Rockville zoning chief announces how review of Chestnut Lodge project will proceed

Rockville zoning chief Jim Wasilak has announced his plan for proceeding on the review of a revised plan amendment for the Chestnut Lodge project. Applicant JNP Chestnut Lodge, LLC filed the revised amendment with the City early this month.

In an email sent yesterday to parties of record in the controversial matter, Wasilak said he considered the feedback given last week by the Mayor and Council before deciding on the following process and tentative schedule:

• Written and electronic notification of all parties of record, property owners, nearby residents and civic associations

• Area meeting to be held by JNP Chestnut Lodge LLC on July 26

• Staff/Development Review Committee review prior to staff report and recommendation on September 8
• Planning Commission briefing by staff on September 14
• Mayor and Council briefing on September 19
• Historic District Commission courtesy review and recommendation on October 20
• Planning Commission review and recommendation on November 9
• Mayor and Council public hearing on December 5
• Mayor and Council discussion and instructions to staff on January 9, 2017
• Mayor and Council final decision on January 30, 2017

Wasilak notes that the HDC is being asked to give a recommendation, beyond just the courtesy review it gave the earlier plan amendment. I've highlighted in bold the meetings above where the public will likely or certainly have the chance to speak.

While the new plan amendment reduces the horizontal width and footprint of the project, it still does not meet the requirements of the Planned Residential Unit (PRU) agreement previously negotiated by the City for the Chestnut Lodge site. Opponents of the project have argued that PRU remains legally binding, and would not permit a townhome development on this site, which is within a historic district.

Rendering courtesy City of Rockville

Beefsteak opens today at Westfield Montgomery Mall; is it worth a trip? (Video+photos)

 Beefsteak opens today in the Dining Terrace at Westfield Montgomery Mall. Is it worth a trip?

Watch my review and find out. Check out the menu on the Beefsteak website.

I created my own bowl with
broccoli, edamame, rice,
spicy tomato sauce, cherry tomatoes,
mozzarella cheese and
lemon honey dressing

The plastic spoon is heavier
than the typical disposable cutlery

Along with the bowl, I got potato chips,
house-made gazpacho and
Honest Tea
Honey Green Tea

Made from the finest
potatoes in Spain

Gazpacho

Floreen's Koch Brothers bill would gut MoCo employees' bargaining rights, union says

An expedited bill introduced by Montgomery County Council President Nancy Floreen would make collective bargaining with County employees more "transparent," she says. Its language evokes anti-labor initiatives by the Koch Brothers, a curious choice of inspiration in a blue jurisdiction like Montgomery.

"Council President Nancy Floreen is introducing a bill that would gut collective bargaining rights in Montgomery County," said Amy Millar, who is the lead negotiator for the UFCW Local 1994 MCGEO union. "The attacks [on public employees] never let up," Millar added.

According to Millar, the bill would reduce bargaining rights over working conditions, and allow the County Executive to ordain a "permanent umpire without union input." That refers to a provision in Floreen's bill that would strip all union power to determine who the County Executive and Council appoint as the Labor Relations Administrator. The LRA is a powerful position, because he or she has the authority to declare that either the executive or the union has violated the terms of the collective bargaining agreement. If only the County can choose the LRA...well, you can guess who would be favored.

Floreen's bill would also allow retired judges, as opposed to only those with neutral history in labor disputes, to be LRAs. That could introduce a bias, as judges are appointed by the same government officials who bargain with public employee unions.

On page 5 of the bill, number 17 would allow the County government to "create, alter, combine, contract out (italics and underlining added by me), or abolish any job classification, department, operation, unit, or other division or service, provided that no contracting of work which will displace employees may be undertaken by the employer unless ninety (90) days prior to signing the contract, or such other date of notice as agreed by parties. written notice has been given to the certified representative."

Millar says the bill's language "comes right out of ALEC model legislation," referring to the Koch Industries-backed American Legislative Exchange Council.

Floreen's support of Koch Brothers initiatives is only the latest Council link to Wall Street. Councilmember Hans Riemer's campaigns have been funded by numerous Wall Street firms and their lobbyists, including Mitt Romney's Bain Capital and Danaher Corporation, both pioneers in outsourcing American jobs to China and Mexico.

Mystery artwork in pedestrian walkway on N. Washington Street (Photos)

You may have noticed the covered walkway that has been up for awhile now at the Kettler project on N. Washington Street. There was also an unplanned addition a graffiti artist made, a portrait of a mystery man.

Leggett removes Carver and Westmore from bus depot list - who's next?

Residents in Lincoln Park and around the Carver Educational Services Center in Rockville are celebrating the success of their efforts to stop Montgomery County from relocating the Shady Grove school bus depot to their neighborhoods. County Executive Ike Leggett sent a memo to County Council President Nancy Floreen yesterday announcing he is withdrawing the current Declaration of No Further Need for the existing depot on Crabbs Branch Way, and is removing Carver and 1000 Westmore Avenue from the list of potential depot sites.

