Clarksburg

Mike Knapp Letter to Councilmembers

M E M O R A N D U M

March 28, 2007

TO: Councilmembers

FROM:            Mike Knapp, Councilmember, District 2

SUBJECT:                 Development Districts

I appreciate Mrs. Praisner’s response to the issue of Clarksburg Development Districts as raised by the Clarksburg Town Center Advisory Committee (CTCAC) and the County Executive’s Clarksburg Development District Advisory Committee (CDDAC). I concur that it is important to respond quickly to these serious reports.

On behalf of my constituents, I am requesting that the council staff analysis include answers to the attached list of questions submitted to me by CTCAC. Additionally, I am aware of the County Executive’s concern on this issue and I would like Council staff to advise Councilmembers on their efforts to coordinate responses with the County Executive.

I had discussed with the Council President and the Chair of the MFP committee the possibility of holding a meeting to discuss the Council’s action plan and analysis, as well as provide an opportunity for solicitation of additional councilmember questions.

It is my understanding that in response to the report provided by CTCAC, council and OLO staff will conduct a review of the specific legal issues raised in the report. To ensure that this council has a clear understanding of the broader issues, I am requesting that the analysis also include:

A summary of the policy goals of development districts
A generic list of the steps necessary to create and implement a development district, including the roles of the executive branch, the council and Park and Planning
A review of the actions taken in the ‘successful’ creation and implementation of the Germantown development districts
A review of the actions taken to date for any development district in Clarksburg
A specific discussion as to how the list of projects to be funded with development districts has been developed for any and all development districts

The previous council spent a great deal of time focused on issues in Clarksburg and I believe we were able to make progress on a number of fronts. It became clear to us that the issues raised in Clarksburg were not unique to that community and as a result have broader implications for Montgomery County as a whole. This is another topic that has been on the list of implementation issues for a couple of years and we owe it to the community to be diligent in our oversight of this fiscal matter. I thank my colleagues for their concern and look forward to a productive and thorough discussion on the development district reports.

c: Steve Farber
    Karen Orlansky
    Royce Hanson
    Isiah Leggett