East Frederick Project Highlights from the Community Meet & Greet

Operating since 2010, East Frederick Rising is a nonprofit dedicated to championing for the well-being and vitality of residents, businesses and organizations on the east side of The City of Frederick.

Earlier this month, the East Frederick Rising team hosted a packed house at Rockwell Brewing for its first Community Meet and Greet. The event offered participants an opportunity to network & connect, while also sharing important updates & engagement efforts on initiatives shaping Frederick’s East side.

Below we share information to four initiatives of The City of Frederick that fall within the geographical boundaries of East Frederick Rising and that were highlighted as opportunities for the organization’s continued strategic input and/or advocacy:

  1. East Frederick Form Based Code 

This past fall, The City of Frederick’s Division of Planning published the second draft of the East Frederick Form-Based Code for public review and to get feedback from the community.

Form-Based Code (FBC) is a type of zoning regulation that guides how developments and buildings relate to the public realm first, and only secondarily to what uses occur inside them. Its purpose is to design a particular type of place or built environment based on the community’s vision. The East Frederick Form-Based Code represents a pilot project of this code-type for The City of Frederick.

When completed, a third draft of the Form Based Code will be presented before the Planning Commission and Mayor & Board with continued public input opportunities.

Learn more here.

2. East Street Redesign 

The City of Frederick’s ‘East Street Redesign’ is an effort to reexamine the whole of East Street — from North Market Street in the north to Monocacy Boulevard in the south.

The redesign will address questions such as:

  1. How does the road serve its users, businesses, and residents?

  2. How well does it do its jobs of supporting travel, hosting businesses, and being home to its residents?

  3. How could it do these things better?

At the end of the design process — which includes extensive public outreach — the community will have a better understanding of the corridor and a baseline design for its future.

Learn more here.

3. East Street Rails with Trails

The City of Frederick’s ‘East Street Rails with Trails’ project will build bicycle infrastructure from Monocacy Boulevard to the downtown Frederick MARC station along the old Pennsylvania Railroad line.

Frederick County is currently working on a connector project that will take bike infrastructure all the way to Woodsboro.

Rails with Trails has four phases, along with a possible bypass over Rt. 26.

Learn more here.

4. Development Pipeline & Development Review

The City of Frederick’s Division of Development Review coordinates the planning review and approval process for new development applications.

Its Development Pipeline refers to approved or planned development projects, primarily residential, that have not yet commenced construction. Explore projects identified in the City’s ‘pipeline’ here.

The Development Review Database provides insight into the projects that are currently pending review with the Division of Planning. Projects under active review can be explore here.

The City of Frederick offers many opportunities for the public — including organizations such as East Frederick Rising— to learn about and influence new development projects as they move through the planning review process.

Greenberg Gibbons

One project of particular interest to East Frederick Rising is the Brickworks project — which would transform a 61+ acre parcel at the City’s east entrance into a new mixed-use community. While the project has entered the City’s pipeline, future opportunities for community engagement will continue to shape the project when the developer submits for future necessary review.

East Frederick Rising is actively engaged as a community advocate in the projects mentioned above, as well as in other placemaking and economic development initiatives.

If you are interested in joining fellow residents and business owners who are passionate about Frederick’s east side, we encourage you to: