CarMax seeks rezoning of Shady Grove Road site to preserve dealership use

CarMax asked the Gaithersburg mayor and council during a joint public hearing on July 7 to rezone 13.34 acres at 16383 and 16411 Shady Grove Road from MXD (mixed-use development) to C-2 (general commercial) to protect its existing automobile sales operation.

The rezoning request matters because a 2012 annexation covenant with Montgomery County bars residential use of the property so long as the transfer station to the south remains in operation; the applicant said that, together with a recent change to the city’s MXD rules that removed automobile sales as a permitted MXD use, the combination could leave the dealership without a lawful zone if the use ceased for more than 90 days. “We didn’t want to have to come through and reentitle the property,” said Erin Gerard, the applicant’s attorney, explaining that rezoning to C-2…