An apartment project first proposed more than six years ago finally won approval earlier this month from the City of Rockville Planning Commission, but not before one of the commissioners wondered if the project shouldn’t be allowed to move forward because it could add students to the local elementary school.
Twinbrook Station, a 238-unit, four-story project set for Ardennes Avenue between Halpine Road and Twinbrook Parkway, got final approval from the commission on Oct. 14.
It’s the first residential project approved in the city since the City Council loosened an ordinance that stopped any development where a public school was at more than 110 percent of its capacity. In June, council members voted 3-2 to amend the ordinance so that a development moratorium would take effect if an entire school cluster—rather than just one school—was more than 120 percent over its capacity. The 120 percent policy is the same as Montgomery County’s.
But one Rockville Planning commissioner, Jack Leiderman, suggested during the six-hour Oct. 14 meeting the commission could effectively take matters into its own hands and deny the approval, despite the new school capacity ordinance that allows it.
Leiderman suggested the new ordinance “does not preempt a municipal planning commission from taking into account what’s going on at a local school near the site.”
The finished apartment building is projected to be home to 18 elementary-aged students who would attend Twinbrook Elementary, which is projected to be at 110.8 percent of its capacity in 2020 without the extra 18 students.
Other commission members, commission staff and Barbara Sears, an attorney representing project developer AvalonBay, told Leiderman that denying the approval would be against the law. The commission eventually approved the request.
Development and the future of the school capacity ordinance have been a major focal point of the run-up to the city’s Nov. 3 election, with some council candidates saying their first move, if elected, would be to reverse the decision made by the council in June.
The change in the ordinance has allowed at least four residential project proposals in the city to come forward since June, including a 375-unit town home development on Preserve Parkway proposed by Bethesda-based developer EYA and Boston Properties.
The Twinbrook Station project, located next to the completed apartment projects of developer JBG Cos. near the Twinbrook Metro station, will replace six one-story office buildings and include 30 moderately priced dwelling units.
