Council Puts It In Reverse On Pumphrey Parking Lot

will not be able to construct a parking lot next to its location in Rockville’s historic West End after the City Council on Monday reversed the previous council’s decision granting a modification to the city’s zoning laws.

Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio, in an interview with The Gazette on Tuesday, offered a solution to Pumphrey: Move.

“I’d say tell Pumphrey’s to move,” Marcuccio told The Gazette. “I don’t know why you have to accommodate a business in a historic district, which is there as a nonconformity, to begin with.”

The council in favor of a zoning amendment that would have allowed Pumphrey to apply to build the parking lot on West Montgomery Avenue. Marcuccio and Councilwoman Bridget Donnell Newton opposed the amendment.

Of the three council members voting in favor of approval, only Mark Pierzchala remains on the council.

On Monday, the council voted 3-2 to reverse the prior decision, with Pierzchala and Councilman Tom Moore opposed to the reversal.

The council will hold a public hearing on the change on Jan. 23, followed by a final vote to adopt the change. The council must allow 10 days from the hearing before the reversal takes effect.

Moore told The Gazette that he worries the reversal ”could deter businesses from moving to or staying in Rockville.”

During a discussion that lasted more than an hour on Monday, Moore criticized Councilman John Hall for doing what Moore said was something Hall vowed not to do: revisit a decision of a past council because the current council disagreed.

“This is literally what you’re doing—reversing a decision by a previous council because you don’t like it,” Moore said during Monday’s debate.

In an interview with The Gazette, Hall agreed with Moore that that is what he did.

The issue should never have come before the council, Hall said on Monday. He said he worries that considering the land use issue “could open the flood gates for other organizations, such as charities or churches, to approach the city asking to expand,” The Gazette reported.

Clarification: Monday's vote instructed city staff to file a text amendment deleting language approved by the previous council that allowed the parking lot. By law, the council is required to hold a public hearing and a final adoption vote and allow 10 days from the date of the hearing before the change becomes official. The seventh paragraph has been added to reflect that.