Council Withdraws Zoning Amendment Support

Zoning amendment 12-06, which would exclude MARC facilities as qualifying transit facilities when determining a new development’s proximity to transit, was hotly debated at Monday’s mayor and council meeting.

Two weeks ago, , but it was re-introduced by Councilmember John Thompson for discussion at Monday’s meeting.

Businesses built near qualified transit facilities receive special benefits, such as reduced parking requirements and increased density, since building near these facilities “encourages greater use of transit, controls sprawl and reduces vehicle miles traveled, congestion and carbon emissions,” as defined by the Montgomery County Planning Board.

Thompson, who initially supported the amendment, said after further thought he felt that businesses that built near the MARC should receive some of the benefits given to those near qualified transit facilities, though not as many benefits as granted to those near Metro stations.

“We do ourselves a disservice to say the MARC station has no value,” Thompson said. 

Councilmember Mackie Barch agreed, saying the town wanted to see development around the MARC station.

“My concern has always been economic feasibility,” said Barch, who did not initially support the amendment and thinks that rejecting it would make Kensington more economically appealing to developers.

Councilmember Lydia Sullivan disagreed with Barch and Thompson, and reaffirmed her support for the zoning amendment.

“The whole idea of a Transportation Oriented District is to encourage development in areas where cars will be taken off the road,” Sullivan said, adding a MARC station did not warrant a bump in density the way a Metro station would.

Councilmember Sean McMullen felt there should be some middle ground.

“I think you go too far saying that MARC takes no cars off the road,” McMullen said to Sullivan. McMullen takes the train to and from work during the week.

Debate over the amendment continued for two hours, including extensive comments from citizens who were also divided on the issue.

“I think the five of us agree that MARC is not a Metro,” Mayor Peter Fosselman said.

Barch, McMullen and Thompson also agreed that there should be some credit given to businesses building near the MARC station, though not as much credit as they would get if building near a Metro station. What they could not agree on was the amount of credit that should be allotted.

In the end, the council voted 3-1, with Sullivan dissenting, to reconsider its earlier position supporting zoning amendment 12-06. 

The councilmembers also voted to allow Fosselman to send a letter to the Montgomery County Council and the Planning Board stating they had reconsidered their support of the amendment and would like professional guidance to determine the transit value of a MARC station.

Sullivan dissented, and reiterated her support for the zoning amendment as written.