Frederick City and County News of Interest VOL. 3, NO. 10 | OCTOBER 7, 2024 test

 

VOL. 3, NO. 10  |  OCTOBER 7, 2024 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: NAC Ad Hoc Committee Recommendations City: Brickworks Update City: Charter Review Update City: Odd Fellows Hall Update City: Worman’s Mill Court Apartments City: Winchester Property Demolition: 127 E. 6th Street County: Temporary Building Moratorium County: Revisions to its Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit (MPDU) Requirements County: IWW Meetings: Rezoning for Industry & Commercial Businesses County: Transmission Lines Upcoming Meetings and Events ______________ City: NAC Ad Hoc Committee Recommendations An adhoc committee of volunteers, appointed by Mayor O’Connor last year, submitted their report in September 2023 containing recommendations to guide the Board of Aldermen as it arrives at consensus for changes to the Neighborhood Advisory Council (NAC) Resolution, last amended in 2012.  The Mayor and Board of Aldermen (M&B) considered these recommendations at their September 5, 2024 workshop. Charged with proposing changes to revitalize the NACs and allow the board to develop consensus, ad hoc committee members addressed what they considered to be key issues for consideration. (A side note: It was determined at the beginning of the Sept. 5 workshop that the Mayor and Board had not received the red-lined Committee Report, and thus were not as prepared to be responsive to recommendations as had been anticipated.) Nonetheless, presenters moved forward, noting that their recommendations are based on extensive research into the organization, policies, and practices of 60 NAC-like municipal entities around the country and through discussions with numerous City residents. Foremost among the issues is the sense — among residents — that communication between City administrators/staff/elected officials and the community at large is neither robust nor a dialogue, but rather a one-way information highway — from the City to the residents. To change that, the committee recommended an increase in two-way interaction via establishment of a Liaison Board (one representative from each NAC) that would meet quarterly with elected officials and City staff to share issues and concerns that cut across NACs. This recommendation generated more than an hour-long discussion culminating in an informal consensus among Alderpersons that the liaison board inserts an additional layer of “bureaucracy” between the grass-roots NACs and elected officials. Moreover, Alderpersons noted the provision for NAC–City meetings in the previous Resolution and asserted those could/should be reinstated as these meetings (perhaps once or twice/year) were, and would be, an effective means of two-way dialogue. Other recommendations briefly discussed included the stage at which a developer–NAC meeting should be held (i.e., prior to or after preliminary approval for a development project); special meetings; number of NACs; encouragement of/support for social gatherings at the local NAC level; review frequency for the NAC Resolution; clarity regarding responsibilities of NAC members and City officials in terms of encouraging broader NAC engagement, etc. Agreement was reached that the City Attorney would draft an Ordinance (to replace a NAC Resolution) based on the discussion and sense of the Board as expressed at the workshop which would be circulated among Alderpersons for red-lining and further discussion. No date was set for this process.  City Brickworks Update On September 16 the Brickworks project was discussed at the City Planning Commission, including sub-division, parkland, and forest conservation plan. Additionally, public comment sought updates on a possible urban school on the site as well as status of the site cleanup under MDE’s Voluntary Cleanup Program. The developer is in discussion with the FCPS on options for a school on the property, and a cleanup plan has not been finalized for the known contaminants common to the property. Stay tuned as the eventual development will be THE gateway to the City, providing a first impression of our historic urban area. City Charter Review Update It appears the many hours/weeks/months of effort expended by the Charter Review committee have paid off. At its September 21 Mayor & Board public meeting, all but one recommendation of the committee was approved, with some minor text changes inserted in several recommendations. Among the more controversial issues were term limits, non-affiliated voters eligible to vote in primaries, and non-citizen voting in municipal elections. Ultimately, two of these three were approved and one was removed from consideration: Term limits — Alderpersons voted to approve limits of 3 consecutive terms for council members and two for mayor, with possibility of a future candidacy after a term had elapsed since the individual’s prior term. Three alderpersons voted in favor of term limits, with two opposed. Non-citizen voting — Several residents spoke in favor of this recommendation with two in opposition and a third strongly urging the legislators to put “guard rails” around this provision to assure non-citizen voting did not get out of hand. The final vote was 4–1 in favor. Non-party affiliated voters — A legal opinion by the City Attorney indicated that there is no “legal way forward” for such a provision. Based on that opinion, the Board voted 5-0 to not consider this recommendation. The next step will be drafting ordinances to transfer from the City Charter to the City Code, where necessary, approved