Frederick City and County News of Interest VOL. 2, NO. 1 | JANUARY 4, 2023

 VOL. 2, NO. 1  |  JANUARY 4, 2023

Frederick City and County News of Interest

1. City Rental Property Ordinance
2. Changes to the Land Management Code (LMC) and Carroll Creek Overlay (CCO)
3. Addressing BYOB Establishments
4. Visitation Academy Update
5. East Street Redevelopment
6. Congratulations for the Madison Development across from Banner School!
7. NAC Revitalization
8. Critical Digital Infrastructure
9. Speed Cameras
10. Single use plastic bag legislation
11. Upcoming Events for Resident Input
    

Citizens for Responsible Growth (CRG) is a grassroots coalition of Frederick residents who strongly favor development to accommodate the projected increase in the County’s and City’s population, but want to ensure it is undertaken in a way that considers the cumulative impact on our infrastructure, i.e., housing (market-driven and affordable/workforce), green space, schools, traffic, and the environment. Current practice is to consider each project as it — alone — affects its immediate surroundings. We contend that each project must be considered as an integral part of multiple land uses that work together to protect public safety, provide accommodation, minimize congestion, and guarantee easy access to a functional natural environment that surrounds our built and arable lands.
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City Rental Property Ordinance
On December 15, Alderwoman Donna Kuzemchak’s rental property maintenance ordinance was adopted by the Board of Aldermen, setting up a requirement that all landlords of rental properties must maintain adequate standards for interiors and exteriors of these properties. Registration will begin January, 2024 with 15% of all properties inspected each year to ensure safe standard living conditions in the City’s rental properties. This is an opportunity to guarantee safe and healthy living conditions in households of all residents. Please help renters by relaying this requirement to those living in your neighborhood. For details, go to https://cityoffrederick.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=15&clip_id=5360&meta_id=135934.

Changes to the Land Management Code (LMC) and Carroll Creek Overlay (CCO)
Representatives for Wormald Companies LLC and Ausherman Properties have proposed text changes (PC22-370ZTA, Text Amendment) to the City’s LMC that would expand numbers of residential units allowed in the CCO based on the number of structured parking spaces (i.e., parking within a structure that is not visible from the street) any developer could identify. Additionally current LMC text embedded in the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) that requires green space and stormwater protections has also been deleted and future traffic congestion ignored. Although increasing housing, ideally affordable/workforce unit and assuring adequate parking for resulting increased density are critical, the CRG asks whether these suggested revisions, which will increase the numbers of market-based residential units and developer profits, are consistent with the intent of the CCO including height, massing, and established ‘character’ of the Carroll Creek Linear Park for this specific property and importantly, all future new construction in the CCO. We must question these precedent-setting changes and be prepared to weigh in on your visions for the future CCO. To examine the suggested text revisions, go to https://cityoffrederick.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=12&clip_id=5362&meta_id=135969.

Addressing BYOB Establishments
Substantial progress has been made to address the issue of troublesome late-night activity in area of N. Market Street between Third and Sixth Streets much of which emanates from unrestricted BYOB (Bring Your Own Bottle) establishments. Most significantly, at (and following) recent meetings with Frederick County and state delegates, residents proposed and drafted relevant legislation (with back up documents describing the steps taken by several Maryland jurisdictions that address BYOB establishments) that would:

• Establish a regulatory agency to supervise and license these presently unregulated businesses County-wide and require them to follow specific alcohol awareness and training rules
• Designate specific hours of operation comporting with those of craft breweries or distilleries

Direct follow up with state and local elected officials who have been asked to champion this initiative is ongoing and discussions have been encouraging. As well, a strong letter of support has been provided by the Frederick Police Department. Codifying what is/is not allowed and ‘leveling the playing field’ by having everyone follow a consistent set of rules can close this gap in the system and assure better protection for residents and local businesses. CRG and we neighbors who are concerned about safety in our downtown should be prepared to provide input once legislation and potential options are brought forward.
 
