Frederick City and County News of Interest VOL. 3, NO. 11 | NOVEMBER 4, 2024

 

VOL. 3, NO. 11  |  NOVEMBER 4, 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: Planning Commission Opening City: Community Outreach — Brickworks & Lucas Village City: Temporary Housing Possibility City: Election Districts City: Update on the Winchester Property City: More City Housing — Yes! More Traffic — Beware! City: Vacant Property Ordinance Status City: Rental Licensing Ordinance — Use of Collected Funds City: FREE organics/food waste pickup County: MPRP Transmission Line ______________ City: Planning Commission Opening There is an immediate opening for a new member (maybe a second, soon) on the City’s Planning Commission (PC). The PC reviews development applications and provides conditions and recommendations on development projects proposed within the City. In CRG’s opinion, to date the PC has been the most responsive part of the City administration to residents’ input. Members are the most thoroughly prepared of any of the City’s commissions, boards, or its elected officials, so if you want to make a lasting impact on our future, consider applying for this critically important representative group of focused volunteers! Go to https://www.cityoffrederickmd.gov/726/Commission-Vacancies and the Planning Commission tab and APPLY! City: Community Outreach — Brickworks & Lucas Village On October 21, Deputy Director for Planning Gabrielle Collard held a Community Outreach meeting with two important projects discussed: the Brickworks at East and South Streets, and Lucas Village demolition off Sagner Avenue. The main outcome of discussions for the latter was that the demolition of Lucas Village will begin with specific City guarantees on eventual housing for 88 current residents and either saving the current community center or building a new facility. CRG applauds both decisions and looks forward to helping Lucas Village residents and their neighbors urge the City to repair existing sinkholes, inspect adjacent neighborhoods for sinkholes, renovate a stormwater retention pond, and alleviate frequent flooding of neighborhood streets. For the Brickworks project, parkland and plans for 230 townhomes on Lot 5 were discussed. The developer has been responsive to adding parkland on the property on the east side of East Street; a few more acres are needed to meet the City requirements. For Lot 5 townhome construction, the developer’s representative stated that no grading of land on Lot 5 will occur until MDE has issued its decision regarding whether contaminants are sufficiently low so that no mitigation is needed, or that contaminant levels will need to be reduced prior to recontouring of surface soils. This has been a CRG concern for more than two years based on historical records of contamination on the property. City: Temporary Housing Possibility On October 16 and 23, the Mayor and Board of Aldermen heard the description of a housing initiative that would allow temporary short-term housing in City areas zoned institutional, for the protection of the City’s homeless population during cold winter months. Ann Ryan of the Frederick Housing Solutions Task Force and pastors from several churches indicated they have land for such housing, and need the City to examine possible zoning modifications to permit this use. The temporary housing initiative is part of a housing continuum that Alderwoman Nash is advocating, from homelessness to home ownership (for a description, go to III.A.1 Presentation at https://cityoffrederick.granicus.com/GeneratedAgendaViewer.php?view_id=12&event_id=5365). CRG strongly supports this ordinance and looks forward to workshops and hearings soon to provide this critically needed service to our less fortunate community members. City: Election Districts According to the City Charter amendments approved by the Board of Aldermen, five election districts will be in place for the 2025 municipal election. The City Council will be comprised of 5 district and 2 at-large representatives. To move that amendment forward, the City has hired HaystaqDNA to draft the election district maps. On October 23, representatives from the company presented their plan and timeline to the Mayor and Board. In an aggressive schedule, maps of City districts would be completed by February 1, 2025, with opportunities for input from City officials and residents before that final delivery date. The anticipated (though flexible) timeline was presented: Courtesy of Phyllis Hane, City Clerk City: Update on the Winchester Property A discussion and decision, scheduled for the October 24 Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) meeting, on whether the buildings (a house built in the mid-1800s and accompanying stable/garage/shed) on the Winchester property on East 6th Street are contributing or non-contributing, was postponed until December due to a