recommendations. City: Odd Fellows Hall Update Having previously received Level 1 approval for several multi-family buildings, townhouses, and various amenities, the developer of Odd Fellows Hall returned to the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) to request a modification of that approval. The purpose of the modification is to allow increased density via an additional multi-family building along the northern property boundary. During the lengthy discussion at the September 19 HPC workshop, staff expressed concern about the requested modification, primarily regarding the massive size of the multi-family buildings and loss of green space. Earlier (approved) plans featured three multi-family buildings lining the northern perimeter, with green space fronting the buildings. The proposed revision features four buildings — though appearing as two due to the hyphenated structure (i.e., connecting two buildings with an inset section narrower and slightly lower than the two buildings) — with no green area between surface parking and building fronts. Commissioners suggested a return to the three (smaller) multi-family building approach and the developer will reconfigure the plans. Stay tuned! City: Worman’s Mill Court Apartments Mayor and Board approval of rezoning and the master plan for the proposed affordable Worman’s Mill Court Apartments (off N. Market St. and opposite the Clemson Corner Shopping Center) was granted. Additionally, the on-site afforestation/reforestation requirement was dropped in exchange for a >$1.1M contribution for an extended rails with trails connection across Rte. 26. Upon approval of the zoning change, the Board briefly discussed and then approved (3–1) the Master Plan for the project. CRG is in a dilemma: We definitely support more affordable housing but segregating lower income residents in a property with limited traffic access and reduced tree canopy and habitat provide less than ideal quality of life attributes for future residents of the property. City: Winchester Property Demolition: 127 E. 6th Street There has been a delay in the HPC discussion of the proposed demolition of the historic Winchester site, 127 E. 6th Street. The Demolition Application (Case HPC24-702) is now scheduled for the October 24 HPC meeting. Written comments and other help to support preservation of this treasured site are still needed. Please contact Jim Wagner (240-586-1215, your.james.wagner@gmail.com) for more information — any and all help in the preservation effort is appreciated. County: Temporary Building Moratorium On October 1, the County Council voted 5–1 to reject a proposed temporary 2-year building moratorium that had been proposed by Councilman McKay. The moratorium would have been automatically implemented if projected student numbers for a new residential subdivision plat exceeded 120% of state projected school capacity 5 years after plat receipt, or if issued residential building permits would result in 175% or more of state projected school capacities over 5 years following proposed construction. An example of the dire overcrowded conditions is the Oakdale Elementary School. The current state rated capacity for the school is 707 students; there are currently over 1200 students in the school. It has no additional land for more portable classrooms. Preparations are now underway to use land for a proposed library across the street from the school to be used as a playground next year so that more portables can be placed on school grounds. The legislation was opposed by developers, builders, and people working in the building and related industries. People supporting the legislation were teachers and parents that might be impacted by the legislation.  Some of the reasons Council members opposed the legislation include: The legislation would not meet its intended purpose of slowing growth in a greatly over-capacity school area; municipalities would not be covered; the legislation might delay or jeopardize the middle school land and infrastructure improvements to be provided by the Gordon Mill developer; growth of the County commercial tax base would be delayed; it would send the wrong message to businesses considering coming into the County; constituents in the building trades would experience financial difficulty; overcrowding issues that have always been an issue in the County schools would remain; expensive lawsuits by permitted developers would likely arise; and increased housing does not necessarily lead to overcrowded schools. Let’s hope that the County Executive’s 4% property tax increase specifically designated for school construction provides the needed 25 County schools as soon as possible. County: Revisions to its Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit (MPDU) Requirements On October 1, the County Council convened a first reading of legislation to revise the current County guidelines that require construction of affordable housing in large new developments (12.5% is required), or payment of fee-in-lieu funds to avoid construction of such housing. (https://www.frederickcountymd.gov/DocumentCenter/View/353103/REVISED-MDPU-Proposed-Bill). Stay tuned for additional Council discussions that will ideally lead to actual construction of MPDUs. County: IWW Meetings — Rezoning for Industry and Commercial Businesses The County has recently convened 3 public meetings to discuss the outcomes of multiple County Executive-appointed Investing in Workers and Workplaces (IWW) Advisory Group meetings, which were convened to identify possible County areas for