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Gaithersburg's historic district commission approved plans to save and relocate an 1877 farmhouse and demolish its 114-year-old neighbor as part of a revised proposal to build a medical office building on Frederick Avenue near Olde Towne.

City leaders said the project has pointed to flaws in the city's planning process, in which developers can go to great expense before learning whether properties may be deemed historic.

Dentist Robert J. Wilson Jr. revamped demolition plans for his project following outcry from historians. He wants to rezone five properties on 2.71 acres owned by his father, Dr. Robert Wilson Sr., at the corner of Frederick and DeSellum avenues, to build a 20,000-square-foot, two-story medical office building.

Concept plans initially called for renovating a Victorian farmhouse at 13 DeSellum Ave. and demolishing the 1877 farmhouse at 206 S. Frederick Ave., known as the L.D. Lodge House. Gaithersburg's Historic Preservation Advisory Committee recommended saving both houses in June.

Wilson last week proposed a swap: The Victorian farmhouse, which he said is not structurally sound, would be torn down, and he would move the 1877 farmhouse to its place. Wilson previously recommended the Victorian for historic designation.

City leaders approved the plans, which also call for renovation of the historic Fulks House at 208 S. Frederick Ave. to allow an office, and demolition of a more modern building at 11 DeSellum Ave. and an office addition at 206 S. Frederick Ave. 

Councilwoman Cathy Drzyzgula cast the lone vote against Wilson's latest plans and called for a public hearing on both century-old properties.

"We need a new process," said Gaithersburg Mayor Sidney A. Katz. "If there is going to be a new building and there really is a historic structure there, then we should know that early on, as should the applicant, as should everybody else, so we can work to save that."

If a structure is "too far gone" to be saved, city leaders should know that early too, Katz said.

The city keeps an inventory of historic and potentially historic properties, said Clark Day, HPAC's acting chair. The Wilson properties, except 11 DeSellum Ave., are listed.

The house at 206 S. Frederick Ave. is singled out in the city's historic inventory and Master Plan as a particularly good example of the architecture of its time, with recommendations that run contrary to Wilson's plans.