park and idle in neighborhoods.

One would assume that, unless all 100 buses take Mannakee to MD 355, they will of necessity have to use Nelson Street to access I-270, to reach their destinations elsewhere in the County.

Planning Commission wraps up loose ends on Rockville Pike Plan

Rockville Planning Commissioners tackled a few unresolved matters in the Rockville Pike Neighborhood Plan last night, and hope to transmit it to the Mayor and Council once final edits can be completed and a vote be held. While the commission's transmittal letter was the subject of some discussion, commissioners have suggested presenting the letter in-person to the Mayor and Council so that it does not end up getting lost (figuratively, more than literally) in the all of the paperwork.

The first question to settle was whether to keep building height descriptions in stories, feet, or a hybrid of both. Stories was the choice after a 4-2-1 straw vote, with commissioners Jack Leiderman, and Don Hadley dissenting, and Chair Charles Littlefield abstaining.

A second question was how to describe the City's goal for its jobs-to-housing ratio in the plan. Littlefield's proposed statement was considered too competition-oriented toward other job centers in the region by commissioners Anne Goodman and Gail Sherman. One point of reference was Rosslyn, which had nearly five times the number of jobs per housing unit as Rockville does.

Long Range Planning Chief David Levy cautioned commissioners to be careful in emphasizing a higher ratio than the City has today. Places like Rosslyn have buildings far taller than the commissioners have said they are comfortable with for Rockville, he noted. Ultimately, the commission decided the final language should seek to maintain the current mix, to ensure the City doesn't become a bedroom community.

Building heights have remained controversial throughout the Pike Plan process. But Leiderman was surprised to find that one issue the Commission resolved did not appear in the plan. At an earlier worksession, commissioners had agreed to limit residential heights to 7 stories, and commercial heights at 10 stories.  But only the 10-story limit appeared in the plan's text.              

Leiderman made a motion to restore the distinction, which passed 5-2, with commissioners John Tyner and David Hill dissenting.

Vision Zero, a global movement to eliminate traffic-related deaths by 2024, won't be in the plan, however. Commissioners voted 6-1 to omit the specific phrase "Vision Zero" from the plan. Littlefield cast the sole vote in favor of including it. No one stated a specific objection to the Vision Zero concept prior to the vote, but indicated they did not want to use the terminology.

Levy said that, while he might be speaking out of turn, he was sure the Mayor and Council would want to hear directly from Littlefield in person, when the commission officially signs off on the final plan.

Leiderman asked if the Mayor and Council would have to hold the one required public hearing after making substantial changes to the Plan, rather than before they deliberate. Staff said the law allows them to hold the public hearing at whatever point in the 150 day approval process they wish. That would mean the public might not have a say on any such changes, should they hold the hearing first.

Rockville rejects Confederate statue - now what?

The City of Rockville has declined to accept the controversial Confederate statue Montgomery County wants to relocate from the historic Red Brick Courthouse to the Beall-Dawson House. Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton and the City Council voted 4-1 to reject the statue, with Councilmember Beryl Feinberg the lone dissenter.

The decision primarily turned on the County's refusal to pay the full costs that would be involved in securing and protecting the statue. "I don't want to see it warehoused forever," Newton said, "but I also don't think it's the city's responsibility to take it. I'm firmly in the camp of not accepting it."

"Rockville is being put on the spot. It would utterly dominate that site," Councilmember Mark Pierzchala said in starting the discussion Monday night. "It would be very difficult to place in historical context. I am leaning at this point against agreeing to accept it."

Feinberg, who is a County employee, said she did not believe she would be biased in making her decision, and that she had not been pressured by the County to vote in any particular way. After consulting with the City Attorney, Feinberg said she had concluded that she would not have to recuse herself in this case.

It will be a major embarrassment for the County if it is forced to mothball the statue in a warehouse someplace.

But the Beall-Dawson House was never an ideal location, anyway. The statue was sure to be vandalized repeatedly, now that it has been made into a target. And, as offensive as the statue is to many, it was also offensive to descendants of Confederate veterans to position the statue in a direction other than facing south, as had been proposed for the Beall-Dawson site.

This statue should be placed where its significance and meaning are appreciated, such as in a Confederate cemetery. It's hard to believe there isn't one somewhere that would be glad to accept it. Ultimately, it's sad that future generations in Rockville will grow up with no idea of their City's full role in the Civil War, in both its positive and negative aspects.

