Plans Gone Awry

Planning officials with Montgomery County, Maryland are trying to determine how numerous homes were allowed to be built in Clarksburg Town Center on lots that failed to meet the 4,000 square feet minimum required by site plans. According to The Washington Times, some plat maps do not match the site plans that they are supposed to be drawn from. In some instances the type and number of homes shown on the plats differ from what is shown on the site plans. No one knows exactly how many homes have been built on lots that failed to meet the county's minimum size. A resident's group which first discovered the errors estimates the number at two dozen.

During the summer, the county Planning Board discovered that more than 500 homes in Clarksburg were built too high or too close to the street. In one instance, a planned pedestrian walkway that was supposed to connect a 217-year-old church to the town center was eliminated, leaving the church cut off from the development by a large shrub covered berm. The Planning board says that a former staffer altered a site plan to cover up the violations. County and state officials are investigating the mess.