Budget, Community Grants, and Sustainability on the March 24 Council Meeting
Rockville’s Mayor and Council will hold its regular meeting on Monday, March 24, 2025. Topics range from citywide budget priorities to neighborhood services, affordable housing, economic development, and the future of sustainability. Here’s what’s on the agenda—and why it matters.
Town Center Master Plan: Zoning Changes Under Review
The Council will hold a public hearing on proposed zoning changes related to the Rockville Town Center Master Plan. This initiative introduces three character areas—MD-355 Corridor, Core, and Edge—each with specific development standards. Notably, the proposal allows increased building heights to 235′ for projects that include at least 20% affordable housing units. These changes aim to support economic vitality, encourage housing development, and improve the pedestrian experience in the city’s core. The hearing gives residents and businesses an opportunity to weigh in on how the plan’s goals—such as better connectivity, mixed-use development, and revitalized public spaces—should be implemented through zoning updates.
Sustainability and Electric Vehicles on the Move
As part of the city’s climate action goals, the Council may approve its Electric Vehicle Readiness Plan. This includes preparing infrastructure to support EVs and integrating low-emission technology into city operations. It’s one step in a broader environmental strategy that includes green space planning and expanded use of electric landscaping equipment.
Big Picture: FY 2026 Budget in Focus
The Council will continue work on the proposed FY 2026 operating budget totaling $173 million, a 4.5% increase over last year. Rising personnel costs, inflation, and key investments in public safety, community services, and infrastructure are shaping this year’s spending plan. While costs are going up, the city is not planning to issue new debt this year and maintains a healthy reserve to ensure financial stability. An online budget priorities survey—available in English, Spanish, and Chinese—is also open for feedback. Visit rockvillemd.gov/budget to submit comments, take the survey, or view meeting materials.
Rockville Council Explores Bold Updates to Downtown
At its Monday, December 16, 2024 meeting, the Rockville Mayor and Council will approve a concept plan for the Rockville Metro Station and hold a second worksession on the Town Center Master Plan. On the Consent Agenda (items approved without discussion) are purchase refuse trucks, approve easements and agreements for public and stormwater improvements, install EV charging stations, construct a sidewalk on Virginia Avenue, execute ADA improvements at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre, establish affordable housing agreements for a new development, approve meeting minutes, and extinguish a pedestrian path easement on Hardwicke Place, among others. The next meeting will be held on January 6, 2025.
This meeting is an important opportunity for you to stay informed and engaged with the decisions that shape our community.
Key Agenda Items:
Approval of Concept Plan for Rockville Metro Station (page 238+). This plan envisions the station as an iconic gateway and multi-modal hub, featuring up to 1,200 residential units, retail spaces, public amenities, and improved pedestrian and transit connections. Public feedback has been largely supportive, highlighting desires for higher residential density, enhanced pedestrian safety, and sustainable features like solar canopies. The plan includes a separate pedestrian bridge extension as an add-on project, requiring city-led funding efforts.
Worksession on Town Center Master Plan (287+). This is a follow-up to the worksession on December 9 to discuss four remaining topics. At this meeting, Council will discuss:
- Housing Goals: Increasing the goal for housing units in Town Center from 2,000 to 3,000 by 2040, reflecting current development applications and potential future projects.
- Building Heights: Revising building height allowances to facilitate growth while maintaining community transition zones. Options for increased heights in key areas, with potential bonuses for including affordable housing units, are under discussion.
- Character Areas: Modifications to the planning area’s character zones are proposed, particularly consolidating certain areas along the western edge to simplify development guidelines.
- Transit-Oriented Development: A new “Transit-Oriented Character Area” is recommended along MD-355 to allow higher building heights and promote dense, mixed-use developments near transit hubs.
- Affordable Housing and Green Spaces: Creating incentives for affordable housing and open public spaces, aiming to balance density with livability.
Council to Review Town Center and Metro Development Plans
At its Monday, December 9, 2024 meeting, the Rockville Mayor and Council will hold a public hearing on the Town Center Master Plan. On the Consent Agenda (items approved without discussion) are FY2024 Financial Report, contracts for diesel fuel, CDBG funding request, among others. The Mayor and Council will also receive reports on the remodeling of the Rockville Metro Station as part of a worksession on Town Center.
This meeting is an important opportunity for you to stay informed and engaged with the decisions that shape our community.
Key Agenda Items:
Town Center Master Plan public hearing (page 401+). The Rockville Mayor and Council will hold a second public hearing on the updated Town Center Master Plan during their meeting on December 9, 2024. This updated plan, an amendment to the Rockville 2040 Comprehensive Plan, replaces the current Planning Area 1 chapter. It builds on community feedback, research, and the city’s long-term goals to shape a vibrant, equitable, and sustainable Town Center for the future.
Key Themes and Goals of the Plan:
- Housing: Focus on adding 2,000 new residential units by 2040, including affordable and attainable housing.
