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City of Gaithersburg
31 South Summit Avenue
Gaithersburg, Maryland 20877
Telephone: 301-258-6330

PLANNING COMMISSION ACTIONS

Wednesday, December 6, 2006

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

November 1, 2006, Planning Commission Meeting
Background Material (pdf format)

Approved

November 15, 2006, Planning Commission Meeting
Background Material (pdf format)
Approved

CONSENT

SP-05-0010 — Towns at Summit Woods
R-20 Zone
70 West Deer Park Road
130 Townhouse Development (TND Option)

EXTENSION OF FINAL PLAN APPROVAL
Background Material (pdf format)
Granted

SITE PLANS

AFP-06-052 — Rachel Carson Elementary School
MXD Zone
100 Tschiffely Square Road
Portable Classroom
AMENDMENT TO FINAL PLAN REVIEW

Background Material (pdf format)
Approved

SP-06-0011 — Riley Property
R-B Zone

10 Brookes Avenue
Conversion of Residence to Office with Parking
PRELIMINARY/FINAL PLAN REVIEW
Background Material (pdf format)
Approved with conditions

CSP-06-003 — One Bank Street
C-2 Zone
1 Bank Street
One-Story Bank with Drive-Thru Lane
CONCEPT PLAN REVIEW

Background Material (pdf format)
Approved with conditions

AFP-06-049 — King Kia Dealership
C-2 Zone
953 North Frederick Avenue

Sign Revision
AMENDMENT TO FINAL PLAN REVIEW
Background Material (pdf format)
Approved with conditions

AFP-06-025 — Watkins Mill Town Center

MXD Zone
Metropolitan Grove Road
Architectural Revisions
COMPLIANCE WITH CONDITION OF APPROVAL
Background Material (pdf format)
Approved with conditions

AGENDA
HISTORIC PRESERVATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Thursday, December 7, 2006
Council Chambers at City Hall at 7:30 p.m.

I. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

II. AMENDMENT TO HAWP

HAWP-99A
Applicant, Al Riley
Amended 10 Brookes Avenue

Conversion of Residence to Office Use
Amendment to Parking Lot

III. PUBLIC HEARINGS

HAWP-100A

Applicant: Kathryn Schumacher
105 Russell Avenue
Tree Removal
Background Material

HAWP-49B

Applicant: Barbara Lima
12 Brookes Avenue
Tree Removal
Background Material

HAWP-24D
Applicant: Ken Oh, for Hosanna Methodist Church

14 Brookes Avenue
Shed Demolition and Replacement
Background Material

IV. COURTESY REVIEW

CSP-06-004

Applicant: Brian Cameron, Camson Construction
13 Park Avenue
New Three-Story Building

V. ANNUAL REPORT/2007 GOALS

VI. ADJOURNMEN

Note that the City has posted the video of last night’s meeting.

The meeting was about as low-key as it appeared from the agenda. Everything that was up for a vote was approved, with only some abstentions on the approval of some of the minutes. Items of note:

• Stanley Alster was elected Council Vice President
• Public appearances brought several people who spoke about day laborers and illegal immigrants. There were some responses and reaction to the previous meeting’s public appearances, especially as regards to the anti-solicitation ordinance and David Rocha’s performance. One speaker encouraged the City to make English the official language in the City, while another speaker reiterated her opposition to Mr. Halici’s appication to tear down the Talbott House.
• In the From the Mayor and Council segment, Mr. Schlichting raised the topic of sponsoring a Charrette to consider design issues related to the Kentlands commerical district, preferably by Spring of next year. This brought a fair amount of discussion, which was not universally supportive of the idea. The Mayor and most of the Council generally agreed that the Corridor Cities Transitway alignment (which Mr. Schlichting mentioned as one of the issues facing Kentlands) was important to the City, but there was some disagreement as to how much of a window was left for influencing the final alignment, and how the arrival of a new administration in Annapolis will affect the process. Other concerns included the funding of the Charrette process, whether the planning process should even be a Charrette, and the level of interest in this activity from the business and property owners in Kentlands.
• The City Manager, clearly in response to the the sign incident at the previous Council meeting, circulated to the Mayor and the Council members a statement of a new policy that he planned to post at the entrance to the City Council chambers. This new policy would state that, during Council meetings, participants would not be allowed to hold signs in such a way as to disrupt the proceedings or block the view of the audience or cameras. The Mayor and Council agreed with the plan, and Mr. Humpton noted that the Mayor had agreed to enforce the policy in future meetings. Unofficially, I expect that this will become known as “the Rocha rule”.
• Mr. Roman gave his presentation on the overcrowding and illegal occupation problem in the City. In the discussion that followed, Mr. Roman was asked several questions about enforcement. Apparently the City inspectors can only enter a private home to inspect if the owner consents. However, if there is probable cause — and formal and detailed complaints from the public, which are allowed to be filed anonymously, are important factors in demonstrating probable cause — the inspectors are able to obtain administrative search warrants, allowing them to enter and inspect a home without the owners consent. In addition to fines that may be levied against a property owner, which can be one-time fines or even fines that are levied for every day the property is out of compliance, the City does have the ability to condemn a property, making it illegal to occupy until the problems are corrected. Several among the Council expressed concern that perhaps the fines — often in the hundreds of dollars — are not high enough to act as an effective deterrent. In Mr. Roman’s presentation, one suggestion was that fines for repeat offenders be raised; and the sympathies of the Council were clearly in this direction, if not also to raise the fines for first-time offenders.
• In the discussion of the proposed financial assistance for the Bozzuto project, the principal concern was that the assistance would only be made available to purchasers who would be living in the property — that it was exclusively directed at encouraging owner-occupied housing.
• Regarding the defibrillator ordinance, the only substantiative question that I recall was whether this ordinance would also apply to swimming facilities; it was unclear that it did, and Mr. Felton promised to look into this. As it was a public hearing, one member of the public rose to speak in favor of the ordinance, and also to recommend that the City consider placing these units in police cruisers.
• The HDC convened largely to elect officers — in a remarkable coincidence, Commissioner Katz was elected Chair, and Commissioner Alster the vice chair — to approve three sets of minutes, and to state that they would be holding a closed executive session after the Council meeting.

Following is the Outcomes posted by the City:
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