MEMORANDUM

TO: City Council

FROM: David J. Deutsch, City Manager

SUBJECT: Status Report/Council Poll

DATE: January 31, 2008

Status Report

1. Old Town Bowie Shopping and Dining Survey

The Economic Development Office has mailed 2,700 copies of a shopping and dining survey to the residents in the neighborhoods around Old Town Bowie to gather information for future use in marketing the Old Town Bowie commercial district. Initial survey results are expected in early March 2008. A copy of the survey letter is in your package.

2. Fleming Lane Variance

At your January 21st meeting, I said that the Schmidt variance case would be on your February 4th Agenda. It needs to be held until the February 19th Council Meeting, since there is a requirement for a 15-day period from when Council receives the BAPB recommendation before you can act on it. The new BAPB resolution on the remanded case is in your package today.

3. Development Sites and Highway Projects Outline

Attached is a copy of the 2008 Development Sites and Highway Projects Outline prepared by the Department of Planning and Economic Development. Additional copies can be provided upon request.

4. Superior Car Wash Special Exception

Today, the County Planning Board held a public hearing on Special Exception (SE) #4565 for a proposed detail car wash in a vacant space located at 3329 Superior Lane, where a car wash previously existed more than 15 years ago. The site is zoned C-S-C (Commercial Shopping Center) and is located south of Annapolis Road on the east side of Superior Lane.

The County Planning Board unanimously voted to recommend approval of the project with seven (7) conditions that include all of the conditions that the City Council recommended in their position letter. Mr. John Barr of Cabin Branch Joint Venture, LLC, representing the adjacent Bowie Professional Building, spoke in opposition to the project. The Planning Board did question staff about whether a detail car wash was an appropriate use for the pedestrian-friendly Main Street area that was approved in the 2006 Bowie and Vicinity Master Plan. Staff assured the Board that the City believed the use was compatible because patrons of the detail shop would be pedestrians, who could shop in the adjacent stores, while their car was being detailed.

DJD/asf