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Frederick's Board of Aldermen responded coolly last week to a $21 million development proposal recommended for Carroll Creek Linear Park.

Developer Mark Carroll LLC's plan includes 119,000 square feet of mixed-use space with 27 residences and 14,000 square feet of retail and commercial space to be built behind the current multilevel amphitheater in the middle of the park.

The project was recommended by a selection committee composed of city department heads. Since May, the committee has been reviewing two proposals to fill a 0.39-acre parcel next to the Carroll Creek Park amphitheater.

The city sought to fill the space with development that could enhance the arts scene along Carroll Creek. Proposals had to include a concession space, public restrooms and an artist changing area for the amphitheater. It also required a storage area for the city's Department of Parks and Recreation.

The Mark Carroll project, which would sit south of the amphitheater and front All Saints Street, was one of the two responses to a request for proposals in March.

Mark Carroll's project beat out an $11 million proposal for a 37,359 square-foot Performing Arts Center, proposed by the Carroll Creek Charting Committee and financed by the Ausherman Family Foundation.

The project proposed a 350-seat performance space and a multipurpose black-box theatre, and would operate as a nonprofit.

The Mark Carroll project outscored the Performing Arts Center 81-60, based on the criteria set by the city. The Performing Arts Center scored lower primarily because it did not include a requirement outlined in the city's request, and depended heavily on public funding, selection committee members said.

The committee was made up of the directors of economic development, planning, budget and purchasing, parks and recreation, facilities administration and the mayor's executive assistant.

The recommended project, which included required, desired and not even solicited amenities, was essentially rejected by the Board of Aldermen last week, who said they wanted more information about the Performing Arts Center before they made a decision. The Ausherman-financed proposal was made public in May, and had been shopped around to some aldermen throughout what was supposed to be a confidential review process.

Rand Weinberg, the attorney representing Mark Carroll, LLC, discouraged aldermen from turning the process into an "open competition," emphasizing that the competition was governed by the city's Request for Proposals process.

"My position is we believe they should follow the rules as set forth in the Request for Proposals that the city put out and my clients responded to," Weinberg said Monday. "Not to redo the competition again. If that's the procedure they wanted, they should've set it up that way."

Richard Griffin, director of the city's Department of Economic Development and a member of the selection committee, explained to the aldermen last week why the Mark Carroll project was more in line with what the city advertised.

"While [the Performing Arts Center proposal] provided most everything, they did not provide for the parks maintenance facility that had been requested," Griffin told aldermen. Griffin also said the committee had concerns about the center's reliance on government and taxpayer funding, especially in tough economic times.