Car stolen in Town Center area of Rockville

Rockville City police responded to a report of a stolen vehicle in a parking lot in the Town Center area yesterday morning, September 16, 2022. The lot was on E. Middle Lane. Police were called at 8:11 AM Saturday morning to investigate.

Rockville apartment burglarized

Rockville City police responded to a report of a burglary inside an apartment building Thursday afternoon, September 15, 2022. The burglary was reported at an apartment in the 100 block of 1st Street at 1:10 PM. Upon arriving, officers found evidence of forced entry at the apartment.

Sheepskin Gifts & Alpaca Too returning for the holidays at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at Westfield Montgomery Mall. That's because seasonal retailer Sheepskin Gifts & Alpaca Too is once again going to open at the mall for the holiday shopping and winter clothing season. It's one of those annual signs that Black Friday isn't far around the corner. Look for Sheepskin Gifts & Alpaca Too when it opens on Level 1, next to Intimissimi.

Maryland Gov. Hogan announces Korean firm UNDBIO to establish R&D lab in Rockville

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan meeting with
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol in Seoul 

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) announced more positive economic developments for his state from his economic development trip to Asia today. Rockville is one of the winners in Hogan's outreach, as the governor reported that South Korean biotech firm UNDBIO has agreed to establish a 25,000 square foot research and development facility here. Twinlabs, a Rockville real estate firm that specializes in life sciences, reached a lease agreement with UNDBIO, who have committed $100,000,000 to the project.

UNDBIO anticipates the new facility will develop and manufacture insulin samples for FDA approval. These approved products will then enter the pharmaceutical market. The company possesses unique proprietary insulin production technology, which will be employed in the Rockville venture.

"Maryland is proud to be home to hundreds of life sciences companies that set the bar for biotechnology innovation and fuel our region’s innovative economy, and we are excited to welcome the life-saving work of UNDBIO to Rockville,” Hogan said in a statement this afternoon. “This is yet another shining example that Maryland is open for business and further evidence of our state’s special bond with the Republic of Korea.”

“I am happy to establish our relationship with the State of Maryland to undertake the research and development required to produce affordable insulin and insulin analogues for the diabetic population around the globe,” UNDBIO’s Chairman Jun Yong-soo said. “We look forward to developing high paying biotech jobs for Maryland, and would welcome other partners into our global insulin project.”

Montgomery County Executive, Civic Federation call on County Council to disapprove Thrive 2050 plan

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich (D) and the Montgomery County Civic Federation have both asked the County Council to disapprove the controversial Thrive 2050 growth plan. Elrich wrote in a memo to councilmembers that a new consultant report underscored his previous concern that there was insufficient outreach to residents of color, and of lower-income levels. He also noted that a survey touted by Thrive 2050 proponents used deceptive questions that referred to end goals of the plan, without disclosing the new zoning changes that would be implemented to achieve them.

Elrich advised the Council to put its political interests in passing Thrive 2050 before the November election aside, in favor of more outreach, and incorporation of more than 65 changes recommended by the consultant to prevent gentrification and displacement of residents of color and lower incomes. These proposed changes include Community Benefit Agreements, rent-to-own programs, and constructing more parks in areas that fit those demographics. Elrich said disapproving the current plan would also allow time for further public hearings.

A major complaint of Thrive 2050 detractors from the beginning has been the impression that the plan was rammed through by the County Planning Board while the general public was distracted by the pandemic. The most controversial aspect is that the plan would allow construction of multifamily housing in existing single-family home neighborhoods. This would drastically change the character of those neighborhoods, while the resulting attached housing units would be too expensive to help address the perceived lack of affordable housing in the county. 

Thousands of new housing units have come online countywide since 2014, but that surge in inventory has had no downward effect on prices. As volume increases, home prices and rents have only gone upward, creating skepticism that Thrive 2050's massive construction scheme will make housing affordable. In fact, based on the data of the last decade, it would likely only jack up prices further. If new townhomes sell for over $1 million in an industrial area of 20816, how much would a new larger duplex unit sell for in the same desirable zip code? Not less.

The resolution passed by the Civic Federation addressed many of the same concerns Elrich raised, as well as environmental sustainability and the need for broad community support for master plans. Thrive 2050 supporters have dismissed that idea, arguing that despite their six-and-seven figure investments in a SFH-neighborhood environment, County home buyers should have no say or leverage in the zoning or development of any property besides their own. 

New chapters should be added on each of the topics that the consulting team determined were shortchanged in the current draft, the Federation advised, including environmental, racial equity and social justice issues. A new public hearing should be held on each of those new chapters, its resolution added. The Federation also opposes universal upzoning and by-right zoning changes implemented through the controversial Zoning Text Amendment process, and notes that the consultant report suggests that a legitimate process to address the areas of concern it identified would take at least one year.

Other concerns that have been expressed throughout the Thrive 2050 process have included school overcrowding, loss of green space and tree canopy, inadequate parking spaces for the higher neighborhood densities proposed, and whether the existing infrastructure such as water and sewer can handle such a population increase in existing neighborhoods. 

The Council currently has planned to vote on the Thrive 2050 plan by October 25.

Car stolen from Rockville home

Rockville City police responded to a report of a stolen vehicle in the King Farm area of Rockville yesterday morning. The vehicle was taken from the rear driveway of a townhome in the 100 block of Elmcroft Square. It is believed that the vehicle was stolen between 8:30 PM Tuesday night, and 7:15 AM Wednesday morning.

Purse snatcher strikes in Rockville parking lot

Rockville City police responded to a report of a purse snatching in a parking lot Monday night, September 12, 2022. The theft was reported in a parking lot in the 1600 block of Rockville Pike at 7:55 PM Monday.