development/redevelopment of industrial and biotech businesses to increase County revenues. Rezoning to support such development includes four municipalities (City of Frederick, Brunswick, Thurmont, and New Market) and three general areas (Jefferson Tech Park-Mt. Zion Road, Urbana Corridors, and the area surrounding the Eastalco site). However, considerable public backlash has resulted, beginning with the fact that residents represented only 4 of the 14 members of the County Executive’s IWW Advisory Group, with principal concerns focusing on loss of prized agricultural and forested lands to accommodate the proposed new industries, as well as considerations of future sources of water and power infrastructure for any new large businesses (e.g., would there be a need for a second transmission line in addition to the current MPRP [Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project] line now proposed for data centers in N. Virginia and eventually the Eastalco site near Adamstown?). From the perspective of many residents, before consideration of the IWW Plan, the first step should be completion of the County’s Green Infrastructure Plan (a high priority in the 2019 Livable Frederick Master Plan) which would identify County areas to be protected for agriculture, contiguous forest corridors, areas critical for water percolation and groundwater supplies to County streams and creeks, and carbon sequestration to reduce County emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). GHGs lead to excessive summer temperatures, major storms and lengthy extreme droughts, and threats to public health due to poor air quality. The Green Infrastructure Plan guidance would then be followed by industrial area planning, and not the other way around. Additionally, within the IWW initial mapping, there appears to be an expansion of MD Route 80 into a corridor that would connect with Route 15 by crossing land in agriculture preservation, a first in the state. CRG strongly encourages much more complete presentation of reasons for selection of these development areas, and inclusion of property owners and neighbors in all future deliberations of sites for rezoning. This should be accompanied by completion of the Green Infrastructure Plan that would then inform where rezoning might or might not occur.   County: Transmission Lines Where to begin? The proposed Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project (MPRP) to construct new power lines from Baltimore County through Carroll to southwest Frederick County — leading to loss of private properties, businesses and employment, agriculture preservation lands, and ‘green’ treasured areas — is still in play. This is in spite of Senator Cardin’s strong opposition to the current approach (requested by CRG in a letter to the senator approximately 1 month ago) as well as reluctance of County officials to endorse the project. The Office of the People’s Counsel is challenging the project, as well, as a unnecessary/unjustified construction project whose costs would largely be assigned to ratepayers. Further, a formal complaint of unfair cost transfers to residents has been lodged by Earthjustice, Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, Public Citizen, Sustainable FERC Project, and the Union of Concerned Scientists to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=rm&ogbl#inbox/FMfcgzQXJQVpMcBhgsLVWVQgQhhnHzDw). As noted in the IWW section above, should the new County-identified areas for industrial and commercial development be established, construction of another transmission line may be necessary, jeopardizing other properties throughout the area. CRG and many other groups and individuals strongly encourage a restart of the entire process, including better decisions about where power is truly needed; how it might be delivered if a need exists; whether industrial users pay vs. deferring costs to residents; and projections of power demand in the next decades. Upcoming Meetings & Events October 8, 5:30 pm, Winchester Hall, Frederick MD, County Council Workshop: Discussion of data center regulation and “Floating Zones for Data centers”, the latter a mechanism to permit land rezoned from agriculture to industrial to allow data centers.   October 9, 9 am and 1 pm respectively, City Hall: Legislative priorities meeting and work session with Frederick County delegation. October 9, 6 pm, Oakdale High School Auditorium: County Executive Fitzwater will convene a community meeting on the proposed Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project. The Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), which is managing the project, will have representatives at the meeting to present information and answer questions. FCG TV will record the meeting, which will be available in the video archive at www.FrederickCountyMD.gov/FCGtv.  October 16, 6 pm, Carroll Manor Elementary School Cafeteria, 5624 Adamstown Road, Adamstown, MD: A public information meeting to discuss the application and permit review process for MDE Air and Radiation Administration permit for proposed IAD04 data center facility including the installation of 168 emergency diesel generators and 4 more high powered emergency generators. The IAD04 data center facility will be located at the Quantum Loophole campus at 5601 Manor Woods Road, Frederick, MD.

__________________ See the CRG blog at: responsiblegrowthfrederick.com Contributors: P. Gallagher, R. Huber, M. Rosensweig, K. Sellner, J. Wagner 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.

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