Frederick City and County News of Interest VOL. 5, NO. 3 | March 5, 2026

 

VOL. 5, NO. 3  |  March 5, 2026 Frederick City and County News of Interest Please join our monthly email list by clicking here. Learn more about CRG at the bottom of this newsletter. For quick access, click on a title here and jump to that article, below: City: CRG Challenges the Trammell-Crow Proposed City Data Center Text Amendment City: Legislative Committees City: Long-standing Planning Department Review Procedure City (and County?): Commitment to Transit-Oriented Development Designs County: Hot Topics County Council Elections this Fall County and City: Housing Assessment Mobilize Frederick Climate Summit Upcoming Meetings & Events ______________ CRG Challenges the Trammell-Crow Proposed City Data Center Text Amendment M2 vs M1 Zoning In December 2025, shortly after Councilmember Nash withdrew her proposed Data Center text amendment, the Trammell Crow (TC) Company, through Attorney Bruce Dean, proposed their version of a text amendment that would also allow data centers within City limits. The developer’s proposal appeared to be an industry wish-list woefully short on specifics. Other justifications included insistence on by-right zoning, comparisons of data center water usage to car wash water usage, suggestions that a data center’s computing arrays are equivalent to a server room at a local laboratory, and a failure to acknowledge previous Planning Department zoning rulings based on earlier efforts to introduce data centers into the City, all egregious arguments and positions. CRG will provide more examples in the next newsletters and news blasts to challenge the TC-Dean claims. Challenge 1 is the notion that the TC-Dean amendment for data centers at two properties off Gas House Pike warrant light industrial M1 zoning. From the Land Management Code: M1 district is intended to provide for offices and those industrial activities which do not require special measures to control odor, dust or noise and which do not involve hazardous materials and whose environmental impacts are contained within the property limits. The M2 district is intended to permit general or heavy industrial activities not able to meet the criteria applicable in the M1 districts. In a March 29, 2022 letter, City Planning Staff responded negatively to a similar effort by a previous developer to place data centers in a Light Industrial M1 Zone, partly because the described uses between a Business Support Service under M1 Zoning and the industry standard for data centers were incongruous and hence not at all similar. CRG firmly objects to M1 zoning and instead insists on M2 for heavy Industrial Operations because a 90’ high data center meets none of the M1 criteria. It would require controls of the following: Dust: As has been shown in the construction of Aligned and Rowan centers outside of Adamstown, residents have routinely complained of center construction generating non-stop dust from site grading and continuous truck traffic, with sediment-laden streams, wells, and potable water with at least two cases of resident health issues and expensive residential water treatment installation. Noise: This is beyond debate. Loudoun County residents have had to move bedrooms to below ground basements and stack mattresses against windows to curtail noise from diesel generator tests; the generators are bus-sized power supplies with reported noise of diesel train locomotives. Imagine the noise levels should a brownout occur and all data center generators operate simultaneously. Hazardous Materials: Such materials will surround each center through diesel fuels within each generator and stored supplies on campus. At 2,000 gallons/generator and 48 generators per data center building (based on one Aligned data center building), plus stored diesel for refilling the generators, that would be almost 200,000 gallons of diesel on-site. Water Storage: Similarly, many data centers store water as backup supplies for cooling systems or drought and low flow use restrictions. Storage requires biocide addition to minimize bacterial and fungal growth in storage containers, all hazardous to soil microbes, wildlife, and public health. On discharge, if not pre-treated, these compounds would inhibit wastewater treatment of our public treatment plants prior to discharge into local waterways, jeopardizing mandated federal and state discharge and water quality requirements. Toxic Emissions: Testing