Council Approves Ten Mile Creek Master Plan

This week we gave tentative approval to a limited master plan amendment for the Ten Mile Creek area of Clarksburg that stays close to the original density projected in the 1994 Master Plan for the emerging community but takes significant steps to protect the long-term health of the watershed.

We heard from environmental experts of every description and reduced the area available for development significantly in the Ten Mike Creek drainage area in order to protect the long term health of one of Montgomery County's last remaining environmental resources. Nonetheless, potential development opportunities proposed in the 1994 Clarksburg area plan remain possible under our approach, subject to stringent environmental controls. While the area for development is not as much as some might have preferred, the plan's original intent to ensure a successful Town Center is carried through in the amended plan. The Council carefully balanced environmental issues with community sustainability and ensured Clarksburg's continued ability to thrive. For details, see the press release.

Town Hall Meeting in Clarksburg

Let us know what matters most to you at our Town Hall Meeting for the Clarksburg area on Wednesday, February 26. The meeting will be held at the Rocky Hill Middle School (22401 Brick Haven Way in Clarksburg, just off Route 355) beginning at 8 p.m. with a pre-meeting reception at 7:30. You can voice your opinions on specific issues and ask questions of us in an organized, but informal, setting. I hope to see you there.

The meeting will be taped for later broadcast on County Cable Montgomery (CCM—cable Channel 6 on Comcast and RCN, Channel 30 on Verizon). For more information about the Town Hall Meeting or about the broadcast times, call 240-777-7931.

Change to Pave Way for Grocery in Clarksburg

We unanimously approved a limited amendment to the Clarksburg Master Plan that could lead to quicker establishment of a grocery store. Councilmember Craig Rice and I proposed this amendment in response to frustrations expressed by people living in the area.

The intent of the master plan was to have the first grocery store located in the Town Center to make sure the focus of retail development in Clarksburg was in the Town Center. The unintended consequence has been to delay the construction of a much needed grocery store because the Town Center property owners have no immediate plans to construct a grocery. However, property owners in the Village Centers section of Clarksburg have expressed interest in developing a grocery.

For a variety of reasons, Clarksburg has not developed as intended, and in regard to needed retail amenities—such as a grocery store—the residents have not received what they expected. While we believe in the intent of the master plan, this was a needed action to correct a situation we did not anticipate.

Two Bills to Help Clarksburg

I, along with Councilmember Craig Rice, introduced two bills that could lead to quicker and more orderly construction of needed public infrastructure in the emerging community of Clarksburg in northern Montgomery County.

We need to find innovative solutions and incentives to help Clarksburg become the community that the Master Plan envisioned two decades ago. The Clarksburg Infrastructure Working Group has looked at many possibilities to get development back on track. These two bills reflect ideas that could make this happen. We owe it to the current, and future, residents of Clarksburg to find answers for their community.

The bills seek to help resolve how infrastructure improvements will be funded in Clarksburg. The bills reflect recommendations of the Clarksburg Infrastructure Working Group that was formed to address these funding issues. Sufficient financing is not currently identified to build needed transportation improvements in the Clarksburg area. The bills seek to allow enhanced use of transportation impact tax credits, along with a special taxing district in parts of Clarksburg, to stimulate funding of needed transportation improvements. The introduction of the bills begins the legislative process toward possible enactment. Public hearings are tentatively scheduled for each bill at 1:30 p.m. on July 21.

Bill 21-11 would extend the time period that a developer can use impact tax credits from six to 20 years. The Working Group’s recommendations said that the current rule of six years unfairly penalizes larger developments that have an extended buildout period. The bill also would grant impact tax credits—for Clarksburg developments only—for capacity improvements to state roads. The current impact tax law allows credits for improvements only to County roads. The bill also would designate other types of roads that are currently not eligible—for Clarksburg only—for impact tax credits for roads currently not eligible.

Bill 21-12 would create a Clarksburg Area Special Taxing District, consisting of the Clarksburg Village and Arora Hill subdivisions. The special taxing district was recommended by the Working Group as an alternative to the private infrastructure charge that was attached to the deeds of the properties in these subdivisions. The bill would authorize the levy of a property tax to fund specified transportation infrastructure improvements and would authorize the issuance of a certain type of bond to finance certain transportation infrastructure improvements.

Bill 21-12 is based on Bill 50-10, enacted in November 2010, which created a similar special taxing district in the White Flint redevelopment area.

