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The Rockville City Council unanimously adopted a policy Monday night that prohibits smoking within 40 feet of children's playgrounds in city parks.

The ban comes after some parents complained of second-hand smoke while their children were playing, said Burt Hall, director of Recreation and Parks.

Mayor Susan R. Hoffmann called the vote a "no-brainer."

The policy item, which city officials are hoping to enforce with trust and a few signs, will carry no penalty or fee for violators.

"We hoping for self-enforcement," Hall said.

Councilwoman Phyllis R. Marcuccio asked what would happen if someone lived within 40 feet of a tot-lot.

Hall said the ban only affects park property.

"This is a really non-controversial one," Hall said before the meeting. "I don't think we've heard from one person who's opposed to this."

Judge rules in Rockville's favor on court motions

A Montgomery County Circuit Court judge made three rulings in favor of Rockville in a pre-trial hearing on a lawsuit over the pavers installed in Rockville Town Square.

In June 2008, the city filed a complaint against Macris, Hendricks and Glascock, P.A., who contracted with Rockville to design and engineer the downtown renovations.

The complaint stated that Macris breached its contract with the city and its duty of care to the city by committing acts of negligence, errors and omissions in connection with the design of the roads and plaza that ultimately led to the failure of the pavers in Town Square.

The pavement materials buckled and had to be replaced.

"I don't think [the motions] were really in anybody's favor," said Joseph M. Gesker, an attorney for Macris, Hendricks and Glascock. "At the end of the day, this matter is still going before a jury."

Judge Joseph A. Dugan Jr. ruled that if the city prevails against Macris, it is entitled to attorney's fees and litigation expenses from Macris.

He also ruled that the attorney fees awarded must be separated from the jury trial and granted the city's motion to exclude testimony of Macris' expert on the issues of what caused the pavement to fail and whether Macris met the standard of care in designing the pavement. 

The trial date is set for Nov. 30.

Businesses worried about

new parking structure

Several owners of Town Square businesses asked the City Council Monday night to reconsider an upcoming change in parking fees at Rockville-owned garages.

The changes would go into effect on Oct. 5 and would extend the hours the city charges to park from 7 to 10 p.m. from Monday to Saturday, with Sunday remaining free.

The city currently charges $1 per hour to park from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays. Parking on weekends is free.

The owners and managers, who said the economic downturn has taken a painful bite out of business, are scared the extension could mean fewer people would patronize Town Square.

The city stands to gain between $300,000 and $400,000 in revenue from the change that has already been included in the 2010 fiscal budget.

The city recently learned it would be getting about $2.4 million less in state funds than it had budgeted for, and will consider options on how to rebalance the general fund in October.

Councilman Piotr Gajewski pointed out that postponing the new payment schedule would mean the council would have to find $2.8 million to cover the losses.

Mayor Susan R. Hoffman said she has empathy for the business owners' plight.

"My heart goes out to you," she said. "It's a commitment we made many years ago. We certainly didn't expect this downturn in the economy."

Councilwoman Phyllis R. Marcuccio made a motion to reconsider the parking rate extension, but received no second.

Hoffmann said she would be willing to look at modifying the rate structure, perhaps charging by the half-hour instead of the hour.

The council in April approved a waiver for 12 free parking visits to Town Square garages for every household in Rockville.

Between June 1 and Sept. 13, the city issued 1,828 parking coupons and 1,422, or 78 percent, were used, according to a city report. The total number of hours used came to just over 5,000.

No decisions on plan,

right of way for Victory Court

Victory Court, a proposed senior housing complex near City Hall, is slowly moving through the government process.

The plans were reviewed for nine hours on Saturday by the Board of Appeals, and the City Council held a public hearing on the abandonment of a key right of way that borders the property on Monday night.

Neither meeting resulted in an immediate ruling.

The record will remain open for two weeks in the public hearing and the Board of Appeals decision could take more than a week as well.

The 86-unit, four-story building would be located on a parcel of county-owned land bounded by Maryland Avenue and Monroe and Fleet streets and leased to Victory Housing, the development wing of the Archdiocese of Washington.