Subject
title
Public Hearing on Zoning Text Amendment TXT2025-00268, To Modify the Parking Requirements for Certain Residential Dwellings; Mayor and Council of Rockville, Applicants
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Department
CPDS - Zoning Review & Other
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Mayor and Council conduct the public hearing on the proposed Zoning Text Amendment (see Attachment 1 above - Draft Townhouse MPDU Parking Ordinance).
Change in Law or Policy
If adopted, this ZTA will only require one parking space per lot for certain townhouse units in Rockville. Staff believe this ZTA will bring a resolution to the issue of parking spaces that were constructed in the Tower Oaks community that do not meet the city's required width dimension of nine (9) feet for a parking space.
Discussion
Site Plan Approval
In January 2017, the developer, EYA, submitted Level 2 Site Plan Application STP2017-00308 to implement the approved project plan for the entire 40.5 acres on Preserve Parkway. On October 11, 2017, the Planning Commission approved the site plan allowing for the construction of 30 single-unit detached dwellings, 217 townhouse dwellings, and 128 condominium units, as well as a 7,000-square-foot community center. Of the 217 townhomes, 51 are Moderately Priced Dwelling Units (MPDUs). The illustration below depicts the site plan of the Reserve at Tower Oaks development.
Figure 1. Site Plan
Garage Width Issue
Several years ago, City staff learned of the garage width issue specific to the Moderately Priced Dwelling Units (known as Allan Model Townhomes) at the Reserve at Tower Oaks development site when a resident complained about the width of one of their tandem parking spaces. Following the review of the approved garage drawings for the townhomes and confirmation by field staff that one of the spaces did not meet the 9-foot minimum width, staff reached out to the developer, EYA, to request a meeting to discuss the error in their drawings and construction regarding the garage width. Subsequently, EYA corrected the width of the Allan Model townhome garages for those units to be constructed, resulting in 35 units with garages below the minimum required dimension and 16 with the correct dimensions.
The City’s code requires a minimum of two code-compliant parking spaces for each townhome unit, which is 9 feet by 18 feet in dimension. As mentioned above, the tandem garage for the Allan Model townhomes did not meet this dimension. During the review of the construction plans and the master set for the building permits and inspections, staff missed that the entire garage space in the Allan Model townhomes did not measure at the 9 feet by 18 feet dimension. These errors by staff and EYA led to 35 Allan Model garages being constructed with the front 7 feet of one of the parking spaces measuring 8 feet, 7 inches in width - 5 inches less than the requirement. Specifically, while the rear tandem space of these 35 units at 9 feet 6 inches exceeds the 9-foot minimum width requirement, the front tandem space has an 8 feet 6-inch width (6 inches less than required) for about a third (1/3) of the 18 feet length of that space. By having one parking space that does not meet minimum size requirements, 35 Allan Model units in the development are out of conformance with the Zoning Ordinance.
In addition to the garage width issue for the 35 units, some homes have a step leading into the unit from the garage, which further encroaches into the garage width. This step, although not a violation, impacts the effective use of the garage space for parking.
Unpermitted Construction
Some Allan Model Townhome owners have undertaken unpermitted conversions of garages into habitable living spaces without receiving building permits. The staff has issued four notices of violations for this construction because it was not permitted and would not be allowed since the garage parking is required to meet the Zoning Ordinance.
Also, a representative from the Homeowners Association Board of Directors identified six additional townhomes that may have performed unpermitted construction work within their garages. The representative also informed staff that unpermitted, unapproved garage modifications are against the HOA’s Declaration of Covenants. The staff has reviewed the pictures provided by the representative of the garages for at least six additional units and believes that they are also in violation of performing construction within the garages without any city permits and removing one of the two required parking spaces. The staff has placed the resolution of these violations on hold pending the city addressing the non-compliant garage issue.
Based upon emails and feedback from some of the Allan Model owners, they believe that additional living space should be allowed in the one garage space that does not meet the ordinance requirements, especially since nine of the units only have one bathroom on an upstairs floor.
