SILVER SPRING – After reviewing a 220-plus page certified site plan and project plan submitted by Newland Communities, the developer of the Clarksburg Town Center, planners have found numerous inconsistencies with the plans approved by the Planning Board.
The discrepancies were detailed in a lengthy letter from staff. In an unusual move, Planning Director Rollin Stanley also sent a letter expressing dismay over the submittal and reminding the developer that the Planning Board could assess a $500-a-day fine if it finds Newland to be out of compliance with the site plan. The planners sent their responses to Newland yesterday.
Newland is scheduled to appear before the Planning Board on January 14 as part of a regular series of updates on the Clarksburg Town Center project. Planners asked Newland in their December 8 correspondence to submit corrected plans in early January in preparation for the January 14 meeting.
The Town Center project has been delayed for years to reconcile building violations and allow for mediation between the developer and Clarksburg residents. The Town Center plans were approved for close to 200,000 square feet of retail and 1,213 homes on 270 acres at Clarksburg Road and Snowden Farm Parkway. Although the first plan approvals go back as far 1995, the project was virtually halted when residents uncovered numerous discrepancies between the approved plans and what had been constructed.
Newland submitted a certified site plan on October 12 to reflect the Board’s site plan approval last fall. Typically, Board approvals include conditions that must be shown in a certified site plan. After certified site plan approval, developers can request building permits and begin construction.
According to planners reviewing the certified site plan submission, among its many problems was that it did not include or account for the correct amount of retail square footage, changed paving materials along the length of the main road, altered site details and specified that Montgomery County, rather than Newland, construct an up to 45-space library parking lot.
Planners in Development Review, Environmental Planning, the Department of Parks and the County Department of Permitting Services contributed to the 32-page December 8 response.
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