Subject
title
Approval of Applicant Requested Road Code Waivers to the Requirements of Chapter 21 of the "Rockville City Code", Section 21-42 to Reduce the Required Right-of-Way Width and the Pavement Width for New Secondary Residential Streets Proposed as Part of Planned Residential Development Located at 1455 Research Boulevard
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Department
PW - Traffic & Transportation
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Mayor and Council approve the resolution (Attachment 1) that approves applicant’s requested waivers from the Road Code requirements for rights-of-way, and pavement width for new secondary residential streets that will be constructed as part of the submitted redevelopment application.
Discussion
Pulte Home Company has submitted for approval an application (site Plan) that proposes demolishing an existing office building with approximately 228,221 square feet of office space with a residential community containing no more than 198 residential units, including 15 percent moderately priced units. The property is located at 1455 Research Boulevard in the City of Rockville. The submitted site plan application proposes a network of three secondary residential public streets to serve the proposed development, and the applicant has worked with staff on the design of these roadways to fit the needs of city and future residents.
A typical Secondary Residential Street must have a minimum total right-of-way width of 62 feet, and a pavement width of at least 36 feet. Since it has been determined that it is not possible to fully reconfigure the proposed roads in accordance with the required standards, the applicant - with staff support - has prepared and submitted a waiver request justification letter and Exhibit (Attachment 2) for the approval of the following specific and limited Road Code waivers:
A. Reductions of the ROW widths for a portion of the proposed Street 1 (55 feet) and a portion of proposed Street 2 (55 feet).
The reduced ROW sections would be improved, as with other sections, to have the required secondary residential street elements of two 11-foot travel lanes, standard buffers and 5-foot-wide sidewalks on both sides. The reduction of the ROW width in these sections results from area anticipated for parking and will not create any operational or safety concerns for motorists or pedestrians.
B. Reduction in pavement width for proposed Street 1, 2, and 3 from the minimum code required of 36 feet curb to curb to 22 feet, or 29 feet.
The reduced 22-foot pavement-width segments along these streets are proposed for short segments that are near intersections and/or crosswalks, and where there is no opportunity to provide for on-street parking. The reduced 29-foot pavement wide segments allow for provision of on-street parking only on one side of street
Staff does not have concerns with the proposed roadway segments featuring reduced pavement widths, as the proposed reductions are not expected to create operational or safety issues for any anticipated users, including service and emergency vehicles.
Prior to receiving staff support for any waiver from Road Code requirements, the applicant must demonstrate that the proposed development, including the narrowed roadways, provides an adequate number of visitor parking spaces in accordance with DPW requirements, or alternatively provides at least 0.50 visitor parking spaces per unit in addition to the required parking specified by the Zoning Ordinance.
For these reasons, staff recommends granting the approval of the requested waivers to reduce the required minimum ROW width and pavement width.
Next Steps
The next step will be for the applicant to obtain Planning Commission review and approval of the submitted level II site plan, which is tentatively scheduled for late July 2026. This requested Road code waiver approval is needed prior to applicant seeking a Public Works permit for construction of proposed streets.