Elm Street Development is asking Montgomery County to return a 1.1-acre parcel in Clarksburg Town Center after the county relocated a long-planned library to a different site, and Planning Board members are criticizing the county for sidelining their input in the process.

The McLean, Virginia-based developer made its case at the Planning Board's July 30 meeting. Kate Kubit, a partner vice president at Elm Street, told the board the company wants the parcel back "to try to work with the community to come up with something … that could be complementary to the other uses in Clarksburg Town Center."

Council Vice President Marilyn Balcombe (D-Dist. 2), whose district includes Clarksburg, said Aug. 8 she would support returning the land.

"I would support the county reverting back to the original owner, only because it's part of the community and we're not going to program the site," Balcombe said. "It would be different if we, for instance, turned it into a park or did something like that … but that's a very costly endeavor."

The decision rests with the executive branch, which has not agreed to give the parcel back.

How the library moved

County master plans had for years placed the Clarksburg library at the Town Center site. Third Try LLC, another developer of the town center, dedicated the 1.1-acre parcel to the county in 2015 for use as a civic building.

Then in 2023, the County Council passed legislation requiring the Department of General Services to study co-locating affordable housing with new public facilities on county-owned land. The law applies to all county-owned sites, not just Clarksburg. But the Clarksburg library was the first project subject to it, according to Balcombe.

An October 2024 DGS feasibility study found co-locating housing at the Town Center site "was not advisable," citing increased costs, reduced parking, staffing challenges, a smaller library program and delayed delivery. The county instead selected a 5-acre site on Stringtown Road, about a 13-minute walk from the original location, and acquired it in April 2024.

The total capital budget for the Clarksburg Library project stands at roughly $40.3 million, with about $3.07 million already spent on land. Construction is projected in the FY28–FY30 range.

Planning Board: 'essentially fait accompli'

Board members took issue not with the library's relocation itself but with the county's failure to consult them before buying the new site. The county acquired the Stringtown Road property in April 2024 yet did not bring the mandatory referral to the Planning Board until the July 30 meeting, more than two years later.

Board Vice President Josh Linden said the board "may not have agreed to the site two years ago" had it been consulted beforehand.

He said the process had been "degraded."

Commissioner James Hedrick was blunter: "We haven't been given the information that we need to make the decision here. It's brought to us as essentially fait accompli. There's no reason to blow it up at this point. But I still don't understand it."

Commissioner Shawn Bartley said the county "failed to deliver upon a promise that they made to Elm Street and the citizens who purchased properties there."

In an Aug. 8 statement reported by Bethesda Magazine, DGS Deputy Director Greg Ossont acknowledged the board's frustration, saying the agency recognized the referral appeared retroactive and untimely but maintained the merits of relocating the project were unchanged.

Ossont did not directly answer why the mandatory referral took more than two years to reach the board. He noted the acquisition was part of the county's annual budget process, which included a public hearing, work sessions and deliberation.

What happens next

No formal decision has been made on returning the original parcel to Elm Street. Ossont said the county "remains open to other civic or community uses" for the Town Center site, which is currently passive open space. Bob Harris, an attorney for Elm Street, said Aug. 11 the developer looks forward to "working with the county regarding the future use of the property."

The new Stringtown Road site is expected to include affordable housing alongside the library, though the number of units and housing type have not been disclosed.