Save the date: Super Hero Day at Krispy Kreme in Rockville April 28

Krispy Kreme in the Fallsgrove Village Center will be hosting Super Hero Day on Thursday, April 28.

Buy 1 dozen donuts that day, and get a second dozen Original Glazed Donuts free.

EYA Tower Oaks project recommended by Rockville Planning Commission (Photos)

Montgomery County took one more slouch towards becoming the world's largest bedroom community last night, with the Rockville Planning Commission's recommendation to the Mayor and Council that land designated for office space in Tower Oaks be converted to residential. Commissioners voted 4-2 to approve developer EYA's project plan amendment that would allow 375 housing units, including four multifamily buildings, townhomes and single-family homes, on the east side of Preserve Parkway. The project plan will now go the Mayor and Council for approval.

Staff presented the commission with 9 binding elements required for approval, and commissioners voted unanimously to add 2 more - a shuttle to take residents to Metro and nearby shopping centers, and to make a proposed market a binding agreement.

Aakash Thakkar, Senior VP of Acquisition and Development for EYA, described the market as being a "general store," where residents and their guests could purchase items like wine, cheese or a loaf of bread. Commissioner David Hill suggested making it a binding element, due to the absence of any grocery stores within easy walking distance of the site. EYA readily agreed to the addition, as well as the shuttle.

The project would wipe out two-thirds of the forested property, and preserve one-third. Thakkar said EYA plans to leave that forest in its natural state, and perhaps add a wood-chip path that would meander through it. He said EYA would be willing to sign an agreement that would ensure the remaining forest was never developed. The development will also include a clubhouse with swimming pool and patio, several pocket parks, and a nature trail with exercise circuit.

Commissioners expressed many misgivings about the proposal, but ultimately seemed to side with short-term real estate market realities over long-term ideals.

Thakkar said the development would target a similar demographic to that of the nearby Park Potomac, empty nesters. There would certainly be children, he said, but the lack of transit, dining and nightlife on-site would not appeal as much to millennials. He suggested that up to 20% of future residents might be current employees in the nearby office developments. The project was also supported by several adjacent office park owners.

Chair Charles Littlefield was among the most skeptical of the project, although he stressed that it had many strong points. "This is not smart growth," he concluded, based on the distance of the site from Metro and the proposed density. Thakkar noted that the density is lower than that of the developer's other projects, such as Park Potomac.

The trendy thinking in the County is that the office market is weak away from Metro, and will be in perpetuity. This is not accurate, however. Wheaton has a Metro station, and its office market is terrible. 4500 East-West Highway and 7550 Wisconsin, both a short walk from the Bethesda Metro, have had to lower expectations and lease to smaller tenants than expected. 4500 lost the bidding for Intelsat headquarters to Tysons.

How bad is it? One of the largest office buildings within walking distance of the Wheaton Metro station was just demolished to make way for - guess what? - housing.

In reality, the office market is weak because Montgomery County's private sector economy is moribund, and its business climate is one of the worst in the region. The County hasn't attracted a single major corporate headquarters in nearly two decades. Not a single County Council member was endorsed by any Chamber of Commerce in the County in the 2014 election, a damning indictment of the anti-business record of the Council.

As long as we continue to ignore that elephant in the room, we will never restore the office market. And you know what? Developers and landowners are largely fine with that. That's because the profits that can be realized from residential are far bigger than they will ever be from any office park or building.

So while there may be crocodile tears and renting of garments publicly over the weak office market, behind the scenes, developers are rubbing their hands together at the prospect of every office building and office park in Montgomery County being converted to residential.

Of course, that assumes that developers can continue to fill multifamily mid/high-rises with less-than-traditional suburban residents: heavily-subsidized millennials, contract and military housing, student housing, and the poor and homeless. That will not be so much the case in this Tower Oaks development, and several commissioners said they liked the home ownership and MPDU ownership opportunities the EYA project would provide.

But Littlefield was right on the money when he argued that "residential demand is not infinite." And equally so when he noted that "it's supposed to be the 'I-270 Tech Corridor,' not the I-270 residential corridor."

Whiile this project alone will not hurt much by itself, the flipping of office-to-residential is going to damage the City and County in the long-term. The loss of jobs and potential jobs, the incomes they provide compared to the retail/restaurant positions that replace them, and the impact on schools and roads are mounting by the day.

What happens if we one day have a pro-business County Council, and large corporate headquarters and government agencies like the FBI were being considered here? Where would they go? The land space would be gone.

MD nonprofit seeks kids with asthma for study, offers stipend and free home improvements

The National Center for Healthy Housing, a non-profit located in Columbia, is seeking children with asthma between the ages of 5 and 16 for a study on improving indoor air quality. Children must live in a single-family home or townhome, and must be covered under private health insurance (includes plans under the Affordable Care Act).

