Mayor and Council to Tackle Controversial Rockshire Development

By Max van Balgooy on
EYA Development is proposing to create Rockshire Village Center by demolishing a vacant 1970s shopping center to build 31 single-unit detached dwellings, 29 townhouses, about 5,000 sf of office and retail space, and a neighborhood park at 2401 Wootton Parkway.

At its Monday, December 18, 2023 meeting, the Rockville Mayor and Council will recognize Mark Pierzchala’s sixteen years of service on the Council and discuss a resolution addressing anti-Arabism, antisemitism, and Islamophobia in Rockville. On the Consent Calendar (items approved without discussion) are vehicle leasing contracts valued at $4.5 million (about 12% of the City’s vehicles are electrified) and approval of the minutes of October 23 and October 30. The Mayor and Council will also receive reports on the revised development plans for Rockshire Village.

EYA Development has requested a revision to the Project Plan for Rockshire Village Center to construct a total of 60 dwelling units, including 31 single unit detached dwellings and 29 townhouses (fifteen
percent of the units or nine townhouses, are proposed to be moderately priced); up to 5,200 square feet of commercial and office use (application initially proposed up to 5,500 square feet); and a neighborhood park at 2401 Wootton Parkway (a vacant 1970s shopping center at Wootton and Hurley, near Wootton High School in the Rockshire and Fallsmead neighborhoods). EYA is also seeking a parking waiver in case the commercial/office building is leased entirely for full-service restaurant use as well as a road code waiver for a private alley. The City has received 56 emails and multiple phone calls from the public requesting information, expressing opposition and support for the project. Full report starting on page 73 of the agenda packet. 

Conceptual streetscape elevation of single family houses for the proposed Rockshire Village Center by GTM Architects. A series of identical boxes with cartoonish facades doesn’t seem to be appropriate for Rockville. The design for the retail and commercial spaces are even less imaginative. Ugh, it’s what you can find in Dullsville, USA. More on page 105+.

The Mayor and Council are conducting hybrid meetings. If you wish to submit comments in writing for Community Forum or Public Hearings, please email the comments to MayorAndCouncil@RockvilleMD.gov by no later than 10:00 a.m. on the date of the meeting.

More details in the 271-page agenda packet are available at https://www.rockvillemd.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_12182023-7074.

The draft agenda for January 8, 2024 will discuss justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI); update the new Council on City branding; and begin a process for revising Neighborhood Conservation Districts. 

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