Subject
title
Mandatory Referral Application STP2025-00512, to establish Montgomery County Diversion Center and Install Associated Site Improvements Within a Portion of the Existing Property at 1307 Seven Locks Road in the MXT (Mixed-Use Transition) Zone; Montgomery County, MD, Applicant.
end
Department
CPDS - Development Review
Recommendation
Staff recommends approval of Mandatory Referral Application STP2025-00512, based on the required findings and subject to the conditions outlined within this staff report.
Overview
Case: Mandatory Referral Application STP2025-00512
Location: 1307 Seven Locks Road
Staff: Nelson Ortiz, Principal Planner
Community Planning and Development Services
nortiz@rockvillemd.gov
Applicant: Montgomery County, Maryland
Department of General Services
101 Monroe Street, 9th Floor
Rockville, MD 20850
Filing Date: May 28, 2025
Planning
Commission Date: September 10, 2025
Discussion
Montgomery County, Maryland ("Applicant") has filed a mandatory referral application for their proposed renovation of an existing Maintenance Office Building to the Montgomery County Diversion Center. The application is being processed as a Mandatory Referral in accordance with applicable state law governing the construction of public buildings and structures. The Rockville Planning Commission's review is to determine consistency with the "Plan" as defined under Section 3-205 of the Land Use Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, specifically as it relates to the location, character, and extent of the proposed site development. Pursuant to the Land Use Article, the Planning Commission has 60 days from the date of submittal of the application to render its decision on the project or it is deemed to be approved. The Applicant may appeal the decision of the Planning Commission to the legislative body, the Montgomery County Council, which can vote to overturn the ruling by a two-thirds vote and proceed with the project.
Site Description
Location:
1307 Seven Locks Road
Planning Area:
Land Use Designation:
Planning Area 13 - Potomac Woods, Potomac Springs, Falls Ridge and Orchard Ridge
CI - Civic and Public Institutional
Zoning District:
MXT (Mixed-Use Transition) Zone
Property Area:
26.23 acres
Surrounding Land Use and Zoning
Location
Zoning
Planned Land Use
Existing Use
North
R-90 (Single Unit Detached Dwelling, Restricted Res.)
RD - Residential Detached
Vacant Residential Land
East
PD - TO (Planned Development - Tower Oaks)
RF - Residential Flexible & OCRM - Office Commercial Residential Mix
Office and Vacant Mixed-Use Land
South
MXCD (Mixed-Use Corridor District)
CI - Civic and Public Institutional
Public Facilities
West
R-90 (Single Unit Detached Dwelling, Restricted Res.)
RD - Residential Detached
Single-Family Detached
Aerial
(w/ project area highlighted)
The site is identified as part of Parcel A of the Seven Locks plat and situated in the northeast quadrant of the intersection of Seven Locks Road at Wootton Parkway. The site is bounded by Wootton Parkway to the south, Seven Locks Road to the west, and I-270 to the east. Its primary frontage is along Seven Locks Road and the frontage is approximately 2,011 feet, according to the plat. The Property is zoned MXT (Mixed-Use Transition) and the land use designation is C-I (Civic and Public Institutional). The Property is currently improved with multiple buildings that are publicly-owned and operated by Montgomery County. Specifically, the building in question is operated by Montgomery County's Department of General Services and used as a maintenance office building. Additionally, the associated site is improved with a parking lot, driveways, open area with plantings and trees, and stormwater management facilities.
Project Description
This mandatory referral request, filed as a Level 2 Site Plan application, seeks to renovate an existing maintenance office building, operated by Montgomery County's Department of General Services, to a Diversion Center facility. The application documents provide the following description of the proposed facility:
The Diversion Center will be a 24/7/365 facility that provides voluntary, short-term stabilization services to individuals experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis. It is the third component of the "Crisis Now" model, which includes crisis hotline and mobile crisis outreach services. By establishing the Diversion Center, the County aims to divert individuals in crisis from hospital emergency rooms, and thereby reduce the current burden on first responders and emergency personnel, and free up resources for medical emergencies.
The project is still in its design phase, but the building will be two-stories, approximately 33 feet in height, and 16,490 square feet in area. The building's main entrance is proposed on the east side of the building, away from the Seven Locks Road frontage. The applicant states that the building will be designed with photovoltaic panels on the rooftop and additional photovoltaic panels may be added on canopies over the parking spaces if the budget permits.
