[RP TownTalk] 7-11 on route 1

[Jonathan Ebbeler]

All -

I think there is a bit of a disconnect between what is currently being discussed and the actual County Process.  Currently the legal sufficiency for a project before MUTC has not been established, just an application made on 10/20 to the Riverdale Park Local Design Review Committee.  Subsequent notifications can and would occur when the Town itself received a referral once the applicant applied for actual development entitlements.  And while my objection to certain uses and developments on the Route 1 Corridor are well documented, as a matter of law, the only question before any committee currently is concerning a potential inquiry regarding a use.

The MUTC review is the first step in a development process.  It does not guarantee approval nor denial of a building permit entitlement but establishes answers to the following questions:

1)      Is the proposed use allowable as a matter of right in the zoning

2)      Does the proposed building/site plan adhere to the required design standards of the zone

Questions regarding how a community feels about a certain tenant cannot legally be taken into account when deciding these questions.  If they are, they provide an applicant the legal justification to challenge a denial (if one is given) and undermine the veracity and credibility of the vote of the body.

Tonight's vote will confine itself to the application and the compliance with the legal sufficiency of whether it meets the zoning subtitle or not.  As it stands, the current revisions I have seen of the application do not appear to meet the legal sufficiency for an approval.  Community input and engagement will likely come into play if a denial does occur and the applicant decides to proceed forward with an application regardless but tonight's conversation

Respectfully,

Jonathan
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