The former Montgomery County official accused of altering plans to show that a Clarksburg housing development complied with building codes said yesterday that she made an honest mistake, caused by an unmanageable workload and a complicated subdivision review process.
Meanwhile, questions about how hundreds of houses in the new Clarksburg Town Center were built in apparent violation of height and setback requirements continued to mount as residents demanded a more thorough investigation than the one planned by county officials.
The dispute over Clarksburg -- once a northern Montgomery crossroads that has tripled in population, to 5,500, over the past five years -- reflects broad concerns about the county's ability to effectively manage rapid growth in its rural tier.
The legally binding site plan for the Clarksburg Town Center stated that townhouses were to be no taller than 35 feet. However, earlier plans and staff reports set the limit at four stories, or about 40 feet. When county planner Wynn Witthans discovered what she said she thought was an error in the site plan, she scratched out 35 feet and wrote in four stories. Her decision led the County Planning Board to rule in April that the townhouses in the new development met the 35-foot restriction.
"I thought I was just editing to make sure everything conformed to the staff report," said Witthans, who resigned two weeks ago after 10 years with the county. She added that she was never ordered to change the plans.
"I thought it was the right thing to do, and it was not the right thing to do," she said. "I just wanted to correct it."
A five-hour Planning Board hearing on the matter is scheduled for tomorrow.
A key question involves who is responsible for ensuring that developers abide by county rules. In Clarksburg Town Center, it appears that the board was responsible.
The site plan agreement between the county and the developer, Newland Communities of San Diego, specifies that Planning Board staff members were to make three inspections of each phase of the 1,300-unit project, now half complete.
Planning officials maintain that the county Department of Permitting Services, which issues building permits, bears some responsibility. They also say it is unrealistic to assume the planning department can scrutinize every detail of a subdivision.
"We do not go out and measure every building and never have," said Rose Krasnow, chief of the planning department's development review section.
Part of the confusion stems from the complicated process of approving a new subdivision. Before a development can move forward, the board receives at least three separate plans. Staff also prepare reports that accompany formal plans.
