Rockville zoning rewrite draws sustained public comment and council work‑session direction

A two‑hour public hearing and subsequent work session on Rockville’s zoning ordinance rewrite and comprehensive map amendment dominated the council’s April 13 meeting, with staff outlining a multi‑month adoption timeline and residents delivering detailed testimony on proposed rezoning in several planning areas.

Holly Simmons, deputy zoning manager, summarized the rewrite process and said staff expects to publish a revised staff draft on April 20 and proceed through additional hearings and work sessions before an anticipated adoption in July. She told the council the adoption timeline began with staff drafts filed in December and that the planning commission completed its recommendations on February 25.

Public testimony focused heavily on Planning Area 12 (a roughly 9.75‑acre parcel north of Tower Oaks and adjacent to Newmark Commons). Residents from Newmark Commons and Markwood urged the council to reject rezoning the parcel to RMD‑25 (residential medium density, 25 units/acre), warning a rezoning could create cut‑through traffic into neighbor streets, increase noise and pollution, and threaten a mature tree canopy. One speaker raised…