'Summit 2012' Looks to Put Rockville's Future in Sharper Focus

A keynote speech by a national expert on development and presentations by six citizen work groups will highlight the Rockville Summit 2012.

The look at multiple facets of the city’s future growth will be held from 9 to 11:30 a.m. on Nov. 3 at F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre at Civic Center Park. Coffee and conversation begins at 8:30 a.m. The summit is free and members of the public are encouraged to attend. 

Edward T. McMahon, the Charles E. Fraser Chair for Sustainable Development and Environmental Policy at the Urban Land Institute, will deliver a keynote about the best practices of successful communities.

Over the past 25 years, McMahon has helped communities in every state address community planning and economic development issues. He has co-authored 15 books and written more than 300 articles. He serves on advisory boards and commissions with such organizations as the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Preservation Maryland.

Summit 2012 will build on the work of the first Rockville Summit, which included a report on the city’s “current economic conditions and future directions” by Stephen Fuller, director of the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University.

Held in October 2011, the first summit saw nearly 200 members of the city's residential, business, government and nonprofit communities outline six topics for further exploration.

The topics became the focus of six work groups that have been meeting since June to develop recommendations.

During Summit 2012, the groups will present their recommendations on:

• Job growth and supporting a residential workforce.
• Housing.
• Preservation of community character.
• Education and school capacity.
• Transportation and traffic.
• City services and budget.

Click here for more information on the summit process.

Former Rockville City Councilman John Britton, who first proposed the original summit, encouraged community participation in a blog post on Rockville Patch in August. He called the summit “a process to identify opportunities and challenges that we as a community will face,” adding that “our mandate should be to engage in this far-reaching process every person who lives, works or plays in Rockville.”

A delegation visiting from Jiaxing, China is scheduled to attend the summit. Jiaxing and Rockville are fostering a sister city relationship. A Rockville delegation led by City Councilman Mark Pierzchala visited Jiaxing in June and attended a similar conference, the International Sister City Mayor's Summit. Click here for more on the visit by the Chinese delegation.

Click here for more Rockville Patch coverage of the Rockville Summit.