Council adopts half‑mile corridor boundary for Town Center plan, agrees to require parking plans from developers

Rockville Mayor and Council on Jan. 6 moved forward on two central elements of the Town Center master plan: (1) the geographic boundary and height framework for the Maryland 355 corridor, and (2) parking policy for future development.

The council chose a middle‑ground map for the 355 corridor, and it asked staff to require every applicant to submit a development‑level parking plan as part of the review process. That parking plan will require applicants to justify how many off‑street parking spaces they propose, explain demand assumptions and cite comparable projects or management approaches; the council said the requirement should be specific enough to prevent a one‑line justification and to let staff make an informed review.

“Staff’s recommendation is proceeding with scenario 2,” principal planner Andrew Rattlebach said during the meeting when presenting three mapping options for parcels to be included in the 355 character area. Scenario 2 includes parcels within roughly a…