and operations of the backup diesel generators on a data center campus yield high greenhouse gas emissions including CO2, NOx, diesel fumes, and PM2.5 particles which are readily delivered down-wind outside the data center’s parcel boundary to neighbors, respiratory-distressed individuals, crops and soils, local waters, and eventually the river and bay, in conflict with the state’s 2022 Climate Solutions Now Act. Additionally the huge data center impervious surface areas (>100 acres) prevent water percolation and replenishment of groundwater thereby reducing baseflow for local waters outside the parcel boundaries while also yielding flashy surface runoff for down-slope areas beyond the data center campus and its property line. For all the above reasons, a TC-Dean request for M1 zoning for urban data centers is completely unsubstantiated — it’s M2 zoning or nothing to even consider the possibility of data centers within City limits. City: Legislative Committees Reconstituted City Council committees have begun discussions on options the new Council may pursue in new and/or revised resolutions, ordinances, and policies. These include Public Works, Government Operations, and Community and Culture. Important foci of these committees include affordable housing options (Housing Continuum, Accessory Dwelling Units, Single Room Occupancy units), data centers, brownfield assessments, sidewalks, parking, Land Management Code revisions, and City-wide art. CRG encourages residents to check Frederick, MD Public Meetings (https://www.cityoffrederickmd.gov/901/Public-Meetings) at the end of each week to identify the committee focus issues for the following week. Your input is needed, and wading in late to City discussions will keep your opinion from being incorporated in any final decision, permit, ordinance, or policy. Commenting early and often is absolutely critical! City: Long-standing Planning Department Review Procedure We only recently learned that the City’s Development Review Conference (DRC), in place since 2011, is a vehicle for the City Planning Department's early review of proposed developments, annexations, buildouts, etc. and is held between staff and applicants following submission of early ideas on projects. Several CRG members had been told several years ago that the LMC-identified (Land Management Code) Planning Department review in its DRC was no longer an active policy in the City’s considerations of project compliance, in essence to relay to applicants shortcomings in meeting LMC requirements. The DRC meetings are posted at https://www.cityoffrederickmd.gov/Archive.aspx?AMID=61&Type=&ADID= with projects listed for review at specific times. To attend, e-mail the case planner for the project of interest and he/she will send you the staff report and invite you to the DRC meeting for that project. For another attendance option, contact jgriek@cityoffrederickmd.gov. As a cautionary note, we believe that attendees other than staff and applicant representatives are not permitted to provide comment, unless asked. City (and County?): Commitment to Transit-Oriented Development Designs On February 19, the City Council discussed a state initiative for transit-oriented development (TOD, https://cityoffrederick.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=12&event_id=5646&meta_id=195732) and the Council agreed to apply to the state’s program. The program would incentivize development initiatives (including affordable housing) near mass transit opportunities, such as the downtown MARC station. CRG is hopeful that, through collaboration with the County, the station behind the Target store in the S. Frederick Corridor will also be included. Incentivizing development in these areas is the basis of the S. Frederick Corridor County form-based code plan, so we hope state assistance for City and County TOD will be adopted as our corridor plans move forward. County: Hot Topics Where to begin? So much is happening: Referendum on Data Centers The County Council has adopted a 2600-acre Critical Data Infrastructure Overlay Zone (OZ) expanding data center construction and operations beyond the Eastalco 1600-acre buildable area. This expansion is strongly opposed by many residents who assert that only the initial 1600 acres of the Eastalco site should be built until a state-sponsored Cost and Benefit analysis due in September 2026 is completed and we have some initial data (e.g., noise and vibrations, emissions, stormwater