In October, staff held a follow-up meeting with the Allan Model owners, the HOA Board, and EYA representatives to provide the results of the offer to modify the garages and to present the next step. Due to the limited acceptance of the modification, staff informed those present at the meeting that a ZTA would be presented to the Mayor and Council as an option to resolve this matter.
Proposed ZTA to Require One Parking Space Per Lot for Certain Townhome Units
The Mayor and Council initiated this Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment to address the issue of townhouse units that were constructed with one of the required parking spaces not meeting the minimum width dimension of nine (9) feet.
If approved, the ZTA will only require one parking space per lot for certain townhome units in Rockville. As proposed, this ZTA will:
1. Only apply to townhouse MPDUs within Planned Developments (PDs);
2. Require on-street parking spaces be provided at a rate of 0.5 spaces per townhouse unit within the approved site plan containing the affected units to ensure sufficient parking exists; and
3. Allow for the reduction if a major point of pedestrian access from the unit’s development is within seven-tenths of a mile (3,696 feet) walking distance of a transit station entrance shown on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Adopted Regional Rail Transit System or a bus stop or there is a parking facility available to the public within 1,000 feet of this major point of pedestrian access.
Item two is an important condition because there is still a need for parking spaces for the owners of the Allan Model Townhomes. Based on the illustrated site plan shown above, a minimum of 109 available public on-street parking spaces should be provided within the development to meet the proposed requirement. A total of 130 on-street spaces are available, not counting 30 spaces for the community center, with most spaces located directly in front of the townhome units. The HOA representatives were concerned about the available spaces for visitors if the homeowners were using the spaces. In response, EYA completed a parking survey and showed there was ample space for both homeowners and visitors to have access to available public spaces (see Attachment 2 above - Tower Oaks Parking Study Performed by EYA).
The effect of the ZTA is expected to resolve issues at Tower Oaks by:
• Allowing the smaller non-compliant garage space to not be considered a parking space;
• Allowing for construction in the area containing the noncompliant parking space with proper city approvals; and
• Removing the current zoning noncompliance status for such units while not changing the minimum city-wide requirement for two (2) spaces per lot per townhouse unit with three or more bedrooms.
The proposed ZTA allows for the Chief of Zoning to reduce the amount of required parking for a townhouse MPDU in a site plan that has been approved prior to the adoption date of the ordinance. This allows the amendment to apply to the previously approved MPDUs in Tower Oaks.
If the ZTA is approved, staff will require any owner of an Allan Model Townhome who has existing construction or desires future construction within any garage to submit for and receive a building permit and follow-up inspections to ensure this construction is safe and meets the city's building and fire codes. Although not applicable to the city, the owners will need to separately address compliance with HOA covenants.
Mayor and Council History
The Mayor and Council authorized the filing of the text amendment at its meeting on January 13, 2025.
Public Notification and Engagement
The staff has held three meetings with Allan Model Townhome owners. Staff also sent letters to all Allan Model Townhome owners to notify them of the public meetings, the process, and opportunities for public feedback. Staff also followed the city’s required notifications for public hearings, including newspaper notice and the use of city media outlets to publicize the hearing.
Boards and Commissions Review
The Planning Commission reviewed the ZTA at its meeting on February 19, 2025. A total of five speakers addressed the Commission at the meeting, including a representative of the Reserve at Tower Oaks Homeowners Association and four residents of the community. While all speakers were generally supportive of the ZTA, there were concerns expressed about the implications of the ZTA, including the status and condition of the remaining garage spaces and the potential impact of additional crossovers of the bioswales that parallel the public streets (See Attachment 2, Comments from SWM Committee 10 Feb2025, and Attachment 3, HOA Letter 02125, above).
The Commission recommended approval of the ZTA as achieving compliance for the property owners was viewed as paramount. However, the Commission did offer comments about several of their concerns, including establishing a parking requirement for MPDUs that is lower than the requirement for market-rate units, and whether there may be unintended consequences in future developments that may be able to utilize the new standard. The Commission also commented that marked spaces on the public streets should be considered and that the bioswales along the street frontages should accommodate crossings. The Commission understands that these issues are within the public right-of-way and not within the scope of the ZTA.
Next Steps
After the public hearing, the Mayor and Council will consider adopting the proposed ordinance (see associated agenda item).