Frederick Planning Commission Meeting - September 8, 2025
Frederick City Planning Commission Meeting - September 8, 2025
The Frederick City Planning Commission met on September 8, 2025, at 6:00 PM at City Hall to consider multiple agenda items including continuances, a master plan for Frederick Health Village, a text amendment on mixed-use phasing, and several site plans and modifications. The meeting included public testimony and resulted in unanimous votes to approve routine items, continue the Frederick Health master plan to November 10, 2025, recommend denial of the text amendment, and approve all other applications.
Announcements
- The next Planning Commission workshop will be held September 15, 2025, at 2:00 PM, followed by a citywide community outreach meeting at 6:00 PM.
Minutes
- Unanimously approved the August 11, 2025, Planning Commission meeting minutes.
- Unanimously approved the August 18, 2025, Planning Commission workshop minutes.
- Unanimously approved the September 5, 2025, pre-Planning Commission meeting minutes.
Continuances
- PC24-1010ANX (The Sage Way Annexation) – Continued to the October 13, 2025, hearing (unanimous).
- PC25-50PSU/FSI (Highland Trail Preliminary Plat and Final Site Plan) and PC25-56PFCP (Highland Trail Preliminary Forest Conservation Plan) – Continued to the October 13, 2025, hearing (unanimous motion covering both).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Frederick Health Master Plan: Adam Apostoli (NAC 12 coordinator, Ren Quarter resident) urged that more moderately priced dwelling units (MPDUs) be built rather than fee-in-lieu to ensure affordability. John Cassane (Worman Mill resident) supported the health complex but expressed concerns about already failing intersections (Maryland 26, Monocacy Boulevard) and questioned whether the traffic study accounted for commuter employees. Hannah Nickerson (Sherman Avenue) argued the project should not be judged against traffic standards when other projects like Brickworks were exempt, and urged the commission to consider the need for pedestrian and bike infrastructure.
- Text Amendment (MU Phasing): Sharon Kemper Cerez (former city staff) recommended against delegating phasing decisions to the planning department and suggested hiring an economic consultant. Adam Apostoli noted 58 pages of public comment and urged denial to keep decision authority with the Planning Commission and preserve public visibility. Rob Thompson (Bond Street, Ren Quarter) opposed bypassing the Planning Commission for significant phasing changes. Hannah Nickerson cautioned against developers setting their own rules and supported keeping authority with the commission.
- Worman's Mill Court Apartments: Hannah Nickerson asked about floodplain resilience and stormwater management. Mary Ellen Mitchell (CEO of Housing Frederick) strongly supported the project, citing the housing crisis and the need for 306 affordable units.
- Preliminary Forest Conservation Plan (Worman's Mill): Hannah Nickerson noted the city’s 50% tree canopy goal and questioned why developers struggle to find off-site reforestation sites, and specifically regretted the removal of a healthy shagbark hickory for the shared-use path.
Discussion Items
- Frederick Health Master Plan (PC24-662MU): Staff reported that the applicant revised the traffic analysis, reducing the request for road adequacy findings from seven to four intersections, with two mitigated and one found adequate. The applicant (Bruce Dean, Don Schilling, Joe Calagaro) presented the project as a long-term, phased medical campus with up to 750 residential units and 1,260,394 sq ft of non-residential uses, including conditional uses (senior living, nursing home, medical lab, helistop). Traffic mitigation was estimated at $8 million. Commissioners expressed concerns about existing traffic congestion at intersections on Monocacy Boulevard and Maryland 26, the need for more concrete phasing plans, and desire for MPDUs. Commissioner Valencia moved from a no to a maybe, requesting a detailed phasing schedule and visual plan. After extensive discussion, the commission voted unanimously to continue the case to November 10, 2025, to allow the applicant to provide more detailed phasing and mitigation information.
- Text Amendment, Section 417 MU Districts Phasing (PC25-55ZTA): Staff (Gabrielle Collard) explained the proposal to allow applicants to propose individualized phasing schedules, with changes approved administratively. Staff recommended approval, finding it consistent with the comprehensive plan. Commissioner Menelas questioned the lack of citywide data indicating a systemic problem, and commissioners Valencia and Llewellyn expressed concerns about delegating authority away from the commission and reducing public input. After public testimony opposing the change, the commission voted unanimously to recommend denial to the City Council, citing inconsistency with the land management code and the 2020 Comprehensive Plan, and lack of supporting data.
- Bloomfield Water Tower (PC25-79PSU/FSI): Staff reported on a 100-foot-tall, million-gallon water tower on a 3.27-acre lot, with a modification for barbed wire on a 9.5-foot fence for security. The applicant (Phil Wagner) stated the tower is designed to bolster the city water system. The commission unanimously approved the modification and the site plan.
