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According to the County Council agenda for next Tuesday, January 22:

10:45 BRIEFING - County Property Use Initiative, a proposal to relocate services from Public Safety Training Academy (PSTA) and County Service Park to GE/Edison Tech Park in Gaithersburg

This meeting will be televised live on CCM Channels Comcast 6, RCN 6, and Verizon 30; repeated on 1/25/08 at 8 pm.

This page has information on additional ways to hear and see this session.

Gaithersblog readers may recall my earlier posts on this topic. Additionally, a Gaithersblog reader has pointed out to me that one of the primary uses the County has in mind for this property — County Liquor and School Cafeteria distribution warehouses — may in fact not be allowed under the current zoning (I-3) for this property. According to the City Code, Part II, Chapter 24, Article III, Division 15, I-3 Zone, Section 24-143 (emphasis mine):

(2)	Public buildings and uses subject to the following requirements:
	(a)	The minimum lot or parcel area shall be at least twenty (20) acres in size.
	(b)	No on-site parking or storage of trucks, either within a building or on the exterior, or motor vehicles other than automobiles for employees and customers of the facility are allowed.
	(c)	All parking areas shall be set back at least fifty (50) feet from any common property line or public right-of-way and shall be screened by fencing or planting at least four (4) feet in height.
	(d)	No distribution uses are allowed. For the purpose of this section “distribution uses” is defined as the primary use of the property for the collection and transfer or dispensing of personal property or equipment to public or private recipients.

Note this restriction on distribution uses only applies to public buildings and uses, and therefore the current Peapod grocery distribution warehouse is not excluded under this rule.

The County is currently asserting that they are not subject to City zoning — Ike Leggett said so in response to a question in his call-in show last month, and County Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Diane Schwartz Jones said as much in her presentation at the January 7 City Council Meeting. But for them to come in and blatantly violate not just the spirit but the letter of the City’s ordinances right from the get-go, is pretty offensive in my opinion.

In my mind, this raises the question of whether there will be any sort of controls whatsoever on that property once it is taken over by the County. If the County believes that the City’s zoning doesn’t apply, and the County doesn’t have any zoning for that property because it is outside the jurisdiction of M-NCPPC, would this not mean that the County can do just whatever it likes there? All the assurances that the County might be making about the compatibility of their activities on that property have to be taken with an enormous grain of salt.

Folks, I think that the City of Gaithersburg is about to get 100 acres smaller.

From the PDF on the County’s website. Note that this report, despite being dated 1/14, covers incidents only between Christmas and Janurary 2nd.

P1 Beat:

• An armed robbery occurred in the parking lot of 730 West Side Drive on Tuesday 12/25 around 1:15 AM. A group of friends were approached by two suspects displaying handguns demanding their property. The victims refused at first until one suspect fired a round into the air. After obtaining property, the pair fled to the rear of 7012 West Side.

  Suspect: B/M 16 to 20 years, 4’10”, 130, black ski mask, black puffy jacket, black revolver
  Suspect: B/M 16 to 20 years, 5’6”, 140, black ski mask, black puffy jacket, black revolver

• The residential burglary on Muddy Branch Road on Monday 12/31 involved an ex-neighbor, who was arrested about 1/2 miles from the scene.

P2 Beat:

• The Grog Beer and Wine at 464 North Frederick Avenue was burglarized between Monday 12/31 at 10:30 PM and Tuesday 1/1 at 10 AM. Suspect(s) gained entrance and removed property.

• Ten of the thirteen reported thefts from vehicles occurred probably after midnight on Thursday 12/27. All but one of the vehicles was unlocked. The lone exception was entered by force; property was taken in all incidents.

R1 Beat:

• The aggravated assault occurred at a party on Sunday 12/30 between midnight and 4:40 AM. The victim stated he was slashed in the chest and face area by a suspect named Jorge at a house somewhere on Bobwhite Circle (perhaps the 9100 block) and given a ride home by an unknown subject. From there, his girlfriend took him to the hospital where the police were finally called.

  Bobwhite Circle is near Goshen & Midcounty.

• The Village Market and Deli, 811 Russell Avenue, was burglarized on Wednesday 1/2 around 2 AM after the suspect(s) gained entrance. Property was stolen.

R2 Beat:

• An adult female was robbed at Ridgeline Drive and Club House Road on Saturday 12/29 around 6:30 AM by a man who first asked for the time, then grabbed her purse. The victim was knocked down during the struggle and when the strap broke, the suspect fled with the purse.

  Suspect: B/M 18 to 25 years, 6’0”, 115-120 lbs.

• An attempted burglary occurred at The Gamer Junction at 9122 Rothbury Drive on Tuesday 1/1 around 2:30 AM.

  Rothbury Drive is near the Giant Food on Goshen.

S1 Beat:

• All three of the reported aggravated assaults were domestic-related.

S2 Beat:

• A residential burglary occurred on Tuesday 12/25 between 5:30 and 11 PM in the 5800 block of Winegrove Court. Entry was gained and property taken.

  Winegrove Court is off Muncaster Road, south of MD 108.

• A commercial burglary occurred a little more than 90 minutes after the Village Mart burglary on Russell Avenue, the Diversity Latin market at 8411 Snouffer School Road was also entered by force and property was taken.

• The vehicle-related events here occurred on several different nights and all involved forced entry. GPS units and other loose items were targeted.

• A fifteen year old girl reported being sexually assaulted by a man in a ski mask to the rear in the 18300 block of Streamside Drive on Wednesday 12/26 around 1:40 PM.

  Suspect: M, 18 to 25 years, 5’6”, 160, black ski mask, jacket, boots, gloves

  Streamside Drive is near Woodfield & Flower Hill.

• Though they occurred on different evenings in four different areas of the beat, four 1990s Honda Accords were stolen during this reporting frame. Vehicle years were perhaps coincidentally consecutive between 1994 and 1997.