Mayor and Council to Hold Nov. 13 Special Meeting at City Hall
The Buchanan Room at VisArts was filled to capacity, Tuesday, Oct. 9, for a Mayor and Council town hall to discuss the future of Town Center.
“This is an opportunity for all of us,” Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton explained as she opened the meeting. “We are all stakeholders in this city; we are all stakeholders in what happens in our downtown and the Town Square and the city center. And our goal tonight is to have a conversation about, how do we be successful for everyone?”
The Mayor and Council will use feedback gathered at the Oct. 9 town hall to discuss next steps for Town Center at their special meeting, and have developed a set of responses to the questions raised at the town hall.
The Mayor and Council will hold a special meeting on town center at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13, at City Hall.
The Mayor and Council will hold a special meeting on town center at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13, at City Hall.
The special meeting’s agenda will include parking, stakeholder partnerships, and proactive measures the city can take to ensure a vibrant and successful downtown core.
The meeting will be a work session format and there will be no community forum. It will be broadcast live on Montgomery County cable channel 11 and streamed live on the city’s website, www.rockvillemd.gov/rockville11, and Rockville’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/cityofrockville. Archived video of the meeting will be posted at www.rockvillemd.gov/AgendaCenter.
Newton attended the Oct. 9 meeting with members of the City Council, City Manager Rob DiSpirito and city staff, as well as representatives from the Rockville Chamber of Commerce, and Federal Realty Investment Trust, which manages and operates Town Square and three Town Square parking garages under a public-private partnership with the city.
FRIT is soliciting comments on Rockville Town Square from the community at courbanize.com/projects/ rockville-town-square/ information.
Rockville Town Center is a critical part of the city’s economy and an important gathering place. Rockville’s Mayor and Council, and the city manager, have been meeting regularly with FRIT and downtown merchants, and are working with the Rockville Chamber and Rockville Economic Development, Inc., to support and improve Rockville’s downtown.
Despite recent business closures, Rockville Town Center has continued to experience growth. The city is about to see several large residential and commercial projects break ground within the next year
Rockville 11’s recap of the town hall is on YouTube, as is the full meeting video.
This article has been updated.