Mayoral challenger Richard Koch, who is seeking to unseat Sidney A. Katz in next month's Gaithersburg elections, says city processes stall projects.

Katz says the city has been creative in getting some development rolling and needs to focus on improvements to Lakeforest mall.

There are three candidates running for two council seats.

Gaithersburg has more than a dozen development projects and associated revenue on hold.

Katz, who has seen the city grow to five times its size since he began city service, pointed to two buildings in Olde Towne the city helped finance and will own after 40 years.

Koch has suggested that the city terminate sales contracts and run ground leases on two city-owned buildings in Olde Towne, where development has stalled due to financing.

"I'm not opposed to discussions but if you have existing contracts, you have to live with the existing contracts," Katz said. "Both sides would have to agree before that could be done."

Koch said most development sales contracts have a clause where parties can opt out.

Katz said that he and city staff met recently with regional developers connected to Lakeforest mall to see how the city can encourage improvements to the aging shopping center. Ongoing talks will focus on whether changing the parking ratio — or other adjustments — would help encourage expansion, renovation and redevelopment, he said.

But Koch, a Kentlands resident and regional real estate developer, says slow approval processes, a lack of leadership and a push to implement social policies while trying to spur development in recent years have had "unintended consequences."

"The city has a reputation of not being very pro-business," he said.

The city has more than 4 million feet of undeveloped commercial space and if elected mayor, he plans to meet with business leaders to help attract commercial development.

Koch, who has brought three redevelopment projects before the mayor and council in the past two years, said city leaders may believe they are enhancing projects but have often stalled them through opinion-making, delaying projects based on their own views, rather than professional advice of staff and professional architects, planners and developers.

The city and county need more compatible adequate public facilities ordinances — right now, development is occurring on the city's fringes while placing demand on city services, he said.

Among his top priorities are securing appropriations for the building of Gaithersburg High School — which would bring more young middle-class residents to the east side of Gaithersburg, he said — and revisiting the alignment of the Corridor Cities Transitway or other transportation to run along the Frederick Avenue Corridor, where he believes future density will concentrate, providing a boon to Olde Towne. He aims to evaluate the needs of five major retail centers in Gaithersburg and market them separately, he said.

"The only way that Gaithersburg gets revenue outside of the state and county money is through real estate revenue," said Councilman Henry F. Marraffa Jr., who has served on the council for 15 years. "And if we don't build anything we don't get revenue."

The longtime contractor believes that the city needs to keep home expansion rules minimal and flexible and encourage so-called "mansionization," he said.

"My thinking would be that the best thing we could ever hear is that someone would try to push down an old house in Olde Towne and build a million-dollar-plus project in its place," said Marraffa, who believes that aging communities need redevelopment and said that rules that are too strict could further a stark distinction between the east and west sides of Gaithersburg.

Marraffa pointed to Koch's redevelopment project on Waters Street as one that doubled density and revenues and "improved the neighborhood."

Councilman Michael A. Sesma, who promised the city's new affordable housing policy last election and helped deliver it, believes in a "reasonable growth" policy that encourages development and redevelopment but does not infringe on the rights of residents in the city.

"There hasn't been one project that's come to the table since I've been on the council that hasn't been approved," said Sesma, who disagrees that city leaders have slowed development. "I think one of the things that Gaithersburg has been known for is the quality of planning."

He pointed to an 18-month annexation and approval process for the Crown Farm project now in litigation and unavoidable circumstances, such as the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, that have delayed other projects.

The Archstone project slated for East Diamond Avenue in Olde Towne "needs to happen," said Tom Rowse, a Deer Park resident also running for council.

At a city-owned property at 315 E. Diamond Ave. where the Fishman Building came down this week, he'd like "to see a vibrant first floor, maybe a restaurant."

"We need to stop being afraid of density in our central core," Rowse said. "I think if any place in this city is able to handle more density it's going to be the downtown core."

The area's ample access to public transit and proximity to the Interstate 270 Corridor make it an ideal spot to draw new residents, he said.

Like Koch, Rowse has called for expanding the city's enterprise zone by 50 percent to encompass part of the Frederick Avenue Corridor. He is also a champion for "Science City" around the Shady Grove Life Sciences Center.

Shady Grove already houses 200 biotech research firms in nearly 8 million square feet and 3,300 residences and county planners have approved drafts that would add 12 million square feet of commercial space and nearly 6,000 residences. The additions would enhance development in the city, Rowse said.

"We're the technology corridor," he said. "Let's act like it."

-7:30-9:30 p.m. Thursday at Summit Hall Elementary School, 101 W. Deer Park Road

-2-3 p.m. Friday at Asbury Methodist Village's Parker Hall, 201 Russell Ave. (Enter the complex at the intersection of Odendhal Avenue and Lost Knife Road and ask for directions to Parker Hall at the entry gate)

-7-10 p.m. Oct. 22 at Kentlands Stadium 8, 629 Center Point Way