- Frederick Research Park Lot 8-E (PC25-161FSI): Staff reported on a 9,734 sq ft medical office with outpatient surgery, requesting three modifications: elimination of a loading space, reduction of buffer trees, and reduction of parking lot screening trees. The applicant (John Mazellan) said the building would be compatible with the surrounding medical offices. The commission unanimously approved all three modifications and the site plan.
- Worman's Mill Court Apartments (PC24-1008FSI): Staff reported on a final site plan for 306 multifamily units (100% affordable at 60% AMI) and 5,000 sq ft of non-residential space, with four modifications related to lighting, buffers, parking lot screening, and street trees. The applicant (Bruce Dean, Judd Olim, Chris Mariga) emphasized the project’s benefits: affordability, floodplain improvements, and a $1.2 million contribution to the Rails with Trails path. The commission unanimously approved all four modifications and the site plan.
- Preliminary Forest Conservation Plan, Worman's Mill Court Apartments (PC24-1009PFCP): Staff reported on a plan to mitigate 2.73 acres through fee-in-lieu ($35,795.10) and a modification to remove nine specimen trees due to site constraints. The applicant (Chris Mariga) noted that only one tree was in good condition but conflicted with the shared-use path. The commission unanimously approved the modification and the forest conservation plan.
Key Outcomes
- Frederick Health Master Plan: Continued to November 10, 2025, by unanimous vote. The applicant is to provide a detailed phasing schedule and more concrete traffic mitigation plan.
- Text Amendment (MU Phasing): Unanimous vote to recommend denial to the City Council. The commission will draft a letter explaining the reasons, including lack of citywide data and the need to retain Planning Commission authority and public input.
- Bloomfield Water Tower: Unanimously approved modification to add barbed wire to the fence and approved the combined preliminary plat and final site plan.
- Frederick Research Park Lot 8-E: Unanimously approved all three modifications and the final site plan.
- Worman's Mill Court Apartments: Unanimously approved all four modifications and the final site plan, with conditions including MTA approval of rail crossings and floodplain permits.
- Preliminary Forest Conservation Plan (Worman's Mill): Unanimously approved the modification to remove nine specimen trees and approved the preliminary forest conservation plan.
Meeting Transcript
All right, it is six o'clock. Then I will now call the meeting to order. And welcome everybody to the what's today, September 8th, 2025 meeting of the Frederick City Planning Commission. Um, before we start tonight's proceedings, I'm going to give us a background of the Planning Commission and the procedures that will follow this evening. Um members of the Planning Commission are all residents of the city and are volunteers appointed by the mayor and the city council. The commission is made up of five regular members and one alternate. Its powers and duties are assigned by the charter of the city of Frederick and described in section 202 of the land management code. All of tonight's cases have been appropriately advertised pursuant to section 301 of the land management code, and we will take the cases in the following format tonight. We will first have an introduction of the case, followed by a presentation of the case and a rich initial recommendation by staff. We will then give the commission a chance to ask questions of staff. Following that, we will allow the applicant or the authorized agent to make their remarks regarding the case, followed by commission questions of the applicant. After that, we will have public comment and if appropriate, the commission questioning of public comments. Finally, we will give the applicant a chance to respond to public comment. We'll then bring it back up here, um, open it up for commission discussion and questions and commission action. So in support of the planning commission, staff members from cities planning, engineering, and legal departments are in attendance. Um we'll be taking public comments. Anyone who wants to um make comments tonight, please sign up with the sign-up sheet. I will take people who have signed up first. Just a reminder that members of the public will have three minutes to give their comments. If you're representing a group, you can have 10 minutes to give your your comments. The timing clock will show the amount of time that you have left, and in order to expedite our evening, I will definitely make everybody ask everybody to wrap their comments up to the end of three minutes. So at this point, everybody who is planning on making a presentation before the the commission tonight um needs to stand and be sworn in. Thank you very much. Um that do we have announcements? Yes, thank you. Good evening. Our next planning commission workshop will be held this coming Monday, September 15th at 2 p.m. in this room. Packet should be posted tomorrow on our website. That will be followed by the citywide community outreach meeting at 6 p.m. All right, that was fast, thank you. All right, the next item on the agenda is the minutes, and we have um three meeting minutes to consider tonight. We have the August 11th Planning Commission meeting minutes, the August 8th, 18th, 2025 Planning Commission workshop minutes, and the September 5th pre-planning commission meeting minutes. I'll take a motion. I move for approval of the August 11th, 2025 planning commission meeting minutes. Second. That is a motion by Commissioner Llewell and a second by Commissioner Valencia. All in favor? Aye. That is unanimous. I move for the approval of the August 18th, 2025 planning commission workshop minutes. Second. That is a motion by Commissioner Valencia, a second by Commissioner Llewellyn. All in favor? Aye. Aye. That's unanimous. Finally. I move for approval of the September 5th, 2025 pre-planning commission meeting minutes. Second.
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