Apply Now to Clarksburg Infrastructure Working Group

We’re looking for people to serve on a new Clarksburg Infrastructure Working Group that will review and prioritize the necessary infrastructure items for the Clarksburg area and propose suitable mechanisms to finance the recommended infrastructure for the emerging Upcounty community.

We approved creation of the task force when we terminated the Clarksburg Town Center Development District on October 19. Implementation of the development district would have levied a special annual assessment on the community’s residents to fund specific public infrastructure. If you are interested, submit your application by Friday, Nov. 19.

The group will have 11 members who are scheduled to be appointed by the Council on Nov. 30. The group will start meeting soon after its creation, with a report expected to be delivered by April 1 for review by the Council and County Executive Isiah Leggett.

The working group is designed to have one member who has expertise or significant background in municipal financing; four members of the Clarksburg community; two representatives of the building industry; two representatives of the County Executive; one representative from the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission; and one additional member.

The Oct. 19 vote did not directly affect two other development districts proposed for Clarksburg—the Clarksburg Village and Clarksburg Skylark development districts. However, it decreases the likelihood of them going forward.

The County’s development district law was enacted in 1994 and rewritten in 2008. The concept would dedicate special assessments from property owners to pay for specific infrastructure (streets, libraries, parks etc.) for those communities. By dedicating the funds, development districts would allow new communities to get infrastructure built more quickly, rather than competing with all parts of the County for limited funds.

The Clarksburg Town Center Development District was created in 2003 to cover residences built over an unincorporated area of approximately 247 acres. Resolution 15-87, which created the district, listed specific infrastructure items that it would finance, including road improvements, a library, enhancements for the planned Clarksburg Village South local park and improvements to local trails. Assessments collected were to be paid to a special fund used to pay off bonds that would pay for those items.

It was originally estimated that property owners in the Clarksburg Town Center Development District would pay an annual assessment of about $1,200.

Send your letter and resume to: Clarksburg Infrastructure Working Group, c/o Council President Nancy Floreen, 100 Maryland Avenue, Rockville, MD 20850. Applications must be submitted no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 19. It is the Council’s policy not to consider applications received after the deadline.

Council Terminates Clarksburg Development District

This week we voted to terminate the Clarksburg Town Center Development District by approving a resolution I co-sponsored. I believe this action will finally allow Clarksburg residents to move forward and build the community they want and deserve. The Council created the development district in 2003, but it was never implemented. Clarksburg homeowners raised concerns about how they were notified of the development district tax and the burden it would impose. As a result, the County never issued any bonds to fund infrastructure improvements, and the residents and businesses in the Town Center continued to lack the roads and community buildings that would make their community the vibrant one they envision.

The resolution terminating the development district calls for the creation of an infrastructure working group which will meet to identify infrastructure items for Clarksburg and recommend how to finance them by April 2011. By passing this resolution, we have laid the groundwork for the creation of an Upcounty retail center that will benefit local residents and help create a thriving town center.

Water Quality Working Group Named

Yesterday we named ten knowledgeable and committed people to the ad hoc Water Quality Working Group which will monitor environmental issues in Clarksburg as development continues in that emerging part of the county. The group will collect information on all new and pending state and federal regulations regarding water quality, stormwater management and sediment control to analyze how these new requirements will impact future development in Clarksburg. The group also will make recommendations to improve development procedures to ensure minimal impact on the area’s water quality, formulating a report to the Council by Feb. 1, 2010.

They are going to have a challenging task because the world of water quality is changing rapidly. As chair of the Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment Committee, I know that water quality issues as a whole are complicated and are in the process of evolving further, so it is great that these folks will be able to focus their attention on working though the complexities. I’m convinced this group of experts and advocates in the environmental/water quality field will provide us with meaningful insights for our decision-making going forward.

I offer my thanks and congratulations to these newly appointed members:

Rick Brush of the Department of Permitting Services
Diane Cameron of Stormwater Partners
Irene Carrato, a civil engineer
John Cook, a Clarksburg environmental activist
Carl Elefane, a sustainability architect
Keith Levchenko, an analyst on environmental issues for the County Council
Mark Pfefferle of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission
Dusty Rood, an environmental specialist and vice chair of the Montgomery County Water Quality Advisory Committee
Steve Shofar of the Department of Environmental Protection
Richard Thometz, a residential home energy consultant