Developer Armed With Documents

Officials Approved Clarksburg Plan Changes, Firm Says

The developer of Clarksburg Town Center said yesterday that the company has located documents showing that Montgomery County Planning Board Chairman Derick P. Berlage and planning staff approved at least some changes the firm sought for the project.

In a board hearing scheduled for today, Newland Communities will also present evidence that planners consulted with Duncan administration officials before changes were made.

A memo dated July 17, 2000, and sent to 13 government officials, shows that county project leader Wynn Witthans outlined proposed changes for the planned community of 1,300 homes in northern Montgomery County. The San Diego company is seeking to rebut assertions that the firm and four builders ignored legally binding plans for the development.

"There were numerous staff people involved from the very beginning. Clearly, people from all county agencies were involved," said Douglas C. Delano, a Newland vice president.

Newland's disclosure is the latest turn in a case that has triggered a broad debate over Montgomery's ability to oversee rapid growth and enforce its planning and zoning regulations. A group of Clarksburg residents has alleged for more than a year that Newland and the four builders ignored official plans and built what they wanted. On July 7, the board confirmed some of their allegations, finding that hundreds of houses were too tall and too close to neighbors and roads.

Witthans resigned in June after acknowledging that she had made changes to site plans so that they conformed to other documents related to the project. Witthans also said she had made the changes earlier in the planning process, but she then revised that statement and said she had made them recently.

The July 2000 memo shows that Witthans solicited comment from Park and Planning Department colleagues, the Maryland State Highway Administration and staff members at the Montgomery Department of Public Works and the Department of Permitting Services. Public Works and Permitting Services are agencies that report to County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D).

David Weaver, a Duncan spokesman, said even if administration officials received Witthans's memo, they are not authorized to approve, amend or enforce site plans.

"The problem in Clarksburg is that the planning and zoning review system at Park and Planning is broken," Weaver said. "Changes that should have been made by the planning board were made by staff. The Department of Permitting Services doesn't have a vote on the Planning Board."

The memoranda and other documents forming the basis of Newland's presentation today were compiled by attorneys from a variety of sources, including the county's Historic Preservation Commission, and the files of an architectural firm and an engineering firm that worked on the project.

Many of the documents also may be at the planning department but do not appear in public files. Agency officials acknowledge that recordkeeping has been lax.

Delano said Newland attorneys will use the documents to show that many county officials knew of the revisions and approved them in more than 165 meetings from 2000 to 2004. He said Berlage's signature, which appears on several plat documents, was affixed after changes were made to original plans, demonstrating that Berlage was aware of some changes and approved them.