OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Frederick Planning Commission Meeting – April 13, 2026: Multiple Approvals and Text Amendments

Planning Commission — Monday, April 13, 2026
BodyFrederick, Maryland
SessionPlanning Commission
DateMonday, April 13, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 3:00:18

Transcript — Verbatim
0:22

Okay, it is six o'clock.

0:25

I'd like to welcome everybody to the April 13th, 2026 meeting of the City of Fredericks Planning Commission.

0:33

Before beginning tonight's proceedings, I'd like to give a little background of the Planning Commission and the procedures that we will follow this evening.

0:39

Members of the Planning Commission are all residents of the city and are volunteers appointed by the mayor and the town city council.

0:47

The commission is made up of five regular members.

0:50

Its powers and duties are assigned by the Charter of the City of Frederick and described in Section 202 of the Land Management Code.

0:57

All tonight's cases have been appropriately advertised pursuant to Section 301 of the Land Management Code, and cases will be presented tonight to the Planning Commission following this format.

1:09

Introduction of the case, presentation of the case, and initial recommendation by staff, commission questioning of staff, applicant or authorized agent remarks regarding the case, commission questioning of the applicant, public comment, applicant response to public comment, commission discussion and questions, and finally commission action.

1:32

In support of the Planning Commission, staff members from the city's planning, engineering, and legal departments are here in attendance.

1:39

Anyone wishing to speak publicly tonight regarding any application, including members of the public, must be sworn in prior to giving their comments.

1:47

All speakers must begin their comments by providing their name and general address for the record, and members of the public will have three minutes to give comments.

1:56

Anyone who is representing a group will have 10 minutes to give comments, and the timer clock will show you your remaining time.

2:03

At this time, everyone planning to give testimony tonight, please stand and raise your right hand to be sworn in.

2:11

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?

2:20

If so, answer I do.

2:23

Thank you.

2:30

And with that, I'll turn it over to the planning department for announcements.

2:35

Good evening, everyone.

2:38

There are four announcements this evening.

2:40

The first is that the Planning Commission workshop will be held one week from today, Monday, April the 20th at 2 p.m.

2:48

in this room.

2:50

Later that evening at 6 p.m., we will have the citywide community outreach meeting.

2:56

Again, that is in that in this room.

2:58

And the last two.

3:30

Thank you, Lewis, for your service.

3:33

And then lastly, um, we are going to be saying goodbye to Zach Buono, uh Commissioner that has given his time, and we have very much appreciated it.

3:45

He is going on to bigger things.

3:47

Um, but maybe one day we'll see him back.

3:50

So thank you for your service, and I will present you with a court.

4:00

And I'd like to add a comment.

4:01

I think um, you know, through Zach's tenure, which although it's been short, he certainly has questioned the status quo and added to our conversations and helped us along with the city planning.

4:11

So thank you.

4:16

All right.

4:17

Uh next we're moving on to minutes, and I would ask for a motion uh for approval of the April 10th pre-planning commission meeting minutes.

4:33

I motion that uh I motion that we approve the planning commission minutes of March 9th, 2026.

4:42

Seconded.

4:43

Yeah.

4:45

Okay.

4:46

And I'll be looking for a motion.

4:48

I'm sorry, so we'll all uh looking for a vote for approval for those minutes.

4:54

All in favor?

4:55

Aye.

4:56

Aye.

4:56

Okay, that's five zero for approval of the March 9th Planning Commission minutes.

5:02

Also looking for approval of the April 10th pre-planning commission meeting minutes.

5:09

I motion to approve the April 10th, 2026 pre-planning commission meeting minutes.

5:15

And I second.

5:17

All those in favor?

5:18

Aye.

5:19

That's 5-0 for approval of the April 10th pre-planning commission meeting minutes.

5:25

Next, we have public hearing consent items, which we have none.

5:30

We also do not have any continuances.

5:33

And our next items under miscellaneous would be election of officers.

5:38

I'm looking for a motion for an election of chairperson.

5:48

I'll make the motion to for chairman to the microphone.

5:54

Excuse me.

5:55

We do already have a chair elected.

5:58

That is Commissioner Llewellyn was elected the chair.

6:03

And then we paused elections to get more planning commissioners.