request by the developer for a continuance. As there was no HPC quorum to vote on the continuance at the meeting, the commissioners will vote at their November meeting whether to continue this matter at the December meeting. At the present time, it appears staff are recommending a “non-contributing” designation for the stable/garage/shed and a “contributing” designation for the house itself, which now is configured as a 3-unit apartment. Given the delay, there is still time for interested residents to weigh in with comments to Commissioners via HPC staff. City: More City Housing — Yes! More Traffic — Beware! As reported in the FNP (Saturday–Sunday October 26–27) the proposed 106-unit apartment building to be located between the Carroll Creek Linear Park and E. Patrick Street received the final site plan and local forest conservation plan approval from the City’s Planning Commission (PC) on October 24. While CRG expected this decision — based on discussions and early approvals at prior City meetings — it raises yet again the specter of traffic snarls in the Patrick/East street area.   In short order, the Galleria mixed use project at the corner of East and All Saints, the downtown hotel and conference center on E. Patrick and Carroll Streets, the Brickworks development at East and South Streets, the Visitation Academy project between E. Church and E. 2nd, the 106-unit complex at 404–420 E. Patrick Street, and an unknown development to replace the Railroad Museum will be adding new residents to downtown. A very good thing!!! More residents, more vibrant downtown, more foot traffic at local businesses. On the other hand, what exactly has been/will be done to ameliorate the already difficult traffic situation which seems to grow worse and worse each month? (As an aside, this scribe spent 20 minutes driving from the corner of N. Market and N. East Street to the intersection at Patrick Street on a recent Wednesday afternoon — about 1.5 miles. There were no works projects, no accidents to impede traffic flow, just more cars and trucks than the corridor can handle now. What will happen when the above noted projects come online?)   The City established a Downtown Frederick Mobility Zone and fee structure in 2022, with the stated use of the funds “…from the mobility fee district account at its discretion to fund transportation capital projects, within or adjacent to the Downtown.” The FNP article mentioned that the developer of the 106-unit apartment building will be “subject to the Downtown Frederick Mobility Fee…approximately $2,813.” The amount cited is interesting, to say the least, as the resolution establishing the mobility fee indicates an initial assessment (which rises each fiscal year) for residential properties of $311.07 per unit which in 2022 would have totaled more than $32K for a 106-unit apartment building.   So, some questions. Has the fund been established? If so, how much has been collected? How much, if any, has been used? Why an approximate $2,813 (per the FNP article) payment for this property rather than an amount based on the resolution requirement for residential properties of a per unit fee multiplied by the number of units? What are the plans for improving the traffic — pedestrian, bicycle, motor vehicle — along the East Street corridor and the east side of town? Which reminds us: Whatever has happened with Form Based Code for the corridor? City: Vacant Property Ordinance Status Based on all the public interest and progress by the City recently to address the high-profile blighted Asiana property on North Market Street there has been a renewed call to update the status of the Vacancy Property Ordinance (VPO) passed in December 2020 and its impact on additional habitually vacant properties.   The VPO mandates an increase in property taxes in year 3 for previously registered and inspected vacant properties (years 1 and 2). This past May, notices of a separate blighted property tax increase for the 2025 fiscal year (July 1–June 30) were sent to 7 individual property owners for a total of 13 properties. Frequent Downtown visitors will be quite familiar with the location of most of these as they exist primarily on the 300 block of North Market Street and have been vacant in some cases for decades. With a goal of incentivizing the owners to either renovate or sell, it is important to note the VPO additionally provides the City with both the tool of continual tax increases or the nuclear option of receivership after year 4 as they took with Asiana on North Market Street (https://cityoffrederick.granicus.com/player/clip/5955?view_id=15&redirect=true). CRG encourages all City residents to stay involved by participating in the City's preferred method of handling resident concerns through "complaint driven enforcement“ and reporting properties felt to be vacant for at least one year and in violation of the VPO through the City website: https://frederickmd.portal.opengov.com/categories/1076/record-types/6559 The path to finally resolving these ongoing vacancy issues is clear and CRG commends the City for taking the first step with Asiana. We hope the predicted success of the pending legal challenge will encourage the City to continue their efforts and finish the job.   