While neighbors of 1000 Westmore won't likely complain, the County did end up blowing $12,000,000 on its purchase of the Westmore site in what it claimed was a budget time so tight that taxes were raised to the highest level in County history last month.

The Crabbs Branch depot was to be vacated in 2017, and sold to a developer who would build townhomes and apartments on the site near Shady Grove Metro station.

But the letter makes clear that this so-called "Smart Growth Initiative" is not over. Leggett states that he is having his staff find more suitable locations than Carver or Westmore.

The problem, of course, is that every potential depot site also has residents nearby.

You'll notice that, despite fierce community opposition, Leggett pointedly did not remove the Blair Ewing Center from the potential depot sites in his memo.

And another bad choice, the Oaks Landfill at 6001 Olney-Laytonsville Road, is one councilmembers like Hans Riemer explicitly stated they want to have a public discussion about. There are several residential subdvisions right around the site, and homes directly across the road from it. 410 buses would honk their horns and test their backup beepers each morning at 6:00 AM.

The only other site given serious public consideration last year was a property near the intersection of Woodfield Road and Snouffer School Road, also near homes.

Houses directly across
from 6001 Olney Laytonsville Road

Much of Rockville is now off the hook in this crazy, developer-fueled crusade - but the battle is just starting at these, and potentially other, poor choices for the depot site around the County. Residents near those locations are waking up to find the MoCo political cartel is headed their way.

New renderings of funeral home converting to retail center in Rockville (Photos)

I found a couple of new renderings of the retail center being created out of the shell of a longtime funeral home at 1170 Rockville Pike. The former entrance to the funeral home on the south side of the building is now shown as an office space entrance. There's also a floor plan.

Businesspeople on MoCo Council's quest for $15 minimum wage: "That's a lot of extra Slurpees to sell"

Small business owners already struggling to profit in the moribund Montgomery County economy told the County Council last night that things will go from bad to worse if the minimum wage is hiked to $15. A bill to do just that, and tie future increases to inflation, is now on the table. Surrounding counties and Virginia do not have a minimum wage that steep.

$15? "That's a lot of extra Slurpees to sell," said Peter Gragnano of the Suburban Washington Franchise Owners Association. The hike could make a bad labor market for African-American youth in the County even worse, warned small business owner Stacey Brown. A 2015 survey I reported on showed that in Montgomery County, only 8.7% of black high school students surveyed are employed, and only 30.7% of black high school dropouts have been able to obtain employment.

Montgomery County's young black high school graduates are also being hard hit, with only 39.7% of those surveyed currently employed.

Attaching the minimum wage to inflation - which the bill would do beginning in 2021 - would also be a bad idea, another businessman testified. If inflation spiked as it did in the late 1970s and early 1980s, he predicted, "there won't be a way to wash a dish in a restaurant." Since the last minimum wage hike, touchscreen ordering kiosks have appeared in some County fast food restaurants, replacing cashiers.

Last night's testimony was enlightening in providing some more hard numbers on Montgomery County's floundering private sector economy. According to Maddy Voytek of the Maryland Retailers Association, Montgomery County has lost 2141 retail jobs since the turn of the century (around the same time the core members of this current Council were first elected). She said adoption of the $15 wage would "devastate our economy."

Montgomery County's restaurant sector has "slowed since 2012, and remains flat," reported Melvin Thompson of the Restaurant Association of Maryland. But things are tough all over, as County Council apologists like to tell us, right?

Wrong! Frederick County's dining sector grew by 5.4% in 2015 alone, Thompson said. How about our arch-rival Fairfax County, where Councilmember George Leventhal says he has to go to find a really good restaurant, because there aren't any in MoCo? The dining sector in Fairfax grew by 6% during that same year.

As wages go up, one person familiar with industry statistics testified, Montgomery County residents are being shut out of jobs here as Frederick and Carroll County workers seek our higher wages. They then take that money back to those jurisdictions, where they enjoy a far-lower cost of living, he said. Those counties then enjoy the tax and spending money benefits of Montgomery County retail and restaurant jobs, while putting more cars on our roads during rush hour.

Ilaya Hopkins, VP of public affairs for the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, said there are several problems with the proposed increase. First, it provides a "one-size-fits-all" solution to a diverse economy and labor market. Second, the potential impacts haven't been fully studied. And third, it further handicaps Montgomery County in its competition with other local jurisdictions where it is cheaper to start and operate a business.

The failure of the County's Nighttime Economy Initiative, after which there are fewer nightclubs in Bethesda than before it was implemented, is only one challenge for restaurant and bar owners. A previous wage hike, multiple new regulations and fee hikes, and a costly County liquor sales monopoly already make doing business in the hospitality sector here more challenging than in Northern Virginia.