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Montgomery Council to Address ‘Big Box’ Stores, Report on Take Home Cars on Tuesday, Jan. 31 |
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| ROCKVILLE, Md., January 30, 2012—The Montgomery County Council on Tuesday, Jan. 31, will introduce two proposed Zoning Text Amendments and one bill that address future large retail (sometimes called “Big Box”) that could be built in the County. The Council also will host the first briefing of its “Shaping the Future: Adapting to Change” series that will take an in-depth looking at issues that could have a significant impact on the County’s planning needs. The Council’s regular session will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the Third Floor Council Hearing Room of the Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville. The session, a 1:30 p.m. public hearing on proposed Spending Affordability Guidelines for the Fiscal Year 2013 operating budget and a 2 p.m. joint committee meeting will be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM—Cable Channel 6 on Comcast and RCN, Channel 30 on Verizon). The broadcast also will be available via streaming through the County Web site at www.montgomerycountymd.gov. It will be rebroadcast on Friday, Feb. 3, starting at 9 p.m. During the early portion of the morning session, the Council will honor Madeline Hanington, an English teacher at Gaithersburg Middle School, who recently was awarded a Milken Educator Award from what is often recognized as the nation's preeminent teacher recognition program. Ms. Hanington was selected for her efforts that include mentoring teachers and sharing her lessons across the area; coordinating resources with other departments; organizing a math and science parent academy; and covering classes so her fellow teachers can conduct peer visits. She even arranged for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to speak to students. Among the big box measures that will be introduced on Tuesday is Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) 12-01, which is sponsored by Council President Roger Berliner and Councilmember Valerie Ervin. The purpose of the ZTA would be to limit any potential adverse impact of large retail store “footprints” and provide opportunities to create mixed-use environments. The ZTA would regulate C-4 zoned property located within one-half mile of a Metro station if the ground area footprint was designed to be larger than 50,000 square feet. It would limit the maximum ground area footprint to 80,000 square feet; require space for small retailers; require other uses in addition to retail uses; and require conformance to design elements. It also would allow increased building heights for projects. ZTA 12-01 would require that big box retail stores impacted by the measure not be like single story stores traditionally built in suburban areas. This would make the stores fit into emerging, more urbanized areas, with the retail stores as the ground floors of projects that have other uses—such as offices or residences—above the retail stores. Also to be introduced on Tuesday is ZTA 12-02, which is sponsored by Councilmembers Ervin, Nancy Navarro and Marc Elrich. It would require combined retail stores larger than 50,000 square feet to be approved through the special exception process. Currently, combined retail uses are regulated when the store is 120,000 square feet of gross floor area or larger. The special exception process is designed to produce development that is compatible with neighboring property. The process can control hours of operation, setbacks, screening, use limits, pedestrian and bicycle circulation, the locations of passenger vehicle access and truck docks, lighting and noise. The process allows neighbor and community input. Councilmember Hans Riemer is the chief sponsor of Bill 4-12, which also will be introduced Tuesday. Councilmembers Ervin, Elrich and Craig Rice are co-sponsors. The bill would require an employer operating a large retail store on property for which grants in excess of $100,000 are received from the County’s Economic Development Fund to comply with the County’s Living Wage law. The bill would also require these employers to offer their employees health insurance that “includes coverage options that are reasonably comparable to the coverage options then available to County employees.” Currently, the minimum living wage that is required to be paid to employees by certain contractors working on County contracts is $13.20 per hour. Public hearings on both ZTAs and Bill 4-12 are scheduled for March 13. At 2 p.m. in the Seventh Floor Hearing Room, the Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment Committee will meet jointly with the Government Operations and Fiscal Policy Committee to discuss a report from the Office of the Inspector General Edward Blansitt on vehicle management practices of the County’s Fleet Management Service Division’s Administrative Vehicle Light Fleet.” The joint meeting also will continue its review of the County’s take home car program for employees. Councilmember Riemer first raised the possibility that the program was not being administered on a reliable and economic basis. # # # # |
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