Visitation Academy Update
Building 1, currently under construction is schedule for occupancy by the end of March 2023; all eleven units have been sold. Building 2, located behind the brick wall on East Second Street, has passed Level 1 review by the Historic Preservation Commission; the schedule for Level 2 review is not known at this time. The site plan for the proposed three condominium buildings on the site has also been approved by the Planning Commission; Building 3 construction is also unknown. The conversion and rehabilitation of the historic infrastructure of the former school is scheduled to be completed by late summer of 2023, Marriott opening the hotel on October 31, 2023 (https://cityoffrederick.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=12&clip_id=5362&meta_id=135967).

East Street Redevelopment
Following receipt of a Vision Plan on East Street redevelopment derived from meetings with City residents and other interested parties in the last few months, a first draft of a form-based code (FBC), the determinant compliance document for development of the East Street corridor (over and above the City’s Land Management Code, (LMC) ) overlay district, will be delivered to the City by mid-January with staff review and return to the contractors by the end of the month. Shortly thereafter a final draft will be sent to the City for distribution to stakeholders for review and comment. Unfortunately, this will be the sole opportunity for an uninformed public to review the proposed code, the most important compliance document for the next few decades. Because of its importance, the review process should allow for vigorous stakeholder participation, similar to public engagement when the Frederick Town Historic District Design Guidelines was revised in 2017. This process should begin with a clear statement by the City for:

• Objectives of the developed code
• Specific benefits expected as a result of code implementation
• Protections possible as a result of implementation

In the past 6–7 years, inconsistent compliance with the current LMC has resulted in very uneven Planning Commission and Historic Preservation approvals for architecture in Frederick’s historic downtown. Hence, it is critical that the new code better control quality of new build and major renovations along this key corridor into and out of the City, including ideas, concepts, and architecture from residents, businesses, and non-governmental organizations on these future corridor designs. For example, the Vision Plan depicts beautiful streetscapes and the stakeholders need to ensure that the FBC provides the tools to guarantee that development meets the vision. In sum, as a landmark code, a review process must be adopted that will allow for sufficient public participation and dialog with appropriate review/appeals processes that allow for both corrections and protections. 

Other East Street news: Funds have been identified for design and construction for Phase 2 — Rail and Trails Program (Eighth Street to N. Market), covering only the trails component. Further, there is no current budget in the Capital Improvement Plan to address East Street Road reconfiguration, critical to traffic flow/congestion, outlined in the Vision Plan.

All City residents should follow the City’s traffic and FBC concepts closely in the coming months and prepare comments about the impact on East Street as well as all side streets feeding this major thoroughfare.

Congratulations for the Madison Development across from Banner School!
A rezoning request has been submitted to the City for the Madison development on the property across N. Market Street from Banner School and the Canterbury Station apartment complex (https://cityoffrederick.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=12&event_id=3503&meta_id=136063). The developer will provide 8 of the development’s 60 units as affordable/workforce housing to ease some of the City’s glaring shortage of needed housing for our lower-moderate income residents. CRG compliments the developer (M. Font, New Harbor Development LLC) and City staff for this commitment!

NAC Revitalization
As many acknowledge, the NAC system (and its intent) has been difficult to maintain over the past 3 years, most critically obvious during the pandemic. Beginning about 1 year ago, City officials and staff proposed to revitalize the NACs with a comprehensive restructuring. The effort has largely been unsuccessful. Poorly constructed surveys and data analyses and lack of widespread announcement of the recent “What If” meeting where residents could weigh in on future engagement possibilities (including in NACs) guaranteed minimal resident input in the process. Resident frustration was evident at the recent December 14 Mayor and Board of Aldermen workshop. Resident comments both at the meeting and via e-comment emphasized the lack of resident participation at the above-mentioned earlier attempts, inattention to the original and revised NAC charter and the Land Management Code (LMC), roles and responsibilities, and—from their perspective—a lack of appreciation for the many and important resident contributions in the past few years (e.g., the Vacancy Ordinance, Maxwell Avenue pedestrian walkway, 2020 Comprehensive Plan text, and Climate Change report).
 