The project scope includes site work consisting of modifications to the existing parking lot, site circulation, landscaping, utilities, and stormwater management. Parking will be provided south of the building and accommodate 50 vehicles to include two EV charging spaces and two spaces equipped for future EV charging. Connectivity via sidewalks is provided throughout the parking lot and to a new shared use path, which will be continuous along the proposed building site frontage and connect to the existing shared use path located at the intersection of Wootton Parkway and Seven Locks Road. A circular driveway by the building's main entrance and off the parking area should provide convenient access for pick-up and drop-off. At the terminus of the parking area, a gravel road limited to fire access is proposed.
The Diversion Center facility and associated site work is expected to be constructed in one phase. The larger site may be further developed at some point in the future.
Project Analysis and Findings
When assessing a mandatory referral application, Section 3-205 of the Land Use Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland states that "if a local legislative body has adopted a whole plan or a plan for one or more geographic sections or division of the local jurisdiction, a publicly or privately owned street, square, park or other public way, ground, or open space, or public building or structure, or public utility may not be constructed or authorized in the local jurisdiction or major geographic section of the local jurisdiction until the location, character, and extent of the development has been submitted to and approved by the Planning Commission as consistent with the Plan."
Master Plan
Comprehensive Planning staff have reviewed the submitted application for compliance with "location, character and extent" of the Rockville 2040 Comprehensive Plan ("Comprehensive Plan"). The property is located within Planning Area 13 and is not the site of any specific focus area or city project in the Planning Area 13 chapter. Land Use and Urban Design policy recommendation 3 addresses the property in saying, "work with Montgomery County government to maintain a visual buffer between the Montgomery County Detention Center and the adjacent residential neighborhood, as well as to reduce light pollution, inmate release directly to Seven Locks Road, and other impacts." - page 374. At this point in time, the operational details of the facility are not finalized, but it appears that the applicant is maintaining the existing visual buffer with the new facility addition and has committed to the development of a client release plan to minimize impacts to surrounding neighbors.
The Land Use Policy Map for Planning Area 13 identifies this property as being a Civic and Public Institutional (CI) land use designation, which the proposed application is consistent with. The existing use and character of the property are consistent with the proposed use of a diversion center.
The Pedestrian Master Plan, amended into the Comprehensive Plan in October 2023, calls for a shared use path along Seven Locks Road from Wootton Parkway to Potomac Valley Road. Specifically, the Pedestrian Master Plan states, "the city shall require pedestrian facilities as part of any redevelopment on Seven Locks Road" - page 59. Given that the extent of this application extends into the public right-of-way along Seven Locks Road, the Applicant will be constructing a 10-foot shared-use path, the length of the proposed project, along the property line in accordance with the specifications provided by the Department of Public Works.
Zoning
As the site is owned by Montgomery County, improvements to the property are not subject to the City's zoning requirements. However, staff reviewed the proposal in accordance with the Zoning Ordinance. As referenced previously in the report, the Property is located within the MXT Zone which permits publicly owned or operated buildings and use such as the proposed Diversion Center. The building is sited away from the abutting rights-of-way, maintaining an appropriate distance and visual buffer as recommended by the Master Plan, and also meets the zoning setbacks of the MXT Zone. The building will be 33 feet and one inch in height, meeting the maximum 35' height permitted in the MXT Zone. Properties in the MXT zone are required to maintain ten percent of the project area as open area and the Applicant will maintain approximately 17 percent.
Although the Zoning code does not provide a specific vehicle and bicycle parking rate for the subject use, the Applicant anticipates that the 50 parking spaces will adequately serve 24 employees and approximately 45 clients. Staff recommend that long-term and short-term bicycle parking be provided as per condition #3. The parking spaces and drive aisles will be constructed in accordance with the design standards in Section 25.16.06. of the Zoning Ordinance.
Forestry
Forest and Tree Preservation
The project is subject to the city's Forest and Tree Preservation Ordinance (FTPO). The portion of the site proposed for improvements is not currently under a forest conservation plan (FCP), although there is an existing FCP (FTP2006-00001) on another portion of the site. A natural resources inventory/forest stand delineation (NRI/FSD) was submitted (FTP2025-00087) and approved on 11/27/2024. The applicant has submitted a preliminary forest conservation plan (PFCP, 131-PFCP) which has been reviewed and is anticipated to be approved on the next submission.
In accordance with the FTPO, the proposed development is required to comply with all three (in addition to any other requirements under the FTPO) of the following ordinance requirements: forest conservation, minimum tree cover, and significant tree replacement.
Forest Conservation
The site is required to meet a minimum of .71 acres (30,928 sf) of forest conservation, via afforestation. The applicant is proposing to meet the required afforestation through a combination of individual tree preservation and fee-in-lieu of planting, according to the PFCP (ultimately approved via a Final Forest Conservation Plan, FFCP).
Significant Trees
The PFCP is proposing the removal of 18 significant trees to facilitate the proposed development. The removal of these 18 significant trees will require the replacement planting of 50 trees or a commensurate amount of fee-in-lieu of planting, in accordance with the FTPO. These quantities are ultimately approved via the FFCP, and are subject to variation.
The applicant is proposing to remove 6 specimen trees from the property. A specimen tree is defined by the FTPO as a tree that is equal to or greater than thirty inches (30") in diameter at breast height or seventy-five percent (75%) of the diameter of the state champion tree of that species. The applicant has provided justification, in association with the PFCP application that meets the criteria required for specimen tree removals in accordance with the FTPO.
Minimum Tree Cover
The minimum tree cover requirement is 10% of the tract area or .48 acres (20,706 sf) of tree cover. This requirement will be met at the time of forest conservation plan approval.
Traffic and Transportation
The Montgomery County Diversion Center is proposed for the southwest corner of the property at 1307 Seven Locks Road. Access to the site is proposed via two existing access points along Seven Locks Road. Patients of the Diversion Center will be delivered to the site by EMS/police and will be discharged to a private vehicle or to public transit. There will be no visitors at the facility. Arrivals to the Diversion Center could occur 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Discharges typically occur in the early afternoon following medical clearance prior to the typical PM peak.
The proposed use will generate few peak hour trips, and they will be sporadic in nature as patient drop-offs can occur at any time. Using the Comprehensive Transportation Review (CTR) recommended Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation Manual (11th Edition) trip generation rates, it is projected that the proposed use will result in a total of 18 AM peak hour trips and 17 PM peak hour trips.
The nearest impacted intersection, which is the signalized intersection of Seven Locks Road with Wootton Parkway, currently operates at acceptable levels of service during both AM and PM peak hours with a critical lane volume (CLV) of 798 during the AM peak and 735 during the PM peak which are below the recommended acceptable threshold. In the future, when considering approved background developments and the development of this site, the CLV and corresponding volume-to-capacity (V/C) ratios for this intersection will remain at acceptable levels.
Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) provides Ride-On service on Route 47 in the vicinity of the site. The nearest stop is situated on the north side of Wootton Parkway approximately 100 feet west of Seven Locks Road. A second stop is situated on the west side of Seven Locks Road approximately 100 feet south of Wootton Parkway. Route 47 provides service from the Rockville Metro Station to the Bethesda Metro Station. Limited service is also available on Saturday and Sunday.
Crosswalks currently span all four legs of the intersection. An asphalt multi-modal path is provided along the north side of the roadway along the site frontage. There are ADA-compliant ramps and pushbuttons in all four quadrants of the intersection.
A detailed review of on-site facilities demonstrates that vehicle and pedestrian operations on site will occur in a safe and efficient manner. The proposed 10-foot multi-use path that will be constructed as part of this development along the Seven Locks Road frontage, which will provide connectivity to existing pedestrian/bicycle infrastructure along Wootton Parkway.
DPW - Engineering
Water and Sewer
The project proposes a change of use from Office to Medical Office, as defined by WSSC Design Guidelines, which results in an increase to water and sewer demand slightly greater than DPW's de minimis threshold. The Applicant is required to obtain Water & Sewer Authorization approval prior to Public Works permit submission. The Applicant will be required to comply with the conditions of the Water & Sewer Authorization approval letter.
Stormwater Management
Stormwater Management (SWM) for this project will be provided in accordance with Chapter 19 of the Rockville City Code. The Applicant is required to obtain approval of a Combined SWM Concept prior to submission of the SWM Construction Plan (permit). The Applicant will be required to comply with the conditions of the Combined SWM Concept approval letter. On-site SWM will be provided through the construction of Environmental Site Design (ESD) micro-bioretention facilities.
Community Outreach
Public notification of the Mandatory Referral was sent to surrounding property owners, residents, and associations within 1,250 feet of the subject property pursuant to the notification procedures for Level 2 site plans.
At the time of this report, staff have received three phone calls from the public inquiring about the project but expressing neither support nor opposition to the project. Additionally, staff have received two emails from the public (see 'Public Testimony' attachment) expressing some level of concern about the project. The Applicant's response is included in the attachment.
Recommendation and Conditions
In summary, the proposed project is consistent with the Master Plan in terms of its location, character, and extent, as required by the Land Use Article.
The project is proposed to be located on an existing public property that is recommended for civic and public institutional land use by the adopted Comprehensive Plan. The project will reuse an existing building located on the property.
In terms of character, the Plan recommends maintaining a visual buffer between the uses on the property and the adjacent residential neighborhood, as well as reducing light pollution and prohibiting inmate release directly to Seven Locks Road. At this point in time, the operational details of the facility are not finalized, but it appears that the proposal will maintain the existing visual buffer with the new facility addition and has committed to the development of a client release plan to minimize impacts to surrounding neighbors.
