Frederick Planning Commission Special Public Hearing - May 21, 2025
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Frederick Planning Commission Special Public Hearing - May 21, 2025
The Frederick Planning Commission held a special public hearing on May 21, 2025, at 6:00 PM at City Hall to consider four new business items: a final site plan for a Taco Bell redevelopment, a final site plan and forest conservation plan for a new office/warehouse at 27 Corporate Park, and a final site plan and forest conservation plan for a new Extra Space Storage facility. The Commission also recognized outgoing planner Sharon Kemper Suarez. No public comments were received. All actions were approved unanimously by the three commissioners present (Commissioners Valencia, Llewellyn, and the Chair).
Farewell to Planner
- The Commission thanked City Planner Sharon Kemper Suarez, who is leaving the city on May 30, 2025, for her contributions and professionalism.
Taco Bell Final Site Plan (PC24-1000FSI) – 1314-1316 E. Patrick Street
- Proposal: Demolish the existing 2,730 sq ft Taco Bell and construct a new 2,700 sq ft building with a dual drive-through, reorienting the building to front East Patrick Street. The site includes a non-conforming 24-foot freestanding pylon sign.
- Modifications Requested: (1) Increase parking from a maximum of 15 spaces to 21 spaces (Section 607); (2) Allow light spillover across lot lines (Section 607E2D); (3) Eliminate Level I landscape screening between lots 2A and 2B (Section 605D2); (4) Allow less than 10% interior parking lot landscaping (6.9% proposed) (Section 605G).
- Staff Position: Recommended approval of all four modifications and the final site plan, subject to conditions including FAA/MAA approvals, street tree species approved by the city arborist, and other technical corrections.
- Commission Vote: All five actions (four modifications plus final site plan approval) passed unanimously (3-0).
27 Corporate Park – Final Site Plan (PC24-937FSI) and Forest Conservation Plan (PC24-938FSCB) – 27 Thomas Johnson Drive
- Proposal: Construct a 12,000 sq ft office/warehouse building on a vacant 1.67-acre parcel in the M1 zone. The site is constrained by a 30-foot sewer utility easement along the southern boundary.
- Modification Requested: Allow a 6-foot white vinyl fence (instead of brick wall) with shrubs along the M1/IST zone boundary, with all required trees planted at the rear of the property (Section 605-1). Staff supported the change due to the easement and maintenance concerns.
- Forest Conservation Plan: The 1.16-acre afforestation requirement (0.16 acres, $2,091 fee-in-lieu) was approved because the site has no existing forest and on-site mitigation is infeasible. Staff recommended a minor correction to the fee calculation.
- Commission Vote: Both the modification and the final site plan, as well as the forest conservation plan, were approved unanimously (3-0).
Extra Space Storage – Final Site Plan (PC24-1003FSI) and Forest Conservation Plan (PC24-1004FSCB) – 1212 W. Patrick Street
- Proposal: Demolish two existing self-storage buildings and construct a new 96,808 sq ft, five-story self-storage facility on a 1.27-acre site in the GC zone. The site is accessed via a shared private drive and has no street frontage on Route 40.
- Modification Requested: Reduce parking from 97 spaces (by code) to 9 spaces (Section 607), based on industry studies and the minimal staffing/visitor needs. Staff supported the reduction, citing consistency with the Golden Mile Small Area Plan.
- Lighting Plan: Revised to eliminate all off-site light spillover using downlights, house-side shields, and 18-foot poles (down from 25 feet).
- Landscaping: 53 trees proposed (9 required), with extensive buffers and a screened dumpster.
- Forest Conservation Plan: The 0.19-acre afforestation requirement ($2,482.92 fee-in-lieu) was approved because the site is fully developed and no on-site mitigation is possible.
- Commission Vote: All three actions (parking modification, final site plan, forest conservation plan) were approved unanimously (3-0).
Key Outcomes
- All four new business items were approved with conditions as recommended by staff.
- The Commission directed staff to add conditions related to FAA/MAA approvals for the Taco Bell sign and street trees, and to correct fee calculations on the forest conservation plans.
- No items were removed from the consent agenda (none were on the consent agenda).
- The meeting adjourned after all items were voted on.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. Um, welcome to the uh May May twenty first, twenty twenty-five um hearing for the City of Frederick Planning Commission. Before beginning tonight's proceedings, I'd like to give a little background information about the planning commission and the procedures that we will follow for this evening. Members of the planning commission are all residents of the city and are volunteers, um, appointed by the mayor and city council. The commission is made up of five regular members and one alternate. All of tonight's cases have been appropriately advertised pursuant to section three oh one of the land management code. Cases will be presented tonight to the planning commission following this format. Commission question of staff, applicant or authorized agent remarks regarding the case, commission questioning of applicant, public comment, applicant response to public comment, commission discussion, and questions, and commission action. In support of the Planning Commission, staff members, staff members from the city planning, engineering, and legal departments are in attendance. Anyone wishing to speak publicly tonight regarding any application beginning begin their comments by providing their name and their general address for the record. Members of the public will have three minutes to give comments. Anyone representing a group will have 10 minutes to give comments. The timer clock is in the back, up on the wall, show them your remaining time. At this time, anyone planning to give testimony tonight, please stand and raise your right hand to be sworn in. Do you solemnly swear to a swear or affirm that the response given and the statements made in this hearing before the planning commission will be the whole truth and nothing but the truth? If so, please say I do. All right, thank you. Before we start with the review of the case this evening, we will see if there are any administrative matters or items to be discussed. And so I'll turn this over to the planning department. Thank you so much. Um good evening. Uh a couple of announcements. Um the first being that our planning commission workshop. Um no, I'm so out of whack because we are at a different time and place than we have been. Oh my gosh, that's how robotic I am, apparently. Um, I have one announcement this evening, and that is um uh a very warm thank you to Sharon Kempers Suarez, our planner. Um she will be leaving us on May 30th. It's her last day with the city of Frederick. Um we wish her all the best in her next endeavors. Um she has promised us that she will be prolific in planning and the community and still be um a member of our planning world. So we are excited for that and grateful for all of the time and attention um that she has given to our department. Um I've learned a lot from working with her and appreciate all of her insights, and I continue to look forward to doing so moving forward. So thank you, Sharon. Well done. We will miss you. And I think that's all I have. Sharon, it was a pleasure to have you and uh to work with you. And you know, I'm a little bit surprised because we didn't get a chance to actually take this to a vote before you decided to leave. No. Well, it would have been a denial, but that's okay. I didn't want to leave before these two uh, you know, I just I gave a month's notice. I wanted to see these there's these two projects specifically started, and I was hoping they would wrap up. So I'm hoping I have my fingers crossed. All right. Thank you. It was great to get to know you in this short period of time, and you know, you've just always you have a light about you, and I appreciate that every time I encounter you. So best of luck in the future. Thank you with all your endeavors. Well, you were all uh have been a delight to work with, and I I know I know myself personally how tough it can be to be a planning commissioner. It's a serious job, and uh it's it's meant to be, but I know it can also be quite enjoyable.
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