Planning Commission recommends Chapter 20 change to let city projects cross lot lines

The Gaithersburg Planning Commission on March 4 unanimously recommended that the mayor and city council adopt an amendment to Chapter 20 of the city code to exempt city-owned projects from a rule that now bars issuing building permits for structures that cross lot lines.

Laura, a city staff member, told the commission the change is intended to give the city greater design flexibility for projects such as an art installation proposed to span the new city hall and the police station. "The proposed language adds an exemption for a structure which crosses the vertical plane of a lot line between city-owned properties or between city-owned property and rights of way," she said.

The draft ordinance has evolved since introduction: staff said earlier versions tied the exemption to funding (capital-improvement projects) and that the current version ties the exemption to property ownership. Staff recommended the commission forward a recommendation of adoption; the commission voted to recommend adoption and the item will go to a council public hearing on March 16.

Commissioners asked whether the change could be handled by an existing waiver or special-exception process; staff said that this portion of the subdivision ordinance contains no waiver provision and that limiting the exemption to city-owned properties was a deliberate way to avoid opening the rule to privately funded projects. The chair and multiple commissioners described the proposal as largely technical but practical for projects tied to city property.

The commission approved the consent agenda earlier in the meeting and then moved to the Chapter 20 recommendation; the motion to recommend adoption was made and seconded and carried unanimously.

The mayor and city council will hold a public hearing and are expected to consider final action at a later council meeting.