Developers Face a Chillier Montgomery

By Miranda S. Spivack and Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Montgomery County Executive-elect Isiah "Ike" Leggett (D) is vowing to address what some critics describe as a culture of coziness between developers and government officials that has often favored the building industry and marginalized ordinary residents.

That promise could mark a sharp turnabout from 12 years under County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D), who will leave office next week.

Duncan, a critic of the county's "paralysis by analysis" reputation, streamlined a bulky bureaucracy he said hindered business. As he turns over the county government to Leggett, Duncan can point to many successes: revitalization of downtown Silver Spring, growth along Interstate 270's high-tech corridor and construction of a world-class concert hall on Rockville Pike, among many others.

But some of the county's incoming leaders -- including Leggett, three new County Council members committed to slower growth and the recently appointed Planning Board chairman, Royce Hanson -- say the pendulum may have swung too far.

A review by The Washington Post of several recent development proposals illuminates an environment in which lobbyists often influence growth policy in private meetings with staff and elected officials.

Leggett, Hanson and council member Marilyn Praisner (D-Eastern County), expected to be elected council president next week, already have begun to look into changing land-use practices.

"The public believes they have given us a mandate to slow growth and come up with some better approaches," Leggett said. "Confidence and respect for the system needs to be restored."

Duncan declined to be interviewed.

The new leaders face a vocal citizenry that has long complained about the development industry's deep pockets and insider ties. The critics say the industry too often has won expedited reviews with minimal public input, avoided requirements for building moderately priced housing and circumvented publicly negotiated community blueprints.

"There really is a network of players in this county who know how to gain advantages and have access and results that are not available to the average citizen," said Stuart Rochester, a longtime eastern Montgomery activist.

The new leaders say the development-approval process should be more open and accountable. They are eager to avoid a repeat of last year's revelations of irregularities at Clarksburg Town Center, where buildings too tall and too close to the road were discovered by a community group, not by government.

Hanson, appointed to head the Department of Park and Planning after Derick P. Berlage stepped aside in the wake of Clarksburg, said his agency already is limiting behind-the-scenes changes by staff and lobbyists.

Under Hanson, the agency also is examining its ethics policy, whose "revolving door" rules do little to prevent staffers from leaving the agency one day and returning to lobby it the next. In recent years, about a dozen former planning staffers have signed on with private land-use firms, quickly returning to lobby old friends and colleagues. Hanson also may ask the council to change the law to give planners more time to review projects.

Hanson said he also hopes to insulate his staff from political pressure. And he expects the new council -- his bosses -- to refrain from asking staff directly to handle pet projects.

Leggett plans to ask the council to retool the county's annual growth policy, which was loosened at Duncan's behest in 2003, to ensure that enough roads, schools and transit options are built. He acknowledged that there could be a temporary slowdown in new-home construction as infrastructure catches up.

"We want to have policies that put growth where you want it . . . where there are already services," said incoming council member Marc Elrich (D-At Large).

With the election of new council members Elrich, Roger Berliner (D-Potomac-Bethesda) and Duchy Trachtenberg (D-At Large), the county's slower-growth faction -- which will also include current members Praisner and Phil Andrews (D-Gaithersburg-Rockville) -- has swelled to a majority. They and Leggett could push policies in a new direction.

Leggett, Hanson and the council also hope to make the development review process easier to understand.

Robin Ziek, a former county planner now with the city of Rockville, said that is a major challenge.

"The developers and their attorneys are always at the table saying, 'This is going to work or that is going to work.' The community is not at the meetings. And then the community gets three minutes [at a hearing] after the decision is made."

Lobbying disclosure forms filed with the county show the reach of the development industry. Linowes and Blocher, a development law firm that represented Clarksburg Town Center's developer, registered at least 17 attorneys this year to lobby on 140 land-use issues.

"They have a lot of access and influence on the staff. That doesn't mean what happens is improper, but it is the reality," William H. Hussman, Planning Board chairman from 1994 to 2001, said of the industry's representatives.

At times, the influence extends beyond the regulatory agencies to the County Council, critics say.

In April, the council voted 6 to 3 -- over the objections of the Planning Board and residents -- to allow construction of an 18-story condominium and retail building, with some affordable housing, near the White Flint Metro station.

Normally, such a request would require lengthy meetings and reviews by residents and the Planning Board. But William Kominers, a partner with Holland & Knight, persuaded the council to shorten that process and pass legislation. The company offered to pay for a $4 million public road.

Council President George Leventhal (D-At Large) helped push the measure. He later received $800 in campaign contributions from Naples. Its parent company, Quantum Realty, earlier had contributed $550 to Leventhal. The company also gave $1,000 to council member Steven A. Silverman's campaign and $1,000 to Duncan's. Silverman lost to Leggett in the September Democratic primary.

Leventhal said he doesn't pay attention to campaign contributions when voting. "If their pitch makes good policy sense to me, then I agree to help them," he said.

Silverman (D-At Large) said it is appropriate at times to use legislation to promote development near Metro, a goal at White Flint. "From a policy standpoint, it made sense. From a financial situation, it makes sense," he said.

Similarly, in May the council ignored planning staffers' objections and accelerated approval of developer Aris Mardirossian's mixed-use Crown Farm project. Mardirossian said delays would risk his financing. He also won the right to develop an extra 270,000 square feet of commercial space.

In recent years, Mardirossian and his relatives have given at least $30,000 to all council members except Andrews and Praisner. They voted against the deal.

In another instance, a requirement to build four moderately priced units in a 23-townhouse complex planned for Silver Spring was waived. Developer Joseph Alfrandre's lawyers, Anne C. Martin and Robert Dalrymple of Linowes and Blocher, persuaded the planning staff and the Planning Board to allow Alfrandre to build only one of the less-expensive units.

Neighborhood residents struggled to track the project. No one at the planning department "has ever been able to tell me who is responsible" for the decision, Lisa Bontempo, president of the Woodside Civic Association, wrote the Planning Board.

Developers have expressed concern that new rules and a new political climate could make doing business very difficult.

"In the new post-Clarksburg world, it's got to be exact," said David D. Flanagan, president of Elm Street Development, which has had three projects cited in the past year for irregularities. "I am not sure that is a system that can live."

Hanson, Leggett and Praisner say they are seeking a middle path.

"I recognize the importance of growth and development in Montgomery County," Leggett said.