impacts, water demand and post-center treatment of campus discharges to prevent damage to our water treatment facilities) from operations of the permitted Aligned and Rowan sites. The fear of irreparable damage and net revenue shortfalls from the larger data center campus in the OZ is now resulting in a resident-driven call for a ballot referendum to allow residents to decide on size of any future County data center campus. That effort is well underway so please, as a registered Frederick voter, sign the referendum petition. Last date to sign is March 15. More info about how and where to sign is at fcdcreferendum.org. Other issues include: Adoption of a Housing Element report/plan that outlines current and future housing needs and possibilities, including designating areas for possible rezoning for more housing, (https://www.frederickcountymd.gov/DocumentCenter/View/359471/Housing-Element-Public-Hearing-Draft--February-18-2026?bidId=). This complements the recently released County and City Housing Assessment (see below); preliminary presentations on the Assessment and County and City commitments for implementing affordable housing construction and lowering rents for our lowest income residents have been made, with CRG extremely excited that affordable/workforce housing may actually occur. A Green Infrastructure plan that tries to integrate development and maintenance and even expansion of green infrastructure County-wide (it’s not clear if school campuses are included), (https://www.frederickcountymd.gov/DocumentCenter/View/358795/Green-Infrastructure-Plan-Draft-for-60-Day-Review?bidId=). And A plan from the Investing in Workers and Workplace Committee (IW2, business, development, and commercial industry representatives) carving out land for expanded commercial/industrial areas for future County economic benefit (https://www.frederickcountymd.gov/DocumentCenter/View/359554/Investing-In-Workers-and-Workplaces-Draft-Plan?bidId=). All of these will be rigorously discussed and voted on by the County Planning Commission on March 18, so please read the relevant documents on the County PC’s website (https://frederickcountymd.gov/7992/Planning-Commission). Public comments are due by March 16 for the IW2 plan so start to read and comment now! County Council Elections Are This Fall. A recent FNP article details campaign contributions, perhaps indicating where candidate policies lean. Take a look at https://www.fredericknewspost.com/news/continuing_coverage/election_coverage/developers-pacs-political-figures-among-donors-for-frederick-county-council-campaigns/article_40e80eb1-1e83-57f6-bd1c-ec77a24e6185.html County and City: Housing Assessment The long-awaited County and City Housing Assessment has just been released (https://www.frederickcountymd.gov/m/newsflash/home/detail/5746). It indicates that 3,185 units/year are needed to house a population projected to increase. Criteria for the estimates for affordable housing (AH) were cost burden (monthly housing costs >30% of income) and a maximum annual income of $75,000. Discussions for a few important aspects of the Assessment include: 1) Any County housing funds would build solely AH units and not all housing as advocated by many builders and developers as these vested individuals and companies suggest lower cost homes vacated by owners for purchase of higher cost units would then open those lower cost homes for lower income buyers (trickle down has not worked in Frederick: S. McKay, 2/24/26 County Council meeting). 2) Waiving or lowering Impact and APFO fees and requirements for AH units; note that the County would need to pick up costs should Impact and APFO fees be waived or reduced (S. McKay, 2/24/26 County Council meeting). 3) Consider a hierarchical fee structure for a development’s units with the AH units paying less than the remainder of the development’s market priced housing (S. McKay, 2/24/26 County Council meeting). And 4) Adopt a hybrid MPDU (Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit) policy for the required 12.5% of any development as AH. This would be a requirement that some number of housing units MUST be built as AH with the remaining portion of the 12.5% as MPDUs paid in MPDU fees. The Assessment has also been presented to the City Council (February 26) and to the public-at-large at the A.C. Burr Library (March 2). County: Mobilize Frederick Climate Summit A 2-day climate-specific meeting was just held at Hood College with many exhibitors, excellent