Funeral Home Parking, the CCT and a Final Meeting

The Rockville City Council on Monday gave final approval to a parking lot on property adjacent the Robert A Pumphrey Funeral Home.

The final vote mirrored a 3 to 2 preliminary vote last month in which Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio and Councilwoman Bridget Donnell Newton voted against the parking lot.

"I don't think I can say it any more strongly, that I think this is not the right way to be going with this and I will be voting against it," Newton said.

"Well, I too will be voting against it and I have to assume that when the Planning Commission takes a look at their site plan that they will apply all of the things that would be applied to a single-family home. That includes setback," Marcuccio said.

The parking lot proposal has divided citizens of the city's historic West End neighborhood. Supporters say it will keep vehicles from parking along the streets in front of homes, improving sight lines and traffic safety. Opponents say the parking lot is an improper use for a lot in the largely residential neighborhood.

Corridor Cities Transitway hearing on Wednesday

The Maryland Transit Administration will hold an open house and public hearing on the Corridor Cities Transitway on Wednesday at The Activity Center at Bohrer Park, 506 S. Frederick Ave., in Gaithersburg.

The open house begins at 4 p.m. with staff on hand to answer questions and maps of new alignment developments since June 2009 on display until 8 p.m. There will be a public hearing beginning at 6 p.m. Testimony may also be given in private to a court reporter from 4 to 8 p.m. or written on comment cards.

The CCT is proposed as a $532 million rapid bus line or $999 million light rail that would carry up to 30,000 weekday riders along a 14-mile corridor between the Shady Grove Metro station and the COMSAT site near Clarksburg.

Business leaders say the project is critical to the county's Interstate 270 technology corridor, including the .

While the project has broad support from elected officials at the municipal, county, state and federal level, there is less agreement on the choice between a light rail or rapid bus line.

In recent weeks, residents have raised concerns to city officials over the potential for a light rail line with an alignment down King Farm Boulevard to block streets and create noise from trains blowing warning horns.

Final meeting

Monday's meeting was the last City Council meeting of 2010. The council will next meet on Jan. 10.

If you need more City Council to tide you over through the holidays, you have one more chance this week. Councilman Piotr Gajewski will host a town hall meeting at 8 p.m. on Thursday in the Black-Eyed Susan Room at Rockville City Hall, 111 Maryland Ave.

The meeting will include a discussion of recent council actions and will give residents an open forum to discuss city issues and projects in an informal setting.

For more information call 240-314-8280.