• Advisory ID: 10-027
• Advisory Date: 2/26/2010
• Contact: Neil H. Greenberger  240-777-7939 or Jean Arthur240-777-7934
• From: Council Office

Montgomery Council to Meet With Rockville, Gaithersburg Councils on Monday, March 1

Topic of Unprecedented Meeting of Elected Officials in Rockville Will Be Proposed Gaithersburg West Master Plan

ROCKVILLE, Md., February 26, 2010—The Montgomery County Council, the Mayor and Council of Gaithersburg and the Rockville Mayor and Council on Monday, March 1, will jointly meet at 6:30 p.m. in Rockville City Hall to discuss the proposed Gaithersburg West Master Plan. It is believed that the one-hour worksession will be the first-ever formal meeting of the elected officials of the County Council and the two largest municipalities in the County.

Rockville City Hall is located at 111 Maryland Ave. in Rockville. The meeting is open to the public.

The meeting will be televised live by The Rockville Channel (Cable Channel 11) and simulcast by County Cable Montgomery (CCM—Cable Channel 6 on Comcast and RCN, Channel 30 on Verizon). The live broadcast also can be viewed via streaming through the County Web site at www.montgomerycountymd.gov or the Rockville Web site at www.rockvillemd.gov.

Much of the Gaithersburg West Master Plan includes the former Belward Farm and significant property near Shady Grove Road, Darnestown Road, Muddy Branch Road and Great Seneca Highway. It is in a transitional area adjacent to the unincorporated North Potomac and Darnestown communities. Although the County has land-use authority over the area in the plan, the property is close to the southwest side of Gaithersburg and the northwest side of Rockville.

The new community would be chiefly served by I-270 and the proposed Corridor Cities Transitway, which would be either a light rail or Bus Rapid Transit extension from the Shady Grove Metrorail Station.

Included in the Gaithersburg West plan is the proposed creation of a Shady Grove Life Sciences Center. The County Planning Board’s recommended changes to the master plan focus on land use, zoning and transportation improvements. The recommendations include housing and retail uses with the hope that many of those who work in the Life Sciences Center zone would elect to live nearby and not rely on regular use of automobiles.

Current zoning for the Life Sciences Zone allows a maximum building height of 100 feet (about 10 stories), but a proposed County Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA 09-07) would allow for buildings of a maximum height of 150 feet (about 15 stories). The proposed new zoning would alter the current zoning requirement for 25 percent green area to a requirement of 20 percent public use space.

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