East Grill Karaoke opens in Rockville (Video+photos)

East Grill Karaoke has opened in the Courthouse Center shopping center in Rockville Town Center, at 12 N. Washington Street. The restaurant is next to the venerable Apollo, and will be open until 2:00 AM nightly.

Rockville HDC to review Chestnut Lodge proposal Oct. 20

The modified project plan for a townhome development on the former site of the Chestnut Lodge mental institution will be reviewed by the Rockville Historic District Commission at its October 20 meeting. This will again be a courtesy review; the project will also have to receive a Certificate of Approval from the HDC later, if its design receives final approval from the Planning Commission and Mayor and Council.

This proposal reduces the number of townhomes from seven to six, in response to community and historic preservation experts' concerns that the structure's footprint was wider than the original building, which burnt down in a suspicious fire in 2009.

Planning staff is recommending a favorable recommendation by the HDC.

The public will have the opportunity to speak at next Thursday's meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 7:30 PM at City Hall.

Montgomery County Civic Federation endorses term limits

The Montgomery County Civic Federation, a non-partisan organization which officially represents over 100,000 County residents, has endorsed term limits ahead of a November 8 ballot question on the issue. MCCF passed a resolution Monday supporting a YES vote on Question B. This highly-respected group's support is perhaps the biggest vote of no-confidence in the Montgomery County political cartel since the County's chambers of commerce all declined to endorse any incumbent County Council member in 2014.

Question B, if approved, would limit County Councilmembers and the County Executive to a still-whopping 3 terms (12 years), effective immediately and retroactively.

The MCCF action, from an organization that factually contains vastly more Democrats than Republicans, further undercuts the ridiculous claims being made by some councilmembers who face ouster. Last Thursday, Councilmember Nancy Navarro hijacked a Council committee meeting on a collective bargaining issue to make a political speech. This was totally inappropriate, and ethically improper.

Navarro, who I have had a great deal of respect for in her work in the non-profit realm and on the Board of Education, has increasingly sounded paranoid about the term limits issue. She and her surrogates have claimed term limits are not the result of citizen rage about record tax hikes and communities being ignored in the development process in Westbard, Lyttonsville, Rockville (bus depot fights), etc. Instead, she claims they were proposed specifically to remove her from office.

Huh?

We know many residents are increasingly fed up and now favoring term limits. Now the MCCF is backing term limits.

But here's who Navarro says you, the average citizen, are, in her view:

 "The leading proponents [of term limits] are right-wing, anti-immigrant extremists. They don’t care about you, or me.”

Whoa. That's crazy talk, folks. That's an outrageous smear and accusation, with no basis in fact. It's this self-serving, out-of-touch, and - frankly - nasty attitude that is likely to seal the deal for term limits passing November 8.

Leggett: Montgomery County becoming a "bedroom community" as jobs go elsewhere

The latest vindication of my diagnosis of what ails Montgomery County comes from our highest-ranking elected official, and de facto leader of the Democratic Party, County Executive Ike Leggett. I've been noting for years, to the displeasure of the County's political cartel, that we are becoming a bedroom community for the growing job centers elsewhere in our region. In the meantime, our private sector economy has become moribund.

Leggett now agrees with me. In testimony before the County Council's Government Operations and Fiscal Policy Committee last Thursday, Leggett's special assistant Joy Nurmi relayed his concerns on this very topic.

Nurmi noted that the percentage of development that is residential rose between 2005 and 2014, while the percentage that is office, retail and industrial declined. She said Leggett opposes impact tax increases on developers that could disincentivize office, retail and industrial projects.

"We are trending toward becoming a bedroom community and he doesn’t want to drive us further in that direction," Nurmi warned the Council. "It is a trend. And he is very concerned about disincentivizing commercial development anywhere in the County."

