Frederick Planning Commission Workshop Covers Multiple Projects Including Brickworks Master Plan and Zoning Amendments - June 20, 2023
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Frederick Planning Commission Workshop – June 20, 2023
This workshop, held on June 20, 2023, from 1:00 PM to approximately 5:50 PM at City Hall, the Planning Commission reviewed seven agenda items. The meeting began with an explanation of the workshop process, which includes applicant presentations, commission questions, staff comments, and public comment. The public was sworn in and three-minute time limits were enforced. Noteworthy items included the Brickworks Master Plan (PC22-1160MU), the Strawn Cottage Historic Preservation Overlay (HPC/PC23-437ZMA), and the Winpenny Tell Annexation (PC21-1436ANX). The meeting adjourned early to allow transition to a community outreach meeting at 6:00 PM.
PC23-311FSU – Final Plat, 497 E Church Street
- Applicant DMW sought to subdivide a vacant lot into two lots (19 ft and 22 ft wide) for a duplex. A slight shift accommodated existing window wells from an adjacent apartment building, requiring a setback modification from 3 ft to 2.5 ft. The commission found the proposal straightforward and consistent with the neighborhood. No public comment was offered. Staff noted the subdivision was clean and required no variance.
PC23-301FSI / PC23-289FSU – Final Site Plan and Final Plat, 25-27 Hamilton Avenue
- Applicant Fox & Associates presented a 16-unit condo building on 0.54 acres, with 24 parking spaces (1.5 per unit). Five modifications were requested: reduced parking setbacks (north and south sides), a 1-ft reduction in driveway separation (19 ft vs. 20 ft), minimal light spillover (0.1 foot-candles), alternative parking lot screening via a 6-ft privacy fence, and relocation of a street tree outside the right-of-way due to sight triangle issues. Commissioner MacShane questioned whether reducing parking could obviate some modifications, but the applicant maintained that 24 spaces were needed for the unit mix (mostly one‑ and two‑bedrooms). Staff clarified the quarry zone of influence and sinkhole history; the applicant committed to sharing geotechnical information. No public comment was heard.
PC23-303PSU – Preliminary Plat, Riverside Corporate Park
- Applicant Harris Smariga & Associates proposed reconfiguring paper lots in the northwest quadrant of the existing park to create larger, contiguous lots for new manufacturing/lab users. The revision involved no new roads or rights-of-way. Staff noted the administrative extension of the preliminary plat already approved. Commission had no questions. No public comment.
PC23-314ZMA – Zoning Map Amendment, 100 E. All Saints Street (Police Department Headquarters)
- The City of Frederick requested rezoning the site from DB to IST (Institutional) to allow a new police headquarters in a 65,000 sq ft building (with a 4,500 sq ft addition). The building would be an adaptive reuse of a vacant office structure. Fleet parking would be on site; staff private vehicles would use the secured lower level of the adjacent All Saints parking garage (46 spaces). Upper garage levels would remain public, with 135 passes reserved for FCPS employees. The amendment is consistent with the comprehensive plan. Commissioners expressed support. The Planning Commission acts as a recommending body; a public hearing will precede a final recommendation. No public comment.
HPC/PC23-437ZMA – Zoning Map Amendment, Strawn Cottage (Hood College)
- The Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) applied for a historic preservation overlay (HPO) on 0.68 acres encompassing the 1918 Colonial Revival practice house. Staff presented evidence of its significance for domestic science education and women’s history. The HPC found it met criteria for historic and architectural significance. Hood College, the property owner, opposed, arguing the building has structural issues and the HPO would interfere with campus development plans. The college’s opposition statement and exhibits were not included in the workshop packet but will be added for the public hearing. Commissioners questioned the boundary (expanded from 60 ft to include trees) and discussed the possibility of moving the cottage. The public hearing is required within 45 days; staff recommended proceeding as scheduled. No public comment was taken at this workshop.
PC22-1160MU – Master Plan, Brickworks
- Greenberg Gibbons presented a mixed-use master plan for the 115‑acre former brick manufacturing site at East and South Streets. The plan envisions up to 130,000 sq ft of non‑residential space, a 150‑room hotel, 900 multifamily units, and 360 townhomes. The site is already zoned MU-1. Multiple modifications were requested for setbacks, parking location, street designs, and parkland dedication (a combination of on‑site land and fee-in-lieu). Commissioners raised concerns about the plan’s suburban character, lack of vertical mixed use, environmental contamination (the site is a brownfield with known contaminants), and the need for a school site. Public comments echoed these concerns, urging commitments on cleanup, school land, and sustainable design. The applicant stated they have entered the Maryland Voluntary Cleanup Program. FCPS requested a dedication for a school site, warning of severe overcrowding (projected 222% capacity at Spring Ridge Elementary by year 15). The commission agreed that another workshop is needed to address outstanding issues before a public hearing.
