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Staff proposes startup thresholds for tiny high-FAR parcels so 'pencil towers' can pencil
Summary
Planning staff proposed an exception for very small, high-FAR parcels—often near metro stations—so public-benefit obligations would begin only above 2 FAR, preventing small projects from being overburdened by proportional public-benefit requirements.
Planning staff said the optional-method approach may unduly burden very small parcels ("pencil towers") that have high mapped FAR but cannot support the same public-benefit obligations as larger projects. Staff explained their analysis: a 15,000-square-foot building footprint at 6 FAR yields about 90,000 square feet—"That's a 90 unit apartment building," staff said—so the proposal would let such projects begin counting public benefits only above 2 FAR.
Committee members, particularly the Wheaton district representative, supported the idea as a practical measure to avoid vacant storefronts and to spur redevelopment in transit-accessible downtowns. Staff said the exception targets small projects under roughly 0.5 acre, primarily in Wheaton, Silver Spring, North Bethesda, and some Bethesda sites near metro stations.