Participants will receive a stipend of up to $350 for the year-long study, and some in the study group will receive free home improvements related to indoor air quality.

For full details, and to enroll by the May 31, 2016 deadline, visit the study website.

New Rockville city clerk named

Kathleen Conway is the new City Clerk of Rockville. Conway has served as Senior Director of Benefits for Interstate Hotels & Resorts, in Arlington, Virginia, since April 2013. She will have a much shorter commute at her new job.

“The Mayor and Council are thrilled to announce that Ms. Kathleen Conway has accepted the position of City Clerk/Director of Council Operations,” Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton said in a statement yesterday. “Kathleen has served on the Rockville Sister City Corporation and the Ethics Commission and is a longtime Rockville resident. She brings a passion for public service and will be a tremendous asset to the governing body.”

“My family and I are long-term Rockville residents and I am looking forward to serving my community,” Conway said. “I believe my career successes, including effective competencies in team leadership, customer relationship management, communication skills, program management, research/analysis and creative problem solving will allow me to deliver the results the community expects from this position.”

Conway will take over for Acting City Clerk Sara Taylor-Ferrell.

Rockville Pike plan hearing is "The B.F. Saul Show"

Better call Saul. Last night's first public hearing on the Rockville Pike Neighborhood Plan was dominated by two complaints: the width of the Pike proposed in the plan is too wide, and the recommended building heights are too short. A good number of residents turned out to hammer these points home, likely to the delight of property owner B.F. Saul, which has been making both arguments for some time.

Todd Pearson, VP with B.F. Saul, testified on behalf of the company, showing a rendering of its planned Pike development that would cover 17 acres from the intersection of Halpine Road and Chapman Avenue up to Party City, and east to the railroad tracks. Pearson warned that height caps of 7 stories for residential and 10 for commercial could have "unintended consequences."

Those could include severe reductions in public and green space, and a lack of varying heights within a large building, Pearson predicted.

The width of the Pike should be more like what Montgomery County has planned for White Flint, 162', Pearson suggested. With the 252' width suggested by the plan, he said, there will be seven "pedestrian conflict points" for those making what he said would be a 1-minute crossing on foot. I think he had a good point when he cited the importance of extending East Jefferson through the Woodmont Country Club site, as well as the planned extension of Chapman, as important congestion relief projects.

Including a jobs-to-housing ratio also irked Pearson, who suggested that if one were to be in the plan, it should encompass a much wider geographic range.

Several residents testified that they moved to Twinbrook not only for the proximity to Metro, but also because they were aware of projects such as B.F. Saul's, and wanted that type of urban development.

Resident Brigitta Mullican called the B.F. Saul proposal a "fantastic project." Ellen Bogage, whose firm Chesapeake Public Strategies is managing community outreach for B.F. Saul, said a petition to reduce the Pike's width has received 218 signatures as of last night.

"Anything is better than what's there now," argued resident Colleen Reed. She encouraged the Mayor and Council to "recognize that Rockvillle is a city. I have no reservation about having taller buildings along the Pike."

Many who testified at public hearings during the process did have reservations, however, leading the Planning Commission to scale back what would be possible on the Pike.

Not everyone is on-board for narrowing the Pike. David Green, a longtime resident of Twinbrook, said he was "painfully aware" of how hard it is to get around Rockville due to the manmade barrier known as Metro. He said a 270' right-of-way was reserved along the Pike for that reason.

Green termed the shrink-the-Pike effort "slick marketing. Of course the developers want more land," he said. He urged the Mayor and Council to do everything they could to promote better traffic flow in Rockville.

"Please approve the Rockville Pike Plan with no more changes," Green said.

Rockville construction update: Supercuts (Photos)

The storefront of Supercuts has been revealed in the ground floor of the Cambria Suites and Hotel, facing E. Middle Lane in Rockville.

Redevelopment of Rockshire Village Center could create parking problems in Rockville

Redevelopment of the Rockshire Village Center in Rockville as a residential community could create serious parking problems in and around the Rockshire neighborhood. A developer preparing to submit plans to the City of Rockville for the property has met with Concerned Citizens for Rockshire Center, a grassroots organization representing community concerns.

Out of those recent discussions, five issues of mutual interest to residents and the developer were identified:

(1) Retail space

(2) Parking on the site

(3) Traffic

(4) School capacity

(5) Overall design, layout, and land use

A CCFRC representative spoke about the parking issue before the Mayor and Council Monday evening. He said loss of the ample surface parking currently on the Rockshire Center site would create problems for the adjacent Korean Presbyterian Church next door on Hurley Avenue. The church has a very small parking area, and has relied for years on the shopping center for overflow parking.

Wooton High School students are also currently able to utilize some of the spaces at the shopping center. Should a future development there have limited parking, this would understandably create parking issues for the surrounding area.

The shopping center is located at the intersection of Wooton Parkway and Hurley Avenue.