breakout sessions and workshops, several highly relevant presentations for City and County issues, as well as personal activities to pursue to reduce your own climate impacts. Go to https://www.mobilizefrederick.org/2026-summit-overview for details! Upcoming Meetings and Events County Data Center Referendum Petition Drive, ONGOING until March 15: learn more at fcdcreferendum.org City Planning Commission, March 9, 6 PM, City Hall: ADUs, Trammell Crow final site plan extension, ADUs CIVICON, March 10, 6 PM, Hood College: J. Day, Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Director MWCOG Webinar, ‘Economics of Data Centers’, March 11, 2 PM (https://www.mwcog.org/events/2026/03/02/data-centers-in-the-dmv-water-forum/) MDE Remedial Action Plan presentation, March 16, A.C. Burr Library, 6:30 PM: Brickworks Lot 6 County Planning Commission, March 18, 9:30, Winchester Hall: Housing Element, Green Infrastructure Plan, Investing in Workers and Workplaces Hearing Contributors: P. Gallagher, S. Jakubczyk, M. Rosensweig, K. Sellner

Please join the Citizens for Responsible Growth monthly email list by clicking here. See the CRG blog at: responsiblegrowthfrederick.com CRG is a grassroots coalition of Frederick residents who prioritize responsible growth, expanding infrastructure, and a functional natural environment. We advocate for development that accommodates projected population increases while fostering a strong and diverse community fabric and increasing economic opportunities. Our comprehensive approach emphasizes public safety, traffic mitigation, increasing school capacity, and housing for all members of our community. Many Frederick residents want to know — but cannot find — information about how to participate in discussions of important local issues. The City and County generally hold meetings from 3–10 p.m., making it impossible for most of us to attend meetings or weigh in on issues of interest. Our mission with this monthly newsletter is to highlight City and County activities so you can learn more and, with your limited time, weigh in on areas of growth and development, City and County policies, and other local activities. Occasionally, opinions or longer stories will be offered by knowledgeable experts/readers. We welcome suggestions for articles focused on specific topics. Contact Kevin Sellner (kgsellner@gmail.com), Marge Rosensweig (marjorierosensweig@gmail.com), or Steve Jakubczyk (jakubczyksteven@gmail.com) for consideration of your issue. Check out our Facebook page! Find us on Instagram

Resident E-Comment Submissions Needed to the Frederick County Planning Commission

RESIDENT E-COMMENT SUBMISSIONS ARE NEEDED TO THE FREDERICK COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION Three critical plans affecting future development in the County will be discussed by the County Planning Commission on March 18.   Public comment on 2 of these 3 plans is due by this Wednesday, March 4 — NO public comment will be allowed on March 18 — so it is imperative that residents interested in future County land use provide e-comment right away. Email: PlanningCommission@FrederickCountyMD.gov. Please submit your comments, because these plans will be instrumental in these vital areas: 1) Housing plan: housing options in the County in the coming years, particularly when combined with the just released County and City Housing Assessment 2) Green infrastructure plan: inclusion/integration of trees, shrubs, parks, etc. as integrated elements in future developed areas (to include corridors for wildlife to migrate), and 3) Workers and workplaces plan: allocation of current largely agricultural land for commercial and industrial development. The first 2 plans are 1) The Housing Element: For background info: https://frederickcountymd.gov/8783/Housing-Element. To see the draft plan click here.  2) Green Infrastructure Plan: For background info: https://frederickcountymd.gov/8818/Green-Infrastructure-Plan. To see the draft plan click here.   Public comment deadline for the third plan is less clear, but the regular deadline would be Monday, March 16. 3) Investing in Workers and Workplace Plan: For background info: https://frederickcountymd.gov/8726/Investing-in-Workers-and-Workplaces To see the draft plan click here. Note maps beginning on page 50: these nineteen property owners have submitted requests to be rezoned to Industrial zoning. Weigh in — these are critical plans for all of us interested in the future County!

