SILVER SPRING – Planners trying to resolve the final issues related to a series of development applications for the Clarksburg Town Center recommend that the developer build a new parking garage and provide additional spaces to resolve the need for enough parking in the mixed residential and commercial area.
The Board will continue its deliberations on the Town Center proposal on Thursday following a November 6 marathon hearing for the proposed development. After that hearing, the Board asked its professional planning staff, the developer and the community to analyze parking needs and recommend solutions for consideration this month. The Board also asked staff to recommend solutions on a fitness center, the design of a public staircase, and the depth of the retail stores in the commercial center.
At Thursday’s hearing, the Board will hear no additional public testimony.
The recommendation comes toward the end of a years-long process to resolve multiple building violations and allow the Town Center project to move forward toward build out. Designated the northern-most corridor city along I-270, the Clarksburg Town Center represents one of the last major developments on former farmland in the county.
The Town Center plans call for close to 200,000 square feet of retail and 1,213 homes on 270 acres at Clarksburg Road and Snowden Farm Parkway.
The parking issue arose when the applicant submitted a trio of applications – project plan, preliminary plan and site plan – this fall that staff felt would not meet the project’s parking needs.
By proposing to reduce a three-story parking garage to a two-level structure and drop a second garage altogether, the applicant would create both a lack of parking and alter the store layout in a way that would not create a town center that would attract tenants or residents, planners say. The changes to the plans for parking also led to reduced depths for retail stores, narrower sidewalks and larger retaining walls.
After comparing parking requirements for similar projects in other areas, from Seattle to Sarasota, staff concluded that the development fell short on parking by almost 300 spaces. The analysis factored in that restaurants would likely occupy up to 20 percent of the retail space, and restaurants require 18 spaces per thousand square feet.
To make up the difference, staff recommends another multi-level parking garage near the retail core that is now proposed for 156 surface parking spaces as well as additional parking below a proposed grocery store. Staff specified in their recommendation that the design of the retail area should set a minimum of 60-feet depth for stores and provide wide sidewalks, which they say is necessary to create the kind of vibrant, walkable shopping experience that attracts customers.
Staff also recommended a sports facility of about 25 feet by 47 feet as well as $1 million for landscape and streetscape enhancements required by the Plan of Compliance that came about as a result of the Town Center building irregularities.
Planners have asked the Board to allow staff to review and approve the design revisions to the retail core that will be required to incorporate the additional parking to expedite build-out. Many Clarksburg residents have expressed frustration with the lack of retail and other unfinished amenities.
Who:
Montgomery County Planning Board
What:
Review of Clarksburg Town Center Project, Preliminary & Site Plans
No public testimony accepted
When:
9 a.m. Thursday, December 11
Where:
Park and Planning Headquarters
8787 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring