I live on East 5th Street and have participated in some of the processes leading up to today's workshop. I'm very excited about the Form Based Code concept and will look forward to hearing more specifics about what's being proposed for our City. I am very much hoping the Brickworks and other developments coming online in the City will be under at least some aspects of the new Form Based Code.

As a downtown resident who lives in the heart of the East Street corridor, I want to express my strong support for the FBC plan and urge its swift passage. Frederick is a unique and special place, largely thanks to its downtown core, and ensuring zoning rules encourage further growth that maintains these characteristics instead of the car-centric sprawl that plagues many areas in surrounding counties is critically important. Frederick is in high demand and will continue to be, and growth is inevitable. Ensuring the city is able to grow to meet demand and in a way that keeps what makes it so special is important to me personally and to our community's quality of life.

Approve FBC before any more permitting. Developers can wait a short while for the good of the city. Please do not put the current planned Brickworks monstrosity as the gateway to Frederick. Brickworks should also set aside land for an elementary school so children aren't bussed to SpringRidge.

from Peter Samuel, downtown resident
(1) The Brickworks site is the most important area for a Form-Based Code (FBC) -- the only large unbuilt area adjacent to downtown, and the most direct route to downtown off the interstates. It has the potential to be the premier 'Gateway' to the City. The old MU zoning and the suburban Land Management Code (LMC) have produced an execrable site plan proposal of large-boxes-in-a-sea-of-parking from the current owners. A FBC could steer the design of the Brickworks toward a worthy and positive addition to downtown -- by drawing on the best urban features of the historic downtown. City government should tell the Brickworks developer that their site is within the East St Small Area Plan and that it will be governed by the FBC.

(2) The Mayor & Board must insist that the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) as a key City agency comply with City Planning Policy as laid down in the 2020 Comprehensive Plan. According to the City Legal Department the HPC may not even hear testimony based on the City Comprehensive Plan, let alone take such policy into account -- since the HPC Guidelines contain no reference to the Comp Plan.

Within the Historic District the HPC is the only City agency offering the opportunity for public comment on proposed modifications, additions and new construction. So, if the HPC cannot receive comment on planning matters it is set up to permit projects that contravene City planning policy as expressed in the Comp Plan.

Case in point is HPC23-17, currently before the HPC in which a proposed new building on N Court St mid-block westside between W2nd and W3rd Streets threatens to close off a future shared driveway and common parking for currently landlocked W3rd St lots. The Comp Plan and the proposed FBC both emphasize the need to have such shared driveways and common rear parking. Yet we have an active case where a City lawyer intervened Feb 23 to stop testimony as "extraneous" and impermissible at the HPC hearing.

I urge the Mayor & Board to consider a resolution or code change such as: "The Historic Preservation Commission as a City agency will take testimony on and take into full consideration City planning policy as laid out in the 2020 Comprehensive Plan and in Form-Based Code standards."

Without such action by the Mayor & Board the HPC can act as a rogue agency and thwart City planning policy. And do such damage downtown with the complicity of City lawyers.

Mayor O’Connor and Members of the Board of Aldermen:

I write in support of the Form Based Code (FBC) proposed for the East Street Corridor and, hopefully, for other areas of the city. As Frederick grows, outpacing other Maryland jurisdictions, so grows the need to manage the growth in a way that respects the unique nature of our city. Current and future residents choose Frederick for its welcoming small-town feel and slower pace of life than its larger neighbors. Visitors flock to Frederick to partake of its charms and attractions. Yet, ordinances and regulations we have in place currently are insufficient to preserve the very elements that bring people here. FBC can help address this gap.
The 2010 East Street Rising (ESR) Small Area Plan (SAP) iterated four planning principles (a “regional hub for economic growth,” “creation of place,” “infrastructure & investment” and “livable streets”). My focus here is on this fourth principle which is described in the SAP as a pedestrian-friendly street network with bicycle lanes, compact density, mixed use development, street-oriented buildings, etc. After more than a decade, ESR’s 2010 vision for livable streets may become a reality by applying FBC’s zoning approach with its Regulating Plan regarding new streets, which will be characterized by “critical structure that marries (emphasis the FBC ‘Foundation for the Form Based Code’) East Frederick to Downtown.”
Yet, all the good work of City staff and elected officials, consultants, and—indeed--citizens may be for naught as projects are on the books and proposed that are poised to forge ahead before the City enacts FBC. If these projects (e.g., the Brickworks, the Rails and Trails museum, etc.) are approved and do not follow FBC requirements, why would/should any subsequent developer along East Street do so? They can (and most likely will) seek waivers to the FBC dictates and, if the past is prologue, these waivers will be granted. If so, the City might as well shelve the FBC for East Street as it will be unenforceable before it’s enacted. So much for the new eastern “gateway” to charming Frederick. Just another suburban shopping mall to greet visitors to the City, a mishmash of building styles along the corridor, no thought for pedestrians, and no easy access/transition from 1-70 to downtown. My request to you is to fast track FBC so it is in place before any new project approvals for this area which is so critical to the vision for growth of the City.