Rockville Mayor and Council vote to ask state to study burying MD 355 through town center

Rockville's Mayor and Council voted unanimously to ask the state of Maryland to study the potential of burying Rockville Pike (MD 355), where it passes by downtown Rockville and the Rockville Metro station, during a worksesson on the topic last night. It would be the most expensive of 3 options designed to improve traffic flow, accommodate the proposed 355 and Veirs Mill Road Bus Rapid Transit systems, and create new economic development opportunities for the City.

The concept was first proposed during the 1990s, and Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton has been a strong proponent of the idea since. A preliminary proposal by a trio of consulting firms hired by the City would have 355 running as a four-lane highway underground from Dodge Street to a point north of Beall Avenue. On the new "surface" level created above that would be four lanes of local traffic, and two dedicated BRT lanes. The consultants were recommending 10' lane widths to discourage higher vehicle speeds. Newton said she was skeptical that would work, particularly with the popularity of wide, large SUVs and the heavy truck traffic on the Pike. Consultants said the underground option could be sold to the state as a way to make up for past design mistakes by Maryland in Rockville, and solve issues like the mixing bowl at 355 and Veirs Milll, while allowing Veterans Park to grow in size.

Utility relocations above and below ground would be a major cost factor in the tunnel option. The underground 355 would also mean acquiring 12,500 SF of right-of-way from 15 landowners along the route, which isn't that much in the grand scheme of land deals.

The total estimated cost of the tunnel facility would be $214 million, the study predicts. Development opportunities created by the plan would include redevelopment of 255 Rockville Pike, and two sites alongside the Rockville Metro station that currently serve as bus bays.

However, there would be potential for even more air rights development than the plan shows.

Newton asked if the tunnel could be shortened to reduce the cost. The consultants said a 1.3 mile tunnel would be the "sweet spot" for the project. The Mayor also pressed for one of her priorities in the concept, the creation of a large village green that could serve as not only public space, but also to host events such as the large scale Hometown Holidays concerts currently not possible since the E. Middle Lane parking lot was redeveloped.

While the consultants recommended against getting too detailed at this early stage, it would seem that an at-grade road/BRT alignment over the tunnel that wasn't so wedded to the current route of the Pike could be adjusted toward the tracks, for example. That would open up more space for development and a villlage green that wouldn't be possible if it had to be split down the center by a road.

Air rights over much of the tunnel could bring significant private investment into the project. Councilmember Mark Pierzchala and Planning Commissioner Don Hadley both agreed that buildings of perhaps 12 stories would be needed to make the project viable. Hadley noted that the cost should be put into the long-term context of the benefits of burying the Pike. He compared it to the cost of tuition to a fine university that would pay off later in life.

I think that's clearly the case. Separating through traffic and local traffic would not only restore the 33% capacity that BRT will steal in any Pike segment where it gets dedicated lanes taken from cars, but could also create more of a human environment above ground, and be a significant advancement toward the Vision Zero concept in the town center area. The concept aims to eliminate all deaths from traffic accidents by 2024.

Don Hadley

In other news last night, a majority of councilmembers from the Team Rockville slate declined to support the reappointment of Hadley to another term on the Planning Commission.  Councilmember Virginia Onley said she would like more diversity, and to limit the number of terms served by volunteers. Onley has voted to reappoint others to successive terms on commissions, however. Hadley is a highly-respected land use attorney who has won praise from residents for his deliberative and thoughtful approach.

But don't expect to see Hadley disappear into the good night just yet - unless he wishes to do so. One of the powers a Rockville mayor has is the ability to simply not make a new appointment, when he or she faces opposition to a candidate from a majority on the Council. Newton and her predecessor, former Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio, made wise use of this authority, and ended up ultimately winning majority support for replacement commissioners who represented their priorities on land use decisions. You'll find few citizens in Rockville who think the consultant's Euro-style Rockville Pike plan was better than the one the Planning Commission is wrapping up now.

At the end of the meeting, the Mayor and Council also voted unanimously to support a state Senate bill (SB 271) sponsored by Sen. Nancy King, which would provide more school construction money to Montgomery County.

Photo courtesy City of Rockville

Supercuts coming to The Upton; Panera Bread starting construction; World of Beer update (Photos)

Supercuts is coming to the Duball project in Rockville Town Center on E. Middle Lane. A banner has been installed on the building's facade outside of the Cambria Suites hotel.

Meanwhile, building permits have been issued for the future Panera Bread in the same building.

Panera Bread

In other Upton news, construction is still slow-going at World of Beer: