CITY OF ROCKVILLE PLANNING DIVISION
STAFF REPORT

June 20, 2000

SUBJECT:

Detailed Application for Comprehensive
Planned Development CPD2000-0002Y

Applicant: King Farm Associates
8330 Boone Blvd.
Vienna, VA 22182

Date Filed: February 2, 2000

Property Location: North of King Farm Boulevard, west of Frederick Road

REQUEST:

The applicant seeks Detailed Stage (final) approval to allow development of 727 dwelling units and the accompanying streets. The application includes 46 single-family detached dwelling units, 409 single-family attached townhouse dwelling units, and 272 multi-family apartment units. In addition, as part of this application there are 84 Moderately Priced Dwelling Units (MPDUs) within five multi-family "manor house" buildings (14 per unit) and 14 within townhouses. This total represents 11.5% of the units requested for this application. The multi-family buildings that contain these MPDUs are spread among various locations within the development application, but are typically located near King Farm Boulevard and the portion of the development near Frederick Road. These are the areas of the highest density because of their relation to available and proposed transit.

PREVIOUS RELATED ACTIONS:

STAFF RECOMMENDATION:

Approval is recommended, subject to the following conditions:

1. Submission, for approval by the Chief of Planning, of eleven (11) copies of the site plan, revised according to Planning Commission Exhibit A, to show the following:

b. Use of combined wheelchair ramps at all intersections where possible.

c. Adjustment of corner truncations as directed by Department of Public Works (DPW).

d. Deletion of various on-street parking as directed by DPW.

e. Adjustment to storm drain layout as directed by DPW.

f. Adjustment of street tree, fire hydrant and street light locations for safety reasons as directed by Public Works.

2. Submission, for approval by the Department of Public Works (DPW), of the following detailed plans, studies and computations:

a. Storm drain and paving plans for public and private roads, including grade establishment as appropriate, street lighting and landscaping. Storm drain study with computations and drainage area map to include private surface easements. A geotechnical report, including recommendations for the construction of storm drain and roadways must be submitted no later than the first submittal of detailed engineering review.

b. Stormwater management (SWM) quality control design including landscaping, computations, easement locations and geotechnical report.

c. Sediment control plans for all disturbed areas. Watkins Pond may not be used for sediment control.

d. Site plan including existing (rough graded) proposed contours, proposed improvements, (roads, houses, etc.). These grading plans must be submitted at the time of the Inspection Services permit application for house construction and prior to issuance of single-family dwelling unit permits.

e. All detailed engineering plans must be on 24" x 36" mylars and be at a 1"=30' scale. All public improvements to be submitted on City base sheets.

f. As part of on-going design issues regarding the layout of this application and an adjoining parcel, Pond 6 has been recently reconfigured, and DPW staff has not yet fully reviewed the concept layout submitted on June 20, 2000. It is anticipated that the concept will meet DPW standards, but because of insufficient review time, DPW may require modifications to the pond configuration, as well as specific pond design issues during detailed engineering review. This review may result in minor modifications to the pond layout, and therefore the boundary limits of CPD2000-0002Y. If it is determined by the Planning staff that the modifications and layout are significant, the applicant will be required to amend CPD2000-0002Y, detailed application, through the Planning Commission.

g. Any development with imperious area that is controlled by Pond 6 must contribute $10,000 per impervious acre to the City's Regional SWM fund. Pond 6 was not part of the SWM Concept Plan approval, and is being built to interim SWM design standards.

h. Obtain permits/approvals from MDSHA to connect to the MDSHA storm drain system.

i. Obtain permit/approval from the Montgomery Soil Conservation District (MSCD) for any dam.

3. That all plans are coordinated and consistent-including BMP, sediment control, forest conservation, storm drain and paving, site plan and landscape plan.

4. Submission of WSSC plans with the first submission of storm drain and paving plans. Where known, show final WSSC easements on plats. Obtain permission as required from WSSC for all encroachments in WSSC easements, and submit to City.

5. Department of Public Works refuse collection service will occur only from public streets; no refuse collection service will be provided from alleys.

6. No building permits will be issued in the phase until the King Farm wastewater pump station is operational.

7. Submission, for the approval of the Planning Commission, of a record plat application including all required easements and maintenance agreements, as well as conveyance of property to the City of Rockville, including various open space sites. Lots requiring sewer ejector pumps should be disclosed on record plat. NOTE: No record plats will be accepted for processing for the following blocks until a Storm Water Management Concept Plan has been approved by the City:

8. Bonds must be posted and permits obtained from the Department of Public Works, WSSC, Transco, MDE, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and MDSHA as necessary.

9. Submission, for approval by the Chief of Planning, of eleven (11) copies of a detailed landscape plan which complies with all of the City Forester's concerns, as well as demonstrate substantial compliance with Subdivision Ordinance Section 25-748.

10. That the median on Elmcroft Boulevard be modified as needed to facilitate development on the parcel of land adjacent to Elmcroft Boulevard and Frederick Road.

11. That at the time of signature set submittal, a plan(s) be submitted that outlines differing architectural elements for the individual MPDU manor house buildings.

12. The Institutional Use parcel shown on the Concept Plan at the corner of King Farm Boulevard and Pleasant Road shall be relocated to a one-acre site at the intersection of Gaither Road and King Farm Boulevard as shown on Attachment "B," or other such location as approved by the Planning Commission at the time of Detailed Application for the specific Institutional Use.

13. All MPDUs must be FHA certified.

ANALYSIS:

Background

In July of 1996, the Mayor and Council approved Concept Plan Application CPD95-0002, thereby authorizing development of the 430-acre King Farm as a major mixed-use development containing up to 3.2 million square feet of office space, 3,200 housing units and 125,000 square feet of neighborhood retail space. The tract is in the O-3, Restricted Office Zone, where a Comprehensive Planned Development is a voluntary optional method of development.

Property Description and Proposal

The subject property is located on 57.92 acres of vacant land, and is north of King Farm Boulevard and west of Frederick Road. The units that are proposed for this application are 46 single-family detached dwellings, 409 attached townhouse dwellings and 272- multi-family dwellings. The total number of multi-family dwellings include 84 Moderately Priced Dwelling Units (MPDUs). Seventy of these MPDUs are to be located in typical "manor house" type buildings that are consistent with previous applications. The additional 14 MPDUs are to be townhouses within Blocks K and L. Of the 46 single family detached dwelling units, 25 are either adjacent to or near "Pleasant Circle." Pleasant Circle is a unique design feature for King Farm that is a large circle of open space just south of Piccard Drive on the proposed Pleasant Drive. The circle is considered formal open space, and therefore has single-family detached dwellings facing it.

The majority of the multi-family units are located on the periphery of this application, with the majority of the units to the extreme southern portion of this application adjacent to King Farm Boulevard. This is where the highest density of the development was shown in the approved Concept Plan due to the proximity of transit and the recently approved retail center. In addition, multi-family buildings are located adjacent to Elmcroft Boulevard on the extreme east of the development near Frederick Road and on Gaither Road to the extreme west of this proposal consistent with the approved Concept Plan. The layouts of the multi-family buildings adjacent to King Farm Boulevard are such that they are adjacent to previously approved Detailed Applications, which were approved for multi-family apartments.

The addition of multi-family manor house units to this application provides a mix of unit types for the MPDU requirement. As stated before, the MPDU component of this application represents 12% of the total number of units that are requested. The breakdown of the numbers and locations of MPDUs are as follows:

The townhouse units, which represent by far the largest housing component of this application, are spread throughout the development, but are typically found adjacent to the principal north-south streets interior to the project, such as Pleasant Road, Reserve Champion Drive and Grand Champion Drive. Even though there is a significant multi-family component with this application, there is a unit variety on every block containing the multi-family buildings, mitigating a "full block" of multi-family buildings. In addition to Pleasant circle that was previously referenced, there are two areas of open space being provided in the middle of Garden View Way that function as squares. These areas of open space, as shown on Exhibit "A," are rectangular with one-way roads on either side. Some of the larger blocks of housing are also providing smaller areas of open space.

Most of the units will have driveway access from alleys to the rear of the property or common lots interior to the respective block. There are very few units that have driveway access onto streets. This is a common occurrence for the King Farm development. In addition, four-foot wide sidewalks will be provided along all public and private street frontages. Additional parking is provided via on-street spaces located on private streets.

Institutional Use Parcel

The proposed detailed application shows multi-family housing on a parcel on the corner of King Farm Boulevard and Pleasant Road designated as Institutional Use on the Concept Plan. This area is highlighted on Planning Commission Exhibit "A" and the relevant site plan attachment. The Annexation Agreement requires an Institutional Use parcel "not to exceed one acre" on which the City has a five-year option to acquire for a library or fire station. Although the five-year option period will expire in September 2000, the City Attorney has determined that the Institutional Use designation continues. In addition to a library or fire station, the underlying O-3 zone district includes day care centers as a permitted institutional use. The Concept Plan shows the Institutional Use parcel as approximately .79 acres.

Staff believes that a distinct need will arise in the future for day care facilities or other similar institutional uses in the King Farm development, and that a one-acre parcel is needed for the effective development and operation of such a use. The applicant has proposed relocating the Institutional Use parcel from the area covered by this detailed application to the corner of Gaither Road and King Farm Boulevard as outlined in the attachment. This location is an area designated as multi-family within Irvington Centre. As part of this relocation, the Applicant will increase the parcel size from .79 acres to one acre This relocated one-acre parcel will accommodate a freestanding day care facility or other similar institutional use. As a result of this relocation, the Applicant proposes to transfer multi-family housing units in the area currently designated in the detailed application as Institutional Use.

As part of its review, the Planning Commission may determine that the relocation of the Institutional Use parcel is not a substantial deviation from the approved Concept Plan. Staff supports the Applicant's proposal, and submits that it is not a substantial deviation from the approved Concept Plan. The Concept Plan provides a modest degree of flexibility for design issues, and staff feels that the proposed location within Irvington Centre would be a more appropriate location for an institutional use such as a day care facility, and is comparable to shifting that has occurred in other detailed applications

Given the proximity of the retail center and existing and proposed transit routes, it is more practical to locate housing on the site and relocate the Institutional Use parcel closer to the employment area of Irvington Centre, while remaining close to residential areas. The Applicant's proposal does not affect the overall residential unit count of King Farm, nor does it affect the amount of office space that is to be built. Staff believes that this proposal provides the opportunity for those residing and working at or near King Farm for future facilities to support the overall development.

Forest/Tree Preservation and Landscaping

The applicant will be required to address all of the City Forester's concerns before construction permits are issued. The landscape plan must be adjusted to demonstrate substantial compliance with the Subdivision Ordinance as referenced within the conditions.

Transportation

As noted during the discussion of the Concept Plan, construction of all on-site streets and related sidewalks and landscaping shall be the responsibility of the applicant. No "off-site" transportation improvements are included or required for this application. All of the streets shown on this application will be built as part of this submittal, including the alleys that service the dwelling units.

As per the Concept Plan, parking for the units will be provided by on-site garages, attached garages, driveways, surface lots for the multi-family and manor houses, and off-site parallel parking spaces on private roads.

In addition to the above, it should be noted that an application is under review in our office for the parcel directly adjacent to this application. Staff has been working with the applicant for the parcel to the east of Elmcroft Boulevard, and will through their Detailed Application ensure proper consistency and functionality between the two parcels. King Farm was approved as a Comprehensive Planned Development, and Staff believes that the individual parcels should not be relegated to functioning independently. This application, to the east of Elmcroft Boulevard and directly west of Frederick Road, has been sold, and is under different ownership than the subject application. Staff has added a condition of approval that states that the median on Elmcroft Boulevard shall be modified to accommodate development on the east side of Elmcroft Boulevard. Staff and the applicant are working on design modifications to ensure that the access points between the parcels are compatible.

STAFF COMMENTS

This application represents the most density of any predominantly single-family application thus far within the King Farm development. There is a distinctly urban flair to this proposal, which is enhanced by Pleasant Circle and the open space parcels provided along Garden View Way. The amount of open space provided as a result of this application is 4.3 acres, and the amount of green space (such as tree panels, etc.) is 22.67 acres. The area of this application is, however, in an area designated as one of the highest density of the development. Staff feels that the advent of the circle and the other open space features within the development creates an acceptable balance between the density approved by the Concept Plan and the need for formal open space.

With respect to the multi-family units, staff finds that they are in acceptable locations relative to the densities and locations of various unit types as approved via the Concept Plan, and the location of existing and proposed transit. The Staff has worked with the applicant on a variety of points associated with this application, such as residential unit road access, which have been incorporated into submittal. In addition, the MPDU manor house buildings, while acceptable in principal, need to have different architectural styles or elements for each building. One of the goals of the MPDU program within the King Farm, and the City as a whole, is to have the MPDUs indistinguishable from one another. Staff believes that the continued approval of the manor house concept with the same architectural styles and elements would lead to this building type being conspicuous and singled out as MPDUs. Therefore, Staff has added a condition that requires the MPDU manor houses approved with this application to each have different architectural styling and elements associated with them.

NOTIFICATION

Notices were sent to approximately 500 residences.

CONCLUSION

The staff believes that this application is consistent with the approved Concept Plan approved by the Mayor and Council for this area of the King Farm. As a result, staff recommends approval of Detailed Application CPD2000-0002Y.

Attachments