gaithersblog.net

Goings on in Gaithersburg, Maryland

October 17th, 2006

Day Laborers in the Rain II: Shantytown

Update: By late morning, the tent was gone. Also, the New MoCo Progressive may have discovered the true purpose of the tent. Perhaps the laborers are waiting in line for an audience.

A reader of this blog has provided pictures of the activities this rainy morning at 17 N Frederick Ave. Seems that they are working on building a shantytown, to be dubbed “Romerville”, after our favorite public servant and chief supporter of the assembly at this site.

Unclear how many are actually using the tent.
I’m especially taken with the vacuum cleaner to the right. Good to see they’re keeping the area clean, although I’m not sure how well it will work in the rain.
I see that they’re retaliating against photographers.
Dice “queso”.
Photographer’s license plate, in case anyone cares.
October 17th, 2006

Upcoming Mayor & Council and Planning Commission Meetings (Update 3)

October 18, 2006 Planning Commission Meeting

The City has updated the agenda for tomorrow night’s meeting of the Planning Commission. For more information, see my updated post here.

Neither of the following meetings have formal agendas up yet; this information comes from informal notices in last night’s agenda.

October 23, 2006 Mayor & Council Work Session:

Update: An agenda has been posted, but the background materials are still not available.

Update 2: The background materials have now been posted.

Notice to the general public is hereby given that the Mayor and City Council and Planning Commission of the City of Gaithersburg will conduct a joint work session on Monday, October 23, 2006 , to Review Permitted Densities in Existing Residential Zones.

It will be interesting to see the background materials on this one when they are posted. The first public hint of this issue was in a whereas clause of the proposed 120-day redevelopment deferral, discussed at the September 18, 2006 Council meeting. The zone in question appeared to be R-20, which is what the Broadstone/Straftford Place complex is currently zoned. As discussed in last night’s meeting, that complex is currently being considered for redevelopment under possibly-modified CD zone rules. In an email to me, Planning & Code director Greg Ossont did explain that the concern over R-20 (and possibly other residential zones) was that the permitted densities may be too high.

Update 3: I’ve now added a separate post on this topic.

November 6, 2006 Mayor & Council regular meeting:

  • Joint Public Hearing on SDP-06-005, Crown Farm [As far as I can determine, this SDP is new and has not been discussed previously; no background materials have yet been published. I would welcome correction on this.]
  • Ordinances, Regulations & Resolutions:
    • Supporting the County Community Tax Credit Program
    • Roof Replacement of the Senior Center
    • Design Services for the Indoor Aquatic Center
  • Policy Discussion on