Rockville Will Appeal Ruling in Pumphrey Dispute

The City of Rockville plans to appeal a judge’s ruling that could allow Robert A. Pumphery Funeral Home to build a parking lot in Rockville’s West End, Assistant City Manager Jennifer Kimball told Patch.

Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Eric M. Johnson ruled April 29 that the city must reinstate an ordinance that would allow Pumphrey to proceed with plans to build a 46-space parking lot, The Gazette reported Friday.

Rockville City Council discussed the appeal in executive session at the council's most recent meeting, May 20.

The proposed parking lot had been a source of conflict. Some residents don’t think it belongs in a residential historic district.

In January 2012, the current council, in a 3-2 vote, overturned a prior council's decision to change zoning laws to permit the funeral home to add the parking lot. Councilmen Mark Pierzchala and Tom Moore cast votes against overturning the ordinance passed in the earlier vote.

In June 2012, the funeral home filed for judicial review of the council’s decision, claiming that the reversal was unlawful, according to an account in The Gazette, which cites the petition:

“There was no new information, facts, evidence, or procedures that justified the city’s action to summarily reverse its prior decision.” 

Click here to read Friday's report by The Gazette.

Soo Lee-Cho, an attorney for Pumphrey, could not be reached at the time this story was published.