It is indeed a trend, with the County Council and/or Planning Board having allowed commercial properties, job centers and office buildings in Rockledge, Wheaton, Westbard, Aspen Hill, and the I-270 corridor to be converted to residential in recent months and years. The City of Rockville has approved similar conversions in King Farm, Tower Oaks, and the Shady Grove corridor in the last 24 months.

Loss of office space, businesses and land for corporate headquarters (MoCo hasn't attracted a major one in two decades) means more and more commuters driving to reach job centers elsewhere in Northern Virginia. And over the last 16 years, Montgomery County lost over 2000 retail jobs, according to the Maryland Association of Retailers. All of that means more traffic congestion on County roads.

Leggett joins other heavy hitters who are now starting to acknowledge the truth I've been reporting for years. The Washington Post recently referred to the County's eastern half as "economically moribund" (hopefully in the near future, they'll realize the western half is, too. But it's huge that they even acknowledged half is). And the former Chief of Staff to failed Councilmember Hans Riemer concurred, declaring Montgomery County's private sector economy "stagnant," and suffering from "weak economic performance" and "sluggish growth" during his ex-boss's tenure.

I couldn't have said it better myself!

In addition to the loss of those retail jobs, Montgomery County today has less private sector jobs than it did in 2001. Ouch.

During that time, Loudoun County gained 42,929 jobs. The District gained 78,011 jobs.

How many did we gain? Zero.

In fact, we had only a net loss of jobs, losing 3885 while the counties all around us averaged 9.5% in private sector job growth during those 15 years. Montgomery County is indeed a great place to live - hence our always-booming residential growth. Increasingly, however, it is not a place to work.

Leggett is correct. I'm correct. We are becoming the bedroom community for the region. And now we need to get a County Council that doesn't live in an alternate reality, and can get us out of the economic development mess we're in. We can start by voting for term limits this November.

#MoCoTermLimits
#ThrowTheBumsOut
#Jobs

Cost, impact on residents top concerns on Veirs Mill BRT options

Rockville's Mayor and Council were briefed on the options for bus rapid transit service on Veirs Mill Road between Rockville and Wheaton at their meeting last night. The project options range from doing nothing, to a "Cadillac" option (Alternative 5B) that would give BRT dedicated lanes in the center of the state highway - but carry a price tag of $289.4 million.

Councilmember Mark Pierzchala, a BRT supporter, was not convinced that option would be worth the money for the modest transit ridership boost the Maryland Department of Transportation claims the line will produce.

The loss of left-turns at many intersections was another concern for Pierzchala, as that would impact residents trying to get around their own neighborhood. Given the cost and disruption of the Cadillac option, Pierzchala said he is more comfortable supporting Alternative 3, which would provide dedicated curb lanes for BRT "where feasible."

Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton suggested that cutting corners with BRT would fail to produce world-class results for passengers, and for economic development. She warned against trying to "nickel and dime around the edges" of a major project. At the same time, Newton said she was very concerned about the impact on residents and homes along the route. Houses and businesses along Veirs Mill are threatened with demolition to various extents, depending upon which alternative is chosen.

Newton also urged that any extension to Montgomery College of the service reflect the actual hours classes are held on the Rockville campus.

MDOT is scheduled to make its final BRT recommendation by the end of this year.

Photos via MDOT

Modern Market applies for liquor license at future Rockville location

Modern Market, the newest restaurant addition coming to Congressional Plaza, has applied for its liquor license. Their hearing is scheduled for October 20. Modern Market recently opened its first Montgomery County location in Bethesda.

Rockville construction update: Town Center Phase II (Photos)

View of cranes at Rockville
Town Center Phase II sites
from Rockville Town Center
Phase I area

Construction continues on two projects in the second phase of Rockville Town Center's redevelopment. Furthest along is the Brightview Rockville building, which will offer apartments for senior citizens. That is the taller one you see in most of the pictures here. The shorter one next door, formerly home to the Suburban Trust Building at 255 N. Washington Street, is a mixed-use residential project by Kettler.