Council hears rezoning request for small, steep Evergreen parcel on Eastern Boulevard

The mayor and city council took public testimony on Feb. 24 in case ZM2026‑02, a zoning map amendment for an approximately 3.65‑acre parcel at the northeast corner of Eastern Boulevard and Leitersburg Pike, proposed to change from CL (Commercial Local) to CG (Commercial General).

Christian Broje, an assistant zoning administrator, presented the case and entered the applicant’s advertising/posting affidavits into the record. Broje said the site’s steep topography effectively limits the buildable area to roughly 1–1.7 acres and that the city’s comprehensive plan designates the property for medium‑range growth with a commercial general future land‑use classification.

Applicant representatives (record includes counsel and designer identified as Jason Daimler / Jason Nible) offered maps and four exhibits showing grading/topography, usable area, and road cross‑sections. They argued the parcel is an anomaly in the CL district because of its size and location at a busy intersection, and they said more intensive commercial uses permitted in CG—ambulatory health care, restaurants over 3,000 square feet and larger retail—would be more consistent with surrounding development and recent roadway improvements.

Council members questioned whether the changes cited occurred before or after the 2020 comprehensive rezoning that the Planning Commission considered, and whether the parcel’s topography and limited usable area make some of the larger commercial uses theoretically allowed under CG unrealistic in practice. Applicant representatives said the physical constraints would prevent out‑of‑scale development; they stressed visible buffers and vertical separation to mitigate impacts on adjacent Potomac Heights residences.

The council left the public record open for 10 days for additional materials; no final vote was taken at the Feb. 24 session.