City: Rental Licensing Ordinance — Use of Collected Funds In August 2022, the City passed an ordinance to collect money for rental licenses. The more than $527,000 collected in the past fiscal year will be used for Housing and Human Services operating and administrative costs, with the remaining money divided among three funds: the Tenant Protection Fund, the Rental Assistance Fund, and the Affordable Housing Conservation Fund. The Tenant Protection Fund request of $50,000 is to “…protect renters from being evicted from their units due to unsafe conditions created by their landlord or the building’s owner” (FNP, October 31). The Rental Assistance Fund will “…provide short-term assistance to renters who experience temporary financial hardship” (FNP, ibid.) and those eligible would earn 50% or less of the average mean income, hold a Section 8 voucher, or be 65 or older, or have a disabled household member. The Affordable Housing Conservation Fund will “…provide one-time payments for projects to established homeowners” (FNP, ibid.), i.e., one-time repairs that the owner cannot afford. CRG applauds this City commitment and trusts that the funds will at least partially alleviate the long-standing need for residential assistance. Go to https://www.fredericknewspost.com/news/economy_and_business/real_estate_and_development/aldermen-consider-best-ways-to-use-rental-licensing-money/article_a9a7c5bb-47e1-5678-beaa-f6253587a217.html for additional details.   City: FREE organics/food waste pickup Residents, remember to sign up for the FREE organics pickup the City is offering! Learn more here: https://www.cityoffrederickmd.gov/1591/Free-Curbside-Composting Composting is an important part of any sustainable city. It reduces the amount of trash entering the municipal landfill, creates nutrient-rich soil without chemical fertilizers, and helps reduce a city’s carbon footprint. County: MPRP Transmission Line To the disappointment of many County residents, small businesses, and local-to-Federal officials, PSEG has published a route for a proposed transmission line from northern Baltimore County, through Carroll, into southwestern Frederick County. PSEG has sent over 800 letters to property owners whose land may be within the transmission line route for possible purchase, or seizure through eminent domain. Lack of credible justification for the line, loss of private and public properties, and rate payer assumption of transmission line construction costs ($425 million) has induced rage and disbelief that a project primarily built for data centers in northern Virginia currently, and perhaps those likely in southwest Frederick County over the next decade, could move forward with clear, widespread, vocal opposition. Multiple bills for the state’s legislative session beginning in January are under consideration to re-examine the transmission line, as well as power demand and costs associated with future data centers. CRG wonders: Where is the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's intervention to re-examine this decision, in which the sole beneficiaries are large corporations that sponsor data centers at the expense of local residents? For landowners near the proposed MPRP line: A coalition of organizations, including Envision Frederick County, Sugarloaf Alliance, and the Smarter Growth Alliance, are working to distribute information to landowners next to and near the MPRP line. In Frederick County, please reach out using the email address, smartergrowthfc@gmail.com to learn more about this effort, or to volunteer to help distribute flyers to landowners. Upcoming MPRP information sessions About these meetings: "PSEG invites you to public information sessions to learn more about MPRP and the process moving forward. There will be a brief overview of the project followed by a moderated question and answer session." Wednesday, November 13, 2024 Carroll County PSEG Information Session Carroll County Ag Center, 706 Agricultural Center Dr., Westminster, MD 6:00 PM–8:30 PM Tuesday, November 12, 2024 Baltimore County PSEG Information Session Embassy Suites by Hilton, 213 International Circle, Hunt Valley, MD 6:00 PM–8:30 PM Thursday, November 14, 2024 Frederick County PSEG Information Session Brunswick Volunteer Fire Company, 1500 Volunteer Drive, Brunswick, MD 6:00 PM–8:30 PM

__________________ See the CRG blog at: responsiblegrowthfrederick.com Contributors: P. Gallagher, S. Jakubczyk, 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. We're on Instagram... follow us! Check out our Facebook page!