Please join the Citizens for Responsible Growth monthly email list by clicking here. See the CRG blog at: responsiblegrowthfrederick.com CRG is a grassroots coalition of Frederick residents who prioritize responsible growth, expanding infrastructure, and a functional natural environment. We advocate for development that accommodates projected population increases while fostering a strong and diverse community fabric and increasing economic opportunities. Our comprehensive approach emphasizes public safety, traffic mitigation, increasing school capacity, and housing for all members of our community. Many Frederick residents want to know — but cannot find — information about how to participate in discussions of important local issues. The City and County generally hold meetings from 3–10 p.m., making it impossible for most of us to attend meetings or weigh in on issues of interest. Our mission with this monthly newsletter is to highlight City and County activities so you can learn more and, with your limited time, weigh in on areas of growth and development, City and County policies, and other local activities. Occasionally, opinions or longer stories will be offered by knowledgeable experts/readers. We welcome suggestions for articles focused on specific topics. Contact Kevin Sellner (kgsellner@gmail.com), Marge Rosensweig (marjorierosensweig@gmail.com), or Steve Jakubczyk (jakubczyksteven@gmail.com) for consideration of your issue. Check out our Facebook page! Find us on Instagram

Frederick City and County News of Interest VOL. 5, NO. 2 | February 7, 2026

VOL. 5, NO. 2  |  February 7, 2026 Frederick City and County News of Interest Please join our monthly email list by clicking here. Learn more about CRG at the bottom of this newsletter. Joan Strawson has retired from the City Planning Commission. As a thoroughly prepared member and chair, Ms. Strawson was a huge supporter of responsible growth within the City. CRG and our City residents will be at a major disadvantage having lost her protective approach to development. For quick access, click on a title here and jump to that article, below: City: Data Center Update City: Brickworks Update City: Brownfields Legislation County: Data Center Decisions and Referendum County: Housing Element Report County: IW2 Report and Discussion Upcoming Meetings & Events ______________ City: Data Center Update The City Council held an initial meeting on January 15 where a data center text amendment to the City's Land Management Code (LMC) was announced. Several CRG members provided fact-based testimony to the Council against data centers in the City. However, should the Council accept any data center developments in the future, CRG proposed a list of approximately 20 key regulations to enact that would protect residents, schools, senior centers, the Monocacy River, and our environment in general. The list included 5–6 non-negotiable requirements and then specific regulations for power, water, and environmental protections, with several escrow or other security reserves to ensure repair/recovery of damaged properties from data center stormwater runoff. For details, contact Kevin Sellner at kgsellner@gmail.com. City: Brickworks Update Lot 1 (at the corner of East and South Streets) was discussed at the January 12 City Planning Commission meeting. As a densely-built town home complex, it will be THE most visible façade for Brickworks for those leaving the City on East Street. As a brick complex, it is similar to the character of the immediate downtown area. It is awaiting guidance from Maryland’s Voluntary Cleanup Program on possible steps the developer, Wormald, must take should the lot’s soils be above MDE and EPA contaminant thresholds; a meeting of the VCP on Lot 1 will be convened at the C. Burr Artz Library on February 10, 6:30 PM. CRG applauds Wormald for moving forward with its application to the VCP to protect the future residents of any townhomes to be constructed. City: Brownfields Legislation Discussions have begun regarding City adoption of Land Management Code (LMC) revisions to require that any proposed development or redevelopment of land within City limits be inspected for soil and groundwater contaminants. In 2024, CRG had proposed ‘brownfield’ legislation to protect construction workers and future occupants of residential developments proposed for contaminated sites. We hope the new Council can move this forward as mandated requirements in the next months! County: Data Center Decisions and Referendum To many County residents, the County Council’s January 20 adoption of an expanded area (from 1,585 acres to 2,615 acres) for data center construction and operations in and around the Eastalco site near Adamstown was an unfortunate but expected outcome from the Council’s Data Center 5 (Young, Keegan-Ayer, Duckett, Knapp and Carter). As a result, many local residents are undertaking a County referendum where residents can either support or reject the Council’s decision through a vote. This requires collection of ~18,000 voter signatures to appear on the ballot, an onerous but achievable task that more than 100 volunteers will undertake over the next approximately 50 days. CRG is eager to assist in collection of signatures to allow the County’s voters the ability to determine how large a data center complex should be. Find out where you can sign a petition, or volunteer to help gather signatures, on the FCDC Referendum website: fcdcreferendum.org.  