- Economic Development: Encouraging retail diversity and activating vacant spaces to make the Town Center a hub of activity.
- Transportation: Improving mobility with pedestrian-friendly designs, enhanced bus services, and new wayfinding signage.
- Sustainability and Equity: Promoting green building practices and ensuring that changes support all residents equitably.
- Parks and Recreation: Expanding green spaces and recreational programming for all ages.
Mayor and Council to Consider Increasing Lots of Fees; Can it Untangle 900 Rockville Pike?
At its Monday, May 8, 2023 meeting, the Rockville Mayor and Council will discuss amending master fees for community planning and development services. On the Consent Calendar (items approved without discussion) are the pension plan for 2023. The Mayor and Council will also receive reports on the Vision Zero Action Plan, Bikeway and Pedestrian Master Plans, development of 900 Rockville Pike, and the historic preservation work plan.
Fees for building permits, inspections, and licenses are proposed to increase 2.5% to keep up with inflation; include a 10% fee to offset the cost of technology; adopt a fee structure based on square footage or estimated construction cost; and assess a separate application fee. For example, a building permit for new residential construction or to repair fire damage will be $0.25 per square foot, including the basement, garage, and roof; a license for short-term rentals is $450; and a building permit for a swimming pool or to demolish a building of any size is $553.
Interestingly, the staff report admits that the actual cost of providing services is unknown and it is uncertain whether the revenues from fees are sufficient to cover their expenses (170). Secondly, new construction accounts for 35-40% of global greenhouse gas emissions and “virtually every green rating program (LEED, USGBC, IgCC) recognizes the value of adaptive reuse” (173). Nevertheless, the City is comfortable granting inexpensive demolition permits (where does all that building material go? into the county dump!). Instead, it should encourage adaptive reuse by significantly increasing the demolition permit fees on a square-foot basis.
J. Danshes LLC has filed an application to build a 4,400 square foot one-story retail building at 900 Rockville Pike (southeast corner of Rockville Pike and Edmonston Drive, one of the narrowest lots on the east side of the Pike due to the railroad tracks). In 2006, the City adopted a Mixed-Use Corridor District zone for this small lot, which allowed up to 12,754 square feet of retail space. Despite this new proposal being a much smaller building, it is now subject to several new city regulations that have been adopted over the years plus it needs to accommodate the proposed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route. As a result, this project has been in the pipeline since 2017 and is becoming an enigma wrapped in a puzzle—what would you do with this property when you’re faced with the following situation:
“To create the right-of-way land area dictated by the public agencies, the Applicant must dedicate 6,523 square feet of area (0.15 acres, 25.2% of existing lot area) to public use. Said dedication reduces the size of the site from 25,862 (0.59) acre to 19, 339 square feet (0.44 acre).” (257)
More details in the 329-page agenda packet are available at https://www.rockvillemd.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05082023-6899.
Mayor and Council to Approve Isolated Neighborhood on Tower Oaks Blvd.
At its Monday, April 24, 2023 meeting, the Rockville Mayor and Council will discuss an amendment for a permit to construct 83 townhouses in Tower Oaks and a work session on the 2024 budget. On the Consent Calendar (items approved without discussion) are the installation of solar canopies on two city parking lots, an agreement with the Rockville Baseball Association, contracts to repair pedestrian bridges in city parks, and installation of murals at the Senior Center (artist Katie Giganti) and on the City Hall generator screen (artist Shawn James), among others.
Another isolated neighborhood is under consideration, ironically at the same meeting the Mayor and Council will approve a mural that represents the “City’s commitment to celebrating community connections.” Michael Harris Properties, LLC. has filed a Project Plan Amendment to construct 83 townhome units with a small community green space at 2200 Tower Oaks Boulevard, and to request a parking waiver for the existing office building located at 2000 Tower Oaks Boulevard. It was originally approved as a hotel and a health and recreation facility at 2200 Tower Oaks Boulevard and an office building at 2000 Tower Oaks Boulevard. An isolated forest stand (forest conservation easement), roughly 10,000 sf, is proposed for removal. The replacement forest conservation will be provided through the long-term preservation of additional forested area (~7,600 sf) contiguous to the primary forest conservation easement off the back property boundary, in addition to individual trees planted on the subject property for forest conservation credit (~2,400 sf). The proposed Project Plan will require a finding of adequate public facilities for the change in use to residential townhouse development. For the office building, Michael Harris Properties is requesting a reduction of 115 vehicle parking spaces or an approximately 18% parking reduction from the required 650 vehicle parking spaces. A couple residents have already voiced concerns about several aspects of the project (a very thoughtful letter starts on page 213) and I’ll include my concerns about the continuing fragmentation of Rockville into isolated neighborhoods, in this instance physically separated from any other neighborhood. Seems like the Mayor and Council needs to examine the larger context to see that this is NOT a good location for residential use—there are no connections between this neighborhood and others in the city. How did this get through Planning Commission with hardly any discussion? Looks like they were asleep at the wheel.