6:06

So we are looking for vice chair and secretary.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Zoning And Land Use█████████████████████████████████████████████67%
Procedural███████████17%
Transportation Safety████6%
Economic Development███4%
Parks and Recreation██3%
Engineering And Infrastructure█2%
Historic Preservation█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Frederick Planning Commission Meeting – April 13, 2026

The Frederick City Planning Commission held a regular meeting on April 13, 2026, at 6:00 PM. The commission considered several agenda items including a site plan extension, architectural elevations, a lot consolidation, a major mixed-use development revision, a Walmart expansion, and two zoning text amendments. All votes were unanimous except for the Pemberton plat, which passed 4–1. No public testimony was offered on any item.

Consent Calendar

  • Minutes: Approved minutes of the March 9, 2026 Planning Commission meeting and the April 10, 2026 pre-planning meeting, both by 5–0 votes.
  • Election of Officers: Commissioner Roby was elected Vice Chair and Commissioner Temple was elected Secretary, each by 5–0 votes. Chair Llewellyn continues in that role.

Discussion Items

NICLOC Building Expansion (PC 22‑653 FSI) – Extension of Final Site Plan

  • Proposal: The applicant requested a three-year extension (to May 2029) of an approved 45,616 sq ft industrial addition at 8400 Progress Court, citing construction delays, tariffs, and difficulty procuring German manufacturing equipment.
  • Staff Position: Recommended a one-year extension, noting that the code intends timely construction and that other applicants have met benchmarks within the original timeframe.
  • Commission Action: After discussion, Commissioner Temple proposed an 18‑month extension to align with existing APFO certificates. The motion carried 5–0.

Kellerton Architecturals (PC 13‑195‑14 PND) – Elevations and Window Modification

  • Proposal: Approval of elevations (Kipling, Prescott, Bradbury, Livingston, Preston, and a new Normandy elevation for the Devonshire model) and a modification to allow square windows (1:1 ratio) instead of the required 1.5:1 ratio.
  • Staff Position: Found the elevations meet code criteria and that square windows add diversity; recommended approval.
  • Commission Action: Approved the modification (Action 1) and the elevations (Action 2), each 5–0. Commissioners noted the recurring nature of the window modification and suggested future code review.

Pemberton Plat (PC 25‑603 FSU) – Lot Consolidation at 301 Grove Boulevard

  • Proposal: Combine two existing residential lots (totaling 19,577 sq ft) into one to permit a new single‑family home. Staff recommended approval, citing consistency with other double‑lots in the neighborhood.
  • Commission Debate: Commissioner Temple moved for denial, arguing the lot would be an outlier in size (2.8 times the minimum R‑6 lot of 7,000 sq ft) and inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan’s compact‑neighborhood policies. The motion failed 1–4 (only Temple in favor). A subsequent motion to approve passed 4–1 (Commissioner Temple opposed). The approved plat allows the owner to build a single‑family residence.

REN Quarter Phase 3 – Revisions and Fence Modifications (PC 25‑608 PSU FSI & PC 25‑609 PSU FSI)

  • Proposal: Approve revisions to preliminary plat and final site plans for two sections of the rental townhome development (176 units total), and a modification to allow fences beyond the front facade on certain lots fronting high‑traffic roads and stormwater areas.
  • Staff Position: Supported the fence modification with compensating features (open‑rail design, 30‑inch setback, landscaping) and recommended approval of both site plans with one condition (remove leftover fence notations on sheet 3 of section 1).
  • Commission Action: Approved four actions unanimously (5–0):
    • Fence modification for lots 1–23 (Section 1).
    • Fence modification for lots 16–29 and 84–92 (Section 2).
    • Approval of combined preliminary plat/final site plan for Section 1, conditioned on removing notations.
    • Unconditional approval for Section 2. Commissioners praised the inclusion of amenities (dog park, pickleball, putting green) and noted the importance of tree canopy.

Walmart Expansion (PC 25‑490 FSI) – Final Site Plan and Parking Reduction

  • Proposal: Expand the existing Walmart at 2421 Monocacy Boulevard by 4,368 sq ft for online grocery operations, and reduce the minimum required parking from 794 to 758 spaces.
  • Staff Position: Found the parking analysis adequate and that transit improvements (bus shelter, canopy removal, restriping) served as genuine compensatory features. Recommended approval with a condition to update APFO note on the cover page.
  • Commission Action: Approved the parking modification (Action 1) and the final site plan (Action 2), both 5–0. Commissioners commended the applicant for providing a bus shelter as a meaningful compensatory feature.

