After attaching provisions to provide affordable housing, protect farmland and a historic farmhouse, Montgomery County Council members voted Tuesday to allow annexation of the 183-acre Crown Property into the City of Gaithersburg for development.
Crown Village Farm LLC has proposed plans to build 2,250 homes and 320,000 square feet of commercial and retail space. It also would donate a 30-acre parcel to the county for a high school.
Crown Farm is the largest undeveloped property left in central Montgomery County and one of the largest parcels not preserved.
“The developer feels the City of Gaithersburg has a better track record on the kind of ‘new urbanist’ approach he envisions for the project,” said Council President George Leventhal.
He gave Kentlands and Lakelands developments as examples of that style of development and said in all the rest of the county, only the controversial Clarksburg project fits the same mold.
The council voted 7-2 to approve the annexation, with Council Members Marilyn Praisner, D-4th District, and Phil Andrews, D-3rd District, opposed.
Praisner sought several concessions from the developers. While council members resisted her effort to keep any affordable housing in the project under county supervision, they unanimously approved an agreement with the city to adopt most criteria of the county program.
Another amendment requires the developer to contribute $2 million to the county’s Agricultural Reserve Fund to purchase farmland or secure preservation easements.
Opponents called the money set aside for preservation “woefully inadequate” and said the county could get more than $8 million in preservation through transferable development rights. These rights allow farmers in the agricultural preserve to make money off their land by selling building rights to developers working in higher-density areas.
Annexation development
» Montgomery County land planning is controlled by the county Planning Board except within boundaries of cities, including Gaithersburg.
» Land annexed by the city remains under county zoning for five years. Specific agreements such as that approved Tuesday can allow the city to rezone sooner.
