Mayor and Council grant road code waiver to EYA Tower Oaks project

The Mayor and Council voted 4-1 last night to grant a road code waiver to the new EYA development at Tower Oaks. Street widths would be narrowed, and some additional street parking and a 1' buffer between the sidewalk and residents' properties would both be eliminated.

Councilmember Beryl Feinberg expressed concern that there would be insufficient guest parking available on the site. Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton and Councilmember Mark Pierzchala both said they thought the EYA plan was well-balanced between parking needs, green space and walkability. Councilmember Julie Palakovich Carr, who has advocated for the City to adopt Vision Zero goals for pedestrian fatalities, said that the trade-off for better pedestrian safety was worth the compromise on parking.

The development on Preserve Parkway will include up to 375 residential units, including single-family homes, townhomes, and multi-family buildings. City staff calculated that a maximum of 41 street parking spaces would be lost under the exemption from the road code.

Aakash Thakkar, SVP of Development at EYA, said there is currently some street parking just outside the site, as well as paid garage parking at the adjacent office development, that guests could utilize. Thakkar also said that EYA is currently exploring partnerships with nearby businesses to help fund the shuttle service that is expected to take residents to Metro from the development.

Photo courtesy City of Rockville

Twinbrook man dies during MoCo 911 service outage

Screen capture of
Montgomery County press release
regarding 911 outage shows
headline with "Outrage"
Freudian slip

"Outrage" was certainly an appropriate Freudian slip in the official Montgomery County press release regarding the two-hour 911 system outage that occurred overnight between Sunday and Monday. The statement attempted to mask the failure of the County to use its Alert Montgomery system to notify residents of the catastrophic outage during the actual outage period.

"During the two hours of interrupted service, alternative plans to receive and dispatch emergency plans were put into operation. Notification to the public was made through public safety social media and through the County’s Alert Montgomery emergency alert system."

But that claim is simply not true.

According to the County's own account, the outage lasted from 11:10 PM Sunday night to 1:09 AM Monday morning.

The first Alert Montgomery notifications were not sent out until 1:25 AM and 1:26 AM, according to timestamps of two Alert Montgomery subscribers. By that time, the outage was over. The reality was, the only notification during the outage period was coming from police and fire officials' social media accounts.

In contrast to apologists for County elected officials, County Executive Ike Leggett has correctly called for a full investigation of the failure. "County residents must be able to count on a prompt response to emergencies,” Leggett said in a later statement Monday.

Two people for whom fire and rescue services were sought during the outage died, the County has confirmed. One was a 40-year-old resident of the Twinbrook community in Rockville, and the second was a 91-year-old resident of Olney.

The point here is that there was a secondary communication failure Sunday night, and Alert Montgomery failed to notify the public of this dangerous 911 outage. That should be investigated alongside the main 911 failure.

MoCo 911 outage another sign of growth outpacing infrastructure

The failure of Montgomery County's 911 emergency system last night and early this morning is another indication that infrastructure is not keeping pace with residential growth. It also underlined how our elected officials continue to fail in providing the most basic services - removing snow from sidewalks, plowing County roads, properly displaying the American flag on County property, delivering adequate school and road capacity for the development they approve, and now, answering 911 calls.

Most stunning was that the County failed to alert the public, leaving police and fire officials to have to report the outage to citizens. Police and fire accounts tweeted throughout the night. But the official Montgomery County executive branch social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter were silent through the night. Only around 6:00 AM, nearly five hours after basic 911 service was restored, did the @MontgomeryCoMD account retweet a Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services tweet regarding the outage, which reportedly began around 11:15 PM.

Some on social media reported having problems with the 911 system as early as last Friday. No reason for the outage has been released as of this writing.

Given that official announcements from the police and fire social media accounts came more than an hour after callers were reportedly first receiving busy signals, it suggests that the current 911 system does not alert operators when it fails. Whatever the cause, the outage was a deadly threat to the public. When every second counts, in a heart attack or stroke, or in a burglary or a house fire, the extra time to look up the number of the nearest police or fire station could be fatal.

This is the latest example of County infrastructure not keeping up with rapid residential development countywide.

Four years after Councilmember Hans Riemer took office promising to make Montgomery County the cybersecurity capital of the world, it was discovered the County government was still operating on Windows 2000, one of the most vulnerable platforms in the world.

And a damning 2016 State of Maryland audit of Montgomery County Public Schools uncovered a staggering number of cybersecurity weaknesses, leaving student information easily accessible to hackers. Cyber intruders, the audit revealed, could access "any destination on the MCPS network." Eighty-six business partners of the school system improperly have "network-level access to the entire MCPS network." And the installed version of the database holding student information hasn't been supported by its developer since January 2012. Oh, and did I mention that 75% of the workstations tested by auditors didn't have the current security updates downloaded?

While the County clearly needs to get back to basics, what's needed even more urgently are elected officials who can deliver those basic services and functions we elect them to provide.

Montgomery County 911 service is down

Montgomery County's 911 emergency line, and non-emergency police lines are temporarily down, according to the Montgomery County Police Department. They are advising citizens seeking police help to call their district station directly, which can be found online. 240-773-6070 is the number for the 1st District station in Rockville.

For fire and rescue, call your closest station directly, using this site.

No cause for the outage has been reported yet.

Rockville construction update: Congressional Plaza (Photos)

 

There's some mystery work going on at Congressional Plaza in Rockville, possibly related to utilities. All shops are open during the construction.

Applicant seeks delay for new Rockville Pike car rental business

Enteprise Rent-a-Car is asking the Rockville Planning Commission to grant it an extension from its approved site plan for 702 Rockville Pike. The company plans to convert the former Century Ford commercial truck sales property to a car rental facility, and add a 1-story car wash to the rear.

When the commission gave Enterprise its site plan approval on July 23, 2014, it had two years to begin construction. Applicants can request two extensions, which together cannot exceed 18 months.

In this case, when the commission approved the site plan, the plan was configured to comply with a demand by the Maryland State Highway Administration that the existing curb cut on the Pike side of the property be permanently closed. Through negotiations with Enterprise since, the SHA has withdrawn its objection to Pike access for the rental business.

The delay is required to now reconfigure the plan for access from the Pike. To do that, Enterprise must first get approval from City zoning chief Jim Wasilak on a minor plan amendment it has filed. While Enterprise expects to receive approval, attorney Stuart Barr says, it cannot get it if the site plan period expires later this month prior to Wasilak's decision.

The commission will take up the request at its July 13 meeting, scheduled for 7:00 PM at City Hall. Commissioners will also issue a recommendation on a controversial small cell tower zoning text amendment that evening.

Ourisman Rockmont Chevrolet expected to move to Wintergreen Plaza by November

Construction on the future Ourisman Rockmont Chevrolet dealership at Wintergreen Plaza in Rockville continues, and it's now larger than the renderings suggested. The moving schedule is starting to firm up, as well. A source at the dealership says they will likely have completed their move by this November.

Here's the interesting twist: One might expect the land the dealership currently sits on at 15301 N. Frederick Road to go up for sale, potentially opening up a prime redevelopment opportunity at a major crossroads. Instead, the land is now for lease by Avison Young.

Will the landmark giant U.S. flag make the move south, as well? Stay tuned.