PC21-1436ANX – Annexation, Winpenny Tell
- Applicant proposed annexing 79 acres (36 zoned R1, 43 agricultural) for up to 316 units (210 single-family detached, 106 townhomes) on the northwest side. The property has a stub road through Tuscarora Creek and water/sewer connections already in place. The current plan includes only one full vehicular access (via Tuscarora Creek) with an emergency-only connection to Winpenny Drive. Commissioners expressed concern about single-access safety and lack of connectivity. The applicant noted a new road through Kellerton to Yellow Springs is approved but not yet built. Discussion was cut short due to time. The item will be continued at the next workshop as first on the agenda.
Key Outcomes
- No votes were taken; all items remain in workshop stage.
- The Brickworks master plan will have a second workshop before a public hearing.
- The Winpenny Tell annexation will be rescheduled for the next workshop.
- For Strawn Cottage, the opposition document will be added to the record; public hearing scheduling will proceed.
- Staff will provide additional information on modifications for the Hamilton Avenue project at the public hearing.```jsono0json json{ {
Meeting Transcript
Before we begin today's proceedings, I'd like to give you an overview of the process that we will be following since this is a different process than we use for the formal hearing. For each agenda on the item, we are going to start by having the applicant come up to the table and walk us through the project. For those of you new to the process, we really ask that you go into a lot of detail. Um tell us exactly what you're planning, um, specifically let us know what modifications that you're asking for and why. Um, and rather than just sitting there and saying, Do you like the staff report and do we have any questions? So following the applicant presentation, uh, the commission will be asking um questions at the applicant, and um at that point after our questions, then we'll ask the staff to add their comments on the application. Um we may have some back and forth between applicant commission and staff for additional questions. At that point, we will ask the public com the public for comment if anybody in the public has some comments to make, and I expect that later in the afternoon we will have lots of people who are interested in making public comment. I'd really um encourage everybody to sign up on the sign-up sheet that's over there because we will be taking comment from the people who have signed in. Um, although everybody who is present and wishes to make a comment will be invited to speak up at some point. Um before beginning your public comments, I want you to give your name and address. And if you are representing a group, then please let us know that you're representing a group as well. Um you will have three minutes for an individual citizen to make a comment and ten minutes for a group. We have a timer clock right there. It will count down your time once you have introduced yourself. You'll get a yellow light when you're like 30 seconds away, and a red light and a ding when you're running out of time. And if we get to the point where we have a lot of public comment, we're really gonna do our best to hold everybody to that time limit so that we can get to everybody who's present. Um, let's see what else. So anybody who's speaking before the commission today, be it applicants, staff, or public, um, needs to be sworn in. So at this point, if anybody who would like to make um comment during the day wouldn't stand up and raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear or affirm that the responses given and the statements made in this hearing before the planning commission will be the whole truth and nothing but the truth? If so, answer I do. All right, thank you very much. Um before we get to the first case, I just want to ask Gabrielle if she has any comments or quest announcements to make. Sure, just a reminder that we do have the community um planning department outreach meeting this evening at 6 p.m. Uh so we will have to stop this meeting around 5 45 to give time to transition if we're still discussing our workshop items. But that meeting is uh updates on brand new projects that are coming in the process uh that haven't been reviewed at a public workshop or a hearing yet. Uh so it's a great opportunity for the public to kind of get an idea of what's what's new and and up and coming. And that's 6 p.m. in this room this evening, and we will not be holding a July community outreach meeting. We will be waiting till August. So any applications that come in in the month of July as well as August will be at that meeting. Thank you. Thank you. All right. So our first um case of the afternoon is PC 23-311 FSU. Final plat for lots one and two of um new parcel two for 97 East Church Street. Um Mark Christman with Daph McKinnon Walker on the uh project surveyor here representing the applicant, the owner of the property. Um they uh purchased this piece of property several years ago, and their intention right now it's a vacant lot, and their intention is to draw a subdivision, new subdivision line right down the middle of it. It's kind of an odd-shaped piece of property, but they want to draw a subdivision line down the middle of it, create two lots, and then build a duplex on the property. So essentially that's it. There's a little bit of an issue with the existing residents to the right as you're looking at the plat. There's a house built there with a zero lot line, so it's right up against the property line. It's got a couple of window wells that stick into protrude into our property. Uh so we're going to adjust the new lot line to accommodate for that and put an easement down the eastern side of that lot to accommodate access for ingress and egress, should there be a uh problem and emergency in the future. Other than that, I think it's fairly straightforward subdivision. We're taking one existing lot and creating two for the purposes of a duplex. Thank you. I don't know, Shandy have any questions. If there's anything you need from the planning commission in order to do this, it sounds like you're uh you're asking for something that makes some sense.
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