Staff Draft Documents Ready for Review
The Zoning Ordinance Rewrite and Comprehensive Map Amendment project has entered its next phase and final phase – the adoption process. This news feed post provides some key updates and details how to be involved through this adoption process.
Authorization to File Granted
On December 1, the Rockville Mayor and Council voted to authorize staff to file Staff’s recommended draft of the zoning text amendment to revise and replace the city’s Zoning Ordinance (also known as Chapter 25 of City Code); and to file Staff’s recommended draft of the comprehensive map amendment to revise and replace the city’s zoning map. A recording of the meeting is available on the city’s website.
Commonly called “authorization to file”, this action is not the final step in this process – in fact, it is just the start of the next phase. Now the real work begins! Through a series of public hearings and work sessions, the Staff Draft of these items will be reviewed and revised first by the city’s Planning Commission, and then by the Mayor and Council. At each step along the way, community members will have opportunities to provide input to help improve the draft (more details below). This “adoption process” is anticipated to last approximately 6 months.
Draft Zoning Ordinance and Draft Zoning Map Ready for Review
The Staff Draft Zoning Ordinance is now available for the public to review. You can find the Staff Draft in its entirety here. We understand that this is a large, technical document. To assist with that, we’ve developed a document called Highlights: City of Rockville Staff Draft Zoning Ordinance that provides a high-level overview of the Staff Draft of the Zoning Ordinance and outlines key changes between the current Zoning Ordinance and the Staff Draft. With this user-friendly guide, you can focus your efforts on reviewing the sections of the code you are most interested in. You can find the Highlights document here.
Additionally, we’ve made a Staff Draft zoning map available for public review and comment as well. This map shows which properties Staff propose to be rezoned, as well as the specific zone recommendation for each parcel. We suggest viewing the Staff Draft zoning map through our interactive webmap, here. On this page you can pan across the city, zoom in and out, or even search for a specific property address. You can also move the “slider bar” in the center of the page to see both the existing and proposed zones. When you click on a parcel, a pop up window will appear that provides information about the current and proposed zones for that piece of land. If you’d prefer to look at static versions of the Staff Draft maps without the interactive features, they can be seen here.
ZOR/CMA Orientation Sessions – December 4 and January 7
CPDS staff will be hosting two orientation sessions to help the public understand how and where to review the Staff Draft Zoning Ordinance and Staff Draft zoning map, as well as how to submit feedback on these drafts. At these meetings staff will provide a brief project overview, then dive into a dynamic session outlining all of the resources tied to this project that are available to the public. These meetings will not cover all of the proposed changes to the Zoning Ordinance or zoning map, but instead will focus on available resources and feedback tools.
Both meetings are virtual and will begin at 7 p.m. These meetings will be identical to one another, so interested parties should attend the meeting that best fits their schedule. Our last newsletter advertised the December 4 meeting, and we’ve now finalized the date for our January meeting as well. Advanced registration is required to receive a Webex meeting link. Please register at the links below:
Thursday, December 4 at 7 p.m. - registration link
Wednesday, January 7 at 7 p.m. - registration link
Planning Commission Work Session – December 10
The Planning Commission will be briefed on the draft Staff Draft Zoning Ordinance and Staff Draft zoning map on December 10. During this meeting, it is also anticipated that the Planning Commission will identify topics they would like to schedule for discussion at future work sessions in early 2026.
The meeting begins at 7 p.m. and is held in the Mayor and Council Chambers of Rockville City Hall. The meeting is also broadcast live on Channel 11. The brief book for the meeting, which includes the staff report and other briefing materials, will be available approximately one week before the meeting in the Agenda Center of the city's website.
Submit Your Feedback!
Once you’ve had an opportunity to review the Staff Draft Zoning Ordinance and Staff Draft zoning map, we’d love to hear your feedback. The best way to share your thoughts with us is by completing the feedback forms on Engage Rockville. These forms ask a series of questions and also provide an open space for anyone to leave additional comments. Feedback form submissions will be shared with the Planning Commission and Mayor and Council during their respective work sessions on the project.