ALSO — there are many costs associated with the referendum petition. Please considering making a donation by using the DONATE button on their website. County: Housing Element Report County Planning staff presented a draft comprehensive Housing Element report (https://www.frederickcountymd.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/16193), to the Planning Commission (PC) on January 21. It’s an impressive summary of current conditions and future needs that the County should pursue. Affordable housing and Accessory Dwelling Units are addressed. Please read the report and be prepared to offer suggestions at the February 18 PC meeting on next steps the County could implement, particularly after release of the County and City Housing Assessment, due any day now. County: IW2 Report and Discussion On January 21, the County Planning staff presented the recommendations of the Investing in Workers and Workplace (IW2) Committee’s recommendations to the Planning Commission (PC). The report identified 7 areas that the development community has recommended for expanding economic growth, through changes in zoning to Light Industrial or General Industrial (LI, GI). County planning staff’s summary (https://www.frederickcountymd.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/16188) to the PC resulted in multiple questions and discussion to be aired at a March 18 hearing. Multiple developers and property owners raised concerns on several LI and GI zoning needs as well as concerns about several staff suggestions for changing zoning for current properties, jeopardizing their ability to develop as they have planned. As the last public comment, CRG encouraged that any proposed development be built as a partnership between constructed buildings and maintenance of green space/contiguous forests, a goal of a new multi-organizations group, ‘Share the Land’, that includes developers (Catellus Development Corp., Frederick County Builders Industry Association, Frederick County Realtors Association), Chamber of Commerce, Farm Bureau, resident (CRG), and environmental organizations (Climate Change Work Group, Catoctin Land Trust), and several individuals. More to come on this group’s progress for ensuring that future growth includes similar commitments to natural systems and future development acreage. This goal is consistent with the Wildlife Connectivity and Crossings Act (HB0731) passed in 2025 in the state legislature. Upcoming Meetings and Events City Public Works Committee, February 10, City Hall, 4 PM: Housing Plan, Data Center Regulatory Framework, Sidewalk Maintenance, Brownfields Land Management Code Text Change City Brickworks MDE Voluntary Cleanup Program Lot 1, February 10, 6:30 PM, C. Burr Artz Library County Planning Commission meeting, February 18, 9:30 AM, Winchester Hall: Workers & Workplaces recommendations, Housing Element discussion ONGOING: Data Center referendum — make sure to sign a petition for posting a referendum on the fall ballot to accept or reject the recently passed County Council larger acreage for data centers in the County. Find out where you can sign a petition on the FCDC Referendum website: fcdcreferendum.org.  There are many costs associated with the referendum petition. Please considering making a donation by using the DONATE button on their website. Contributors: P. Gallagher, K. Sellner

Please join the Citizens for Responsible Growth monthly email list by clicking here. See the CRG blog at: responsiblegrowthfrederick.com CRG is a grassroots coalition of Frederick residents who prioritize responsible growth, expanding infrastructure, and a functional natural environment. We advocate for development that accommodates projected population increases while fostering a strong and diverse community fabric and increasing economic opportunities. Our comprehensive approach emphasizes public safety, traffic mitigation, increasing school capacity, and housing for all members of our community. Many Frederick residents want to know — but cannot find — information about how to participate in discussions of important local issues. The City and County generally hold meetings from 3–10 p.m., making it impossible for most of us to attend meetings or weigh in on issues of interest. Our mission with this monthly newsletter is to highlight City and County activities so you can learn more and, with your limited time, weigh in on areas of growth and development, City and County policies, and other local activities. Occasionally, opinions or longer stories will be offered by knowledgeable experts/readers. We welcome suggestions for articles focused on specific topics. Contact Kevin Sellner (kgsellner@gmail.com), Marge Rosensweig (marjorierosensweig@gmail.com), or Steve Jakubczyk (jakubczyksteven@gmail.com) for consideration of your issue. Check out our Facebook page! Find us on Instagram