Northwood News ♦ June 2011

Where All the Women are Strong, All the Men are Good-Looking, All the Children are Above Average, and All the Special Exceptions are Unexceptional

By Jim Zepp

The Zoning Board of Appeals’ special exception hearing for the proposed child care facility at University Boulevard and Brunett Avenue was held on Friday, 15 April.  The developer’s six witnesses (the project owner, Craig Kay; Dr. Memon, the Child Way owner, who will rent the facility; and an architect; land planner; traffic expert; and stormwater planner) were originally expected to need four hours for their testimony and cross-examination by the attorneys for both sides.  Instead, the developer’s attorney spent from 9:30 a.m. to nearly 6:00 p.m. questioning her own witnesses.  The attorney representing the South Four Corners community was able to cross-examine some, but not all, of these witnesses.  Consequently, the hearing will be continued on Monday, 20 June.

As previously reported in this newsletter, both the Montgomery County Planning Board and its staff had recommended the denial of this special exception request because the Four Corners Master Plan specifically discourages commercial projects — such as this — that would encroach on residential areas and it violates county regulations for minimum space per child for child care facilities.  The developer had reduced the size of the facility from 120 to 94 children (infants to high school age) in response to the Planning Board’s denial, but it still exceeds the space requirements (75 children maximum for a property of this size).  Originally proposed as a 150-child facility, the developer has claimed at each iteration that the facility’s size is essential for its economic viability.

The 37,987-sq.-ft. (0.9 acre) property originally had a single family residence in which the owner also had his dental office.  In 2005, Craig Kay bought the property and demolished the house with the intent of building five $800,000 luxury homes.  With the collapse of the housing market, he changed his plans to the construction of a child care facility.  The site is designated as an R-60 residentially zoned property.  Child care facilities are allowed in this zone, but a special exception request must be applied for, which allows the surrounding community to register its concerns about any proposed projects.

The Four Corners Master Plan, which was adopted in 1996, establishes the goal of preserving and enhancing the quality of the community by maintaining the integrity and stability of the Four Corners neighborhoods.  The Master Plan encourages efforts to strengthen the existing business area through renovation and other economic development efforts, while discouraging any spread of commercial uses into the surrounding residential communities.  It specifically recommends the denial of any special exception requests along major roads and “immediately adjacent” to the Four Corners commercial area that would encroach into the residentially zoned areas.

The developer’s architect and land planner contended at the hearing that, because the proposed facility is separated by five houses from the Safeway, it is not “immediately adjacent” to the Four Corners commercial area.  Furthermore, they argued that the proposed child care facility would be compatible with the surrounding houses because it is a one-story structure, even though the building will be 5,608 sq. ft. in size while most of the nearby houses are only about 1,200 sq. ft.

The land planner also cited the former Yeshiva School, which was across University Boulevard but left the area almost 20 years ago, as the basis for his assertion that the proposed child care facility would restore the school-like atmosphere to that section of University Boulevard.  The traffic planner maintained that a substantial portion of the facility’s 20 staff and parents of the 94 children would use mass transit so it would have minimal impact on the existing rush hour congestion in the Four Corners area.  This is despite the fact that the State Highway Administration would not allow the facility to have a driveway on University Boulevard because of the traffic conditions there.  Staff and clients using cars will have to drive around the block to the opposite side (Gilmoure Drive) to access the facility’s parking lot.

When the Zoning Appeals Board hearing resumes in June, seven members of the community (including myself) have registered to testify.  In addition to the issues associated with the proposed project, a broader concern is its implications for possible future special exception requests in the Four Corners area if this one is granted.  This is exactly what the Four Corners Master Plan intended to prevent with its specific wording that discourages approving such requests.

If you want to testify or send in comments, you should identify your communications as related to:  Special Exception Request S-2781 Gilmoure-Brunett, LLC Child Care.  These can be sent to:  Office of Zoning and Administrative Hearings, Stella B. Werner Council Office Building, 100 Maryland Avenue, Room 200, Rockville, Maryland 20850.  Or call 240.777.6660 or e-mail ozah AT montgomerycountymd DOT gov.   ■