Some outcomes of last night’s meeting:

  • In the City Manager’s Day Laborer Report, Mr. Humpton told the Council that staff now believes that there is no viable location within the City for a day laborer center. He was preparing to suggest to the County that they (the County) were going to need to be more flexible in finding a location for this facility, and suggested that places such as Oakmont Avenue and the Airpark might stand a better chance. He also stated that the day laborer activity at 17 N Frederick needed to be shut down. Council offered strong support for these positions.
  • The Crown Farm presentation went on just short of forever. Council and the Planning Commission kept their records open “indefinitely”.
  • The anti-solicitation ordinance was introduced, with strong support from the Council. There was a bit of concern over possible unintended consequences.
  • Alternative 2 (Olde Towne treated differently) of the affordable housing ordinance (T-379) was adopted by the Council.
  • The 120-day deferral is dead. Were there to have been a motion to adopt it, it would have failed two (Alster & Edens) to three (Marraffa, Schlichting and Sesma).
  • The bond bill is legislation that allows the State to borrow money for the City.
  • The Council expressed willingness to consider providing financial incentives for the Bozzuto project, although concern was expressed about the possibility of this setting a precedent.

Several members of the public, as well as the Council members and the City Manager, expressed concern over recent gang activity. City staff has set up an internal task force to try to expand and improve the City’s response to the gangs, and they are attempting to get MCPS to work more closely with them on this issue.

Chuck Floyd showed up and took his three minutes at the podium to speak about illegal immigrants and crime. Largely it was a campaign speech, although he did do a reasonable job of sticking to matters relevant to the City Council.

Update: Nancy Trejos has an article in today’s Washington Post:

Gaithersburg officials abandoned plans last night to find a location for a county-funded day-laborer center in the city.

After more than a year of searching for a site acceptable to residents, the City Council agreed to send a letter to Montgomery County officials asking them to look elsewhere in the county.

[The City Manager] welcomed the county to find such a place in the city limits. “I don’t think that’s going to happen. I’ve been trying,” he said.

The City Council also agreed to consider later this month an ordinance that would strengthen its ability to ban loitering in an effort to keep the day laborers from continuing to congregate at the parking lot on North Frederick Avenue.

In addition, the council unanimously voted to require developers to set aside affordable housing for moderate-income and working-class families, despite objections from residents who said it could hinder economic development in some areas.

Actually, as far as I know, no residents — or even developers — expressed opposition to the ordinance itself. The opposition was toward having it apply in Olde Towne, which, as Ms. Trejos notes, didn’t happen:

The council decided to exempt from the requirements housing in the Olde Towne area, which contains the city’s main commercial district. In lieu of providing affordable housing units, developers would contribute to a housing fund set up by the city.