More details in the 279-page agenda packet are available at https://www.rockvillemd.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04242023-6882.
Mayor and Council to Discuss Affordable Housing, Environment, and a $plash Pad
At its Monday, December 6, 2021 meeting, the Rockville Mayor and Council will discuss moderately priced housing (adding 30- to 99-year rent control periods); abandoning a “paper” street adjacent to 205 Mount Vernon Place in Hungerford; and allowing 350 apartments instead of offices in Fallsgrove. On the Consent Calendar (items approved without discussion) are a $322,364 splash pad for Maryvale Park (requested by the East Rockville Civic Association); a CDBG grant application to Montgomery County ($263,000 for the maintenance and repair of low-income housing); and letters to SHA (regarding traffic and pedestrian safety; most dangerous is the Rockville Pike) and WMATA (reduced service, access, and safety—can we all agree that WMATA has among the worst planners and project managers of any agency in the region?). The Mayor and Council will also receive reports from the Environment Commission and on an Employee Compensation and Classification Study (current salaries are generally competitive).
Continue reading →Mayor and Council to Review Draft Climate Action Plan
At its Monday, November 15, 2021 meeting, the Rockville Mayor and Council will discuss increasing water and sewage charges, American Rescue Plan Act funds, and historic designation or demolition of 460 Hungerford Drive (most recently Meixin Supermarket, formerly the Colony Shop, designed by John Henry Sullivan). On the Consent Calendar (items approved without discussion) are the purchase of a concrete mixer for $116,363; a dump truck for $183,746; and a refuse truck for $524,886. The Mayor and Council will also receive reports on an employee homeownership program and a climate action plan.
Continue reading →Planning Commission to Discuss Priorities for 2022-23
At its Wednesday, October 27, 2021 meeting, the Rockville Planning Commission will discuss implementation of the 2040 Comprehensive Plan. During the September 22 meeting, the Commission and staff recognized that development of a
complete implementation framework covering the entire Plan, including Commission discussions, would
not be possible to complete this fall; and that the Commission could continue to work on this framework
over the next approximately six months. The city staff will present a list of about 30 recommendations for the next year to implement the Plan and, should the Commission choose to do so, make a recommendation to the
Mayor and Council in time for their development of the Fiscal Year 2023 Budget, which would mean
delivering its recommendation during the fall of 2021.
Among the short-term recommendations for implementation are:
- a comprehensive update to the Zoning Ordinance
- update the Town Center Master Plan
- enhancements to the pedestrian and bicycle safety and accessibility
- identify and acquire properties for parks
- complete the plan for Red Gate Park
- identify a solution for the King Farm Farmstead
- relocate the materials and distribution facility from North Stonestreet Avenue owned by MCPS and Montgomery County
- complete a climate action plan
- expand the number of charging stations for electric vehicles
- prepare a flood resiliency plan
- develop a marketing and branding plan to attract businesses and customers to Rockville
- complete a strategic plan for affordable housing
That’s the short list from nearly 30 items suggested. It is far longer than reasonable to get anything significant accomplished in the next year. To get anything done, the Planning Commission will need to choose no more than three—and more importantly, they need to be the right things that will have a lasting and significant impact on the community. Which three would you choose?
More details in the 11-page agenda packet available at https://rockvillemd.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_10272021-6389.
Twinbrook hosts Bicycle Drive on Sat., June 11
The Rockville Bike Hub (RBH) will host a bicycle drive on Saturday, June 11, between 3 and 6 p.m., during the Bikes, Brews and Barbecue event outside Revolution Cycles at 5750 Fishers Lane adjacent to the Twinbrook Metro. All bikes will be accepted but the critical need is for bicycles for children in first through fifth grade. Adult bikes will be used for education and volunteer training or donated to Bikes for the World.
In partnership with the City of Rockville, the non-profit, RBH recently gave away more than 30 bicycles to local elementary school children as a reward for performing a small service project. “In general, a bike gives a child a sense of independence and freedom and the ability to broaden the area that they can explore in their neighborhoods,” said Rockville Bike Hub Board President Steve Andruski. “Our hope is that, it turns into a lifelong activity and they become connected to the bicycling community.”
In addition to collecting bikes, the Rockville Bike Hub will be Continue reading →
Rockville Solar Co-op Begins First Project
The Rockville Solar Co-op has selected Sustainable Energy Systems (Frederick) and Standard Energy Solutions (Rockville) as the two firms who are eligible to bid on projects for the 128 members of the group. They’re now scheduling site visits for homeowners and preparing proposals. So far, 26 members have been contacted to set up a site visit; 16 members have had a site visit scheduled or completed; 9 members have received their proposal; and 1 member has signed a contract and is going solar!
Sign-ups continue to be open for the Rockville group through Labor Day. Know anyone who wants to go solar in Montgomery County? They can join the group at www.mdsun.org/rockville.
Max for Rockville 