Following public comment, the Mayor and Board agreed to start over, benchmarking where the City is and where it wants to go regarding the NACs. Specific steps defined at the meeting are to:

• Create an ad hoc committee with community members, staff, and Alderman Shackelford
• Update NAC boundaries in terms of population growth and equity impact areas
• Publish a schedule about the next months of work on the NAC system

To address the committee option, the City just announced formation of a community engagement committee (https://www.cityoffrederickmd.gov/civicalerts.aspx?AID=7184), seeking volunteers by January 20. It will focus on the necessary changes we residents seek in an active, revitalized Neighborhood Advisory Council program. This might be the start of the partnership we have been seeking with the City so nominate yourself or convince interested neighbors to do so!
 
Critical Digital Infrastructure
The County has been identified as a possible location for the construction and operation of large data centers, similar to those found in Loudon County, VA to the south. In anticipation of this new, large development demand, the County adopted a Critical Digital Infrastructure ordinance (22-05, https://frederickcountymd.gov/DocumentCenter/View/337255/Bill-22-05) that places some limits on land use for these centers.

In a first application of the new legislation, Quantum Maryland LLC (QL) has submitted a plan for digital center construction across 27 parcels of the Eastalco site near Adamstown, with the parcels to be sold for construction of digital data centers. QL has identified use of 1.5 and 5 mgd (million gallons per day) of potable and non-potable water, respectively, for the site, construction of a sewage pumping station, and with Potomac Edison, construction of an electrical substation. The County has identified adequate water capacities for the applicant. The QL application also identifies temporary and permanent damage to local floodplains and streams, to be explored by CRG representatives in an informational hearing with the MD Water and Science Administration in the new year.

Other developers have purchased adjacent parcels for digital center construction and a center on Sugarloaf remains a possibility. Of concern is the impact of multiple huge data centers on stormwater and local creeks and habitats, future electricity and water demands for centers vs. other non-center needs, and substantial social changes for the largely rural character and population of the area. It is critical to re-examine the County’s CDI requirements for this dramatic land use change for the future as forward-thinking is critical to establishing what is and is not acceptable for this portion of the County. Revisions later after digital center companies have come in will be difficult to adopt as the ‘horses would have left the barn’ and change later will be challenged by prospective new center applicants as competitively unfair to what early center builders were allowed.

Speed Cameras
Outgoing State Delegate, now incoming Senator, Karen Lewis Young has accepted clarifying language to State law 21-809 to allow speed cameras (speed monitoring systems) in any site determined by County or incorporated municipalities (12 in the County). The language more clearly identifies the ability of any County or municipality that maintains a police force to place speed monitoring systems not only within ½ mile of a school but anywhere officials choose. Senator Young is forwarding the language to colleagues in both the House and Senate for consideration in the coming session. Hopefully this will encourage City and County officials to better enforce established speed limits across the area, consistently ignored over the pandemic and through current times.

Single use plastic bag legislation
The City will soon consider legislation banning single use plastic bags at various retail establishments in the City. Our region, state, nation, and world are being rapidly overwhelmed with plastic waste of all types; very little of it (about 10%) is recycled and most of it ends up in our waterways and food, and thus ultimately inside the bodies of all animals, including humans. A number of municipalities in our region have passed similar bills, and we can use information from these programs to inform how we arrange our program.

The City will hold a workshop on this legislation on Wednesday February 8 at 3 PM at City Hall. Please write to the mayor and alderpersons if you support the idea, and please consider attending the February 8 workshop if you’re available.

Upcoming Events for Resident Input
Chapel Alley New Construction: A proposal to build townhouses on Chapel Alley between E. Fourth and Fifth Streets has been resubmitted. We will distribute details as more details are posted.

City Legislative Priorities Delegation Meeting:  January 5, 2023, City Hall, 8 AM.

Karen Lewis Young, Ken Kerr, Chris Fair — District 3 Listening Session: January 7, 2023, 2–3:30, Hillcrest Community Center, 1150 Orchard Terrace.

Planning Commission: January 17, 2023, 2 PM, construction of 1260 residential units including a hotel at the Brickworks at South and East Streets.


Contributors:  S. Jakubczyk, R. Robey, M. Rosensweig, K. Sellner, P. Gallagher

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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 Jacubczyk (jakubczyksteven@gmail.com) for consideration of your issue.