Ninety-seven condominiums will be coming to Stoneyhurst Quarry on River Road, but none of them will be for affordable housing.
The Montgomery County Planning Board gave approval to the preliminary plan for The Quarry, the development plan submitted for Stoneyhurst, on May 20. The plan calls for 97 units in four, five-story buildings. The 13.31-acre property, being developed by the Rickman family which currently owns the site, is located adjacent to the Cabin John Park fire station on River Road.
The developer is dedicating .85 acres as parkland and constructing a bike path connecting to Cabin John Regional Park, which abuts the property.
When the plan was in its initial stages, some Potomac residents had opposed the developer’s pan to buy out of their affordable housing requirement, but county housing officials approved the buyout.
“The applicant has come to an agreement with the Department of Housing and Community Affairs [which approves all buyouts],” said Mary Beth O’Quinn of Planning Board staff.
According to county law, new developments with more than 35 housing units must dedicate at least 12.5 percent of them for affordable housing (sometimes called moderately priced dwelling units or MPDUs). The developer then receives a “bonus density,” permission to build some extra market-rate units, to compensate for the lost profits in building affordable units.
In some cases, developers are allowed to pay a fee in lieu of building the affordable units.
In this situation, the rationale for allowing the developer to buy out was the projected high cost of the condominium association fees, which would have been too high for a person whose income qualifies them for affordable housing to afford. “The lowest estimate that was arrived at would have been significantly above the income levels,” O’Quinn said.
The buyout must be able to provide for “significantly more” affordable units to be built in the planning area or an adjacent planning area
In this case, the developer would have had to provide 15 units on site. The buyout will be for 17 units. The builder is expected to pay approximately $100,000 per unit, or a total of $1.7 million towards the creation of new affordable housing.
However, the agreement did not specify the amount. The developer’s attorney Joseph Lynott, suggested that the developer is involved in discussions with the Department of Housing and Community Affairs which may alter the amount paid for the buyouts.
“I would only suggest to the board that we don’t want to be locked into that very specific proposal,” Lynott said. Lynott did not offer any specific information about the proposals while they are still under negotiation. However, Wayne Rickman Jr. said that the buyout will amount to the $100,000 per unit, although that number might end up being adjusted according to economic conditions.
Several residents came to speak in favor of the application, but expressed concern for the possible impacts to traffic and noise.
“It does seem to offer us some new amenities,” said Stacy Wilson, an abutting property owner. Wilson, and other neighbors expressed some concern that the new complex provide adequate visual screening.
“We have no problem enhancing the buffer there,” Rickman said in response. He also assured neighbors that no blasting would be necessary in the construction process.
Another nearby resident, Thomas Durek, was happy to see upscale condominiums being put in. “We need such facilities in the area,” Durek said. But he cautioned, that with the development of the nearby Giancola quarry adding approximately 30 units, the traffic in the area is likely to become worse, and must be taken into consideration.
“Bring in the State Highway Administration on this, and let’s do the engineering is road right.”