Although not subject to the city's zoning, the project meets the development standards of the MXT Zone, an indication that the extent of the proposed building are consistent with the Plan. The traffic generated will be spread throughout the day and have minimal impact in the peak hours. In addition, the project is subject to the city's FTPO and storm water management requirements. The applicant also proposes to construct a shared use path along Seven Locks Road to the extent of the project in accordance with city specifications.
Staff therefore recommend approval of Mandatory Referral Application STP2025-00512, based on the findings above and subject to the following conditions:
Development & Zoning
1. The Applicant must sign and return the approval letter prior to finalizing the signature set. The approval letter must be included in the stamped approved signature set.
2. The Applicant must address all comments and mark-ups provided by staff on August 22, 2025 prior to finalizing the signature set.
3. The Applicant must provide at least one (1) short-term and one (1) long-term bicycle parking space. The bicycle parking spaces must be located and designed in accordance with city standards.
4. The proposed site improvements must be constructed and implemented as generally shown on the development plans submitted as part of this application.
Forestry
5. Before the issuance of any building, forestry, or public works permits, the applicant must obtain approval of a Final Forest Conservation Plan (Final FCP). The applicant may submit these plans with the site plan signature set.
6. Before the issuance of any building or sediment control permit, the applicant must obtain a forestry permit. Before the issuance of the forestry permit, the applicant must:
a. Submit the FTP permit application and fee;
b. Obtain approval of a Final FCP;
c. Pay to the city any approved fee-in-lieu consistent with the requirements of the FTPO;
d. Execute a five year warranty and maintenance agreement in a form acceptable to the city;
e. Post a bond or acceptable alternative approved by the city for eligible forestry improvements
per the FTPO;
f. Execute and record a forest conservation in a form acceptable to the city, unless otherwise
satisfied; and
g. If required by staff, submit a non-native management plan for review and approval by city staff.
Engineering
7. Submission for review, approval, and permit issuance by DPW of the following detailed engineering plans, studies and computations, appropriate checklists, plan review and permit applications and associated fees. The following plans shall be submitted on 24"x36" City base sheets at a minimum scale of 1"=30' unless otherwise approved by DPW.
a. Sediment Control Permit (SCP) - Submit Erosion and Sediment Control plans for all distributed areas;
b. Stormwater Management Permit (SMP) - Submit Stormwater Management plans for on-site stormwater management;
c. Public Works Permit (PWK) - Submit plans for all work within the Wootton Parkway and Seven Locks Road public rights-of-way, and within any existing or required public easements. Final locations and dimensions of public improvements in the right-of-way including but not limited to water, sewer, and storm drain infrastructure, street signs, street trees, shared use paths, curb ramps and streetlights will be determined in conjunction with the review of all Public Improvements Plans (PWK) and the Forestry Permit.
8. Prior to issuance of any DPW permit, the Applicant must submit for review and approval by the Office of the City Attorney all necessary deeds, easements, agreements, dedications, and declarations. Drafts of the documents must be included with the initial submission of the engineering plans and must be recorded prior to issuance of DPW permits, unless otherwise allowed by DPW.
9. The Applicant must post sureties in a form approved by the Office of the City Attorney for all DPW permits based on the approved construction estimate. Approval of sureties is coordinated through DPW staff. Sureties for all public infrastructure must be submitted and approved prior to DPW permit issuance. Where the Applicant is a public government agency and in-lieu of posting bonds with the City of Rockville, the Applicant may provide a letter to the City acknowledging that final payment to the Applicant's contractor will be withheld until DPW has approved the as-built plans and computations and has released the permits.
10. PWK permits must be issued for public infrastructure prior to the issuance of any building permits.
11. The Applicant must receive approval of a Combined SWM Concept prior to submission of the SWM Construction Plan (SMP permit). The Applicant will be required to comply with the conditions of the Combined SWM Concept approval letter.
12. The Applicant must receive approval of the Preliminary Erosion and Sediment Control Plan prior to submission of Erosion and Sediment Control Construction Plan (SCP permit). The Applicant will be required to comply with the conditions of the Preliminary Erosion and Sediment Control approval letter.
13. The Applicant must receive Water & Sewer Authorization approval prior to submission of the Public Works Construction Plan (PWK permit). The Applicant will be required to comply with the conditions of the Water & Sewer Authorization approval letter.
14. Location of dry utilities shown on the Site Plan is conceptual. Unless otherwise approved by the Director of Public Works, the final layout of the dry utilities shall not impact the locations of the proposed storm drain, water, sanitary sewer, SWM facilities, street trees and other public improvements.