Symposium - Kentlands 25

Celebrate
Kentlands
Twenty-fifth
Symposium
Kentlands
Past-Present-Future
June 21, 2014
Montgomery County Public Safety Headquarters
Gaithersburg, Maryland
Symposium
Agenda
12:30 -1:00 p.m.
Check-in at Public Safety Headquarters, 100 Edison Park Drive
1:00 - 1:05 p.m.
Welcome
Introduction: Ailene Renzi, Co-Chair K25 Steering Committee
Official Welcome: Mayor Sidney A. Katz , Gaithersburg
1:05 – 1:30 p.m.
Opening Remarks
Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Founding Partner,
Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company
Alex Krieger, Professor in Practice of Urban Design, Harvard Graduate
School of Design
1:30 – 2:30 p.m.
Introductions
Speakers
“TED” Talks I: Kentlands Looking Back
Jennifer Russel, Rodgers Consulting, Inc.
(former Gaithersburg Director of Planning and Code)
Steve Wilcox, Parkwood Homes
(formerly with Joseph Alfandre & Company)
Mike Watkins, Architect and Town Planner
(Original Town Architect, formerly with DPZ)
Jeff Campbell, Great Seneca Development Corporation, (Ret.)
2:30-2:45 p.m.
Break
2:45 -3:45 p.m.
Panel Discussions: Kentlands Present
Introductions
Clark Wagner, Pleasants Development, Inc.
(former Director of Urban Design, City of Gaithersburg)
2:45 – 3:15 p.m.
Moderator
Panelists
3:15 – 3:45 p.m.
Moderator
Panelists
1st Panel: Growing Up As a Kentlands Kid
Sue Palka, Resident, Meteorologist Fox5
Nick Hurson, Emma Lister, Nora Palka, Jeremy Vest
2nd Panel Discussion: Kentlands Commerce
Mary Fehlig, Resident, The Fehlig Group
Bill Edelblut, O’Donnell’s
Andy Meyrowitz, The Wine Harvest
Theo Hristopoulos, Vasilis Mediterranean Grill
Dennis Stiles, Stiles Dentistry
3:45 - 4:00 p.m.
Break
4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
“TED” Talks II: Kentlands - the Future
Introductions
Speakers
5:00 – 5:30 p.m.
Introduction
Speaker
6:00--8:00 p.m.
Marina Khoury, Current Town Architect,
Partner, Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company
Bob Gibbs, Gibbs Planning Group
Colin Greene, Vice President, Director of Planning,
HOK Washington, D.C.
John Torti, Torti Gallas and Partners
Keynote Address
Mike Watkins
Andrés Duany, Founding Partner, Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company
Wine and Cheese Reception
At Largent’s 2nd Floor Bar, 654 Center Point Way
Photo credit (cover): Larry Dildine; Photo credit (below): Mike Janus
Symposium Participants
Welcome
Mayor Sidney Katz , Gaithersburg
was inducted into the Maryland Municipal League Hall of Fame in 1998, and is a Graduate and Fellow of
the Academy for Excellence in Local Governance. He served as President of the Maryland Municipal
League (MML) in 2008-2009. Mayor Sidney A. Katz started his public service career in Gaithersburg
serving on the Planning Commission from 1976 to 1978. He was elected to the Gaithersburg City Council
in 1978, and has served as Mayor since 1998.
Mayor Katz graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Maryland.
A lifelong resident of the City, he was the owner of Wolfson’s Department Store in Olde Towne, a small
retail store started by his grandparents in 1918 that operated until 2013. Mayor Katz and his wife, Sally,
have two children. Mayor Katz lists among his most significant accomplishments the fact that with
thoughtful and innovative planning, the City of Gaithersburg has continued to deliver outstanding services
and amenities to its residents while remaining debt free.
Special Remarks
Andrés Duany, FAIA, CNU
Is an architect whose work focuses on town and regional planning. He and his wife, Elizabeth PlaterZyberk, founded their practice in 1980, at the time of their design of the town of Seaside, Florida, which
began an ongoing debate on the alternatives to suburban sprawl. Since then, DPZ, their planning practice,
has over 200 plans in the process of implementation. DPZ has particular expertise in writing codes. The
firm is dedicated to both practice and research.
Andrés and Elizabeth were founding members of the Congress for the New Urbanism. They teach at the
University of Miami, where Elizabeth was the Dean of the School of Architecture. Andrés has four
honorary doctorates, including from the University of Pennsylvania. He has received the Driehaus Prize,
the Scