Community Corner

Border Wars: Gaithersburg, Rockville Fight Over Shady Grove Site

The Montgomery County Council plans to vote Tuesday on the City of Gaithersburg's proposed zoning change of a near 28-acre property outside city limits.

Shady Grove Road has served as the official boundary separating Gaithersburg and Rockville since a 1992 memorandum of understanding between the cities, but a Montgomery County Council vote scheduled for next Tuesday threatens to render the memorandum moot, The Washington Examiner reported.

Gaithersburg is attempting to annex two properties, , totaling 27.9 acres and owned by Sears and Roebuck Co. It was previously home to the now-closed Great Indoors.

The property is currently part of Montgomery County, with an address of unincorporated Gaithersburg.

Find out what's happening in Gaithersburgwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Sears plans to remain on the property, using it for retail and offices, according the Examiner, but it would require a zoning change that is easier if the property is within Gaithersburg city limits.

To counter, , Patch reported.

Find out what's happening in Gaithersburgwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The annexation would have the effect of "cutting Sears off so that Gaitherburg's city limits and the proposed addition are no longer contiguous," the Examiner report states.

Glenn Kreger, chief of the county's Area 2 Planning Division, told the Examiner the fight is going to come down to whomever approves the annexation first.

For more information, read the full report on the Washington Examiner.

Related Coverage:

(June 7, 2012)

(March 5, 2012)


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