Text Amendment – Gas Stations in Mixed‑Use Districts (PC 25‑248 ZTA)

  • Proposal: Recommend to City Council amendments to allow convenience stores with gas sales and automobile filling stations as conditional uses in MU‑1 and MU‑2 districts, update pump‑density tables, and add a 100‑foot setback from residential and resource conservation zones.
  • Staff Position: Supported the amendment, noting it clarifies conflicting code provisions, allows redevelopment of non‑conforming sites, and enhances safety with a larger setback than comparable jurisdictions (e.g., Brunswick’s 20–40 ft, Middletown’s 50 ft).
  • Commission Action: Recommended approval to City Council (5–0), with a minor modification to replace “district” with “development” in the PND pump table.

Text Amendment – Home Occupations (PC 25‑615 ZTA)

  • Proposal: Recommend to City Council a comprehensive rewrite of home‑occupation regulations, creating three tiers: “no impact” (no permit, no employees, no customers), “low impact” (zoning permit, up to 5 customer visits/week), and “conditional use” (ZBA approval, up to 20 visits/week). The amendment eliminates the previous dual‑permit system and aligns with modern work‑from‑home realities.
  • Staff Position: Supported the amendment, stating it better reflects the Comprehensive Plan’s goals of flexibility, reduced vehicle miles, and support for small businesses.
  • Commission Action: Recommended approval to City Council (5–0). Some commissioners expressed concerns about enforcement but acknowledged the need to reduce unnecessary violations for low‑impact home businesses.

Key Outcomes

  • Votes: All items were approved by 5–0 votes except the Pemberton plat, which passed 4–1 (Commissioner Temple dissenting). The NICLOC extension was granted for 18 months, not the requested 3 years.
  • Conditions: The REN Quarter Section 1 approval was conditioned on removing fence/arrow notations from sheet 3. The Walmart site plan was conditioned on updating APFO note 18 on the cover page.
  • Referrals to City Council: Two text amendments (gas stations and home occupations) received unanimous positive recommendations and will now go to the City Council for final action.
  • Upcoming Meetings: A Planning Commission workshop and a citywide community outreach meeting are scheduled for April 20, 2026.

Meeting Transcript

Okay, it is six o'clock. I'd like to welcome everybody to the April 13th, 2026 meeting of the City of Fredericks Planning Commission. Before beginning tonight's proceedings, I'd like to give a little background of the Planning Commission and the procedures that we will follow this evening. Members of the Planning Commission are all residents of the city and are volunteers appointed by the mayor and the town city council. The commission is made up of five regular members. 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 tonight's cases have been appropriately advertised pursuant to Section 301 of the Land Management Code, and cases will be presented tonight to the Planning Commission following this format. Introduction of the case, presentation of the case, and initial recommendation by staff, commission questioning of staff, applicant or authorized agent remarks regarding the case, commission questioning of the applicant, public comment, applicant response to public comment, commission discussion and questions, and finally commission action. In support of the Planning Commission, staff members from the city's planning, engineering, and legal departments are here in attendance. Anyone wishing to speak publicly tonight regarding any application, including members of the public, must be sworn in prior to giving their comments. All speakers must begin their comments by providing their name and general address for the record, and members of the public will have three minutes to give comments. Anyone who is representing a group will have 10 minutes to give comments, and the timer clock will show you your remaining time. At this time, everyone planning to give testimony tonight, please stand and raise your right hand to be sworn in. 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. Thank you. And with that, I'll turn it over to the planning department for announcements. Good evening, everyone. There are four announcements this evening. The first is that the Planning Commission workshop will be held one week from today, Monday, April the 20th at 2 p.m. in this room. Later that evening at 6 p.m., we will have the citywide community outreach meeting. Again, that is in that in this room. And the last two. Thank you, Lewis, for your service. And then lastly, um, we are going to be saying goodbye to Zach Buono, uh Commissioner that has given his time, and we have very much appreciated it. He is going on to bigger things. Um, but maybe one day we'll see him back. So thank you for your service, and I will present you with a court. And I'd like to add a comment. I think um, you know, through Zach's tenure, which although it's been short, he certainly has questioned the status quo and added to our conversations and helped us along with the city planning. So thank you. All right. Uh next we're moving on to minutes, and I would ask for a motion uh for approval of the April 10th pre-planning commission meeting minutes. I motion that uh I motion that we approve the planning commission minutes of March 9th, 2026. Seconded. Yeah. Okay. And I'll be looking for a motion. I'm sorry, so we'll all uh looking for a vote for approval for those minutes. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Okay, that's five zero for approval of the March 9th Planning Commission minutes. Also looking for approval of the April 10th pre-planning commission meeting minutes. I motion to approve the April 10th, 2026 pre-planning commission meeting minutes. And I second. All those in favor? Aye. That's 5-0 for approval of the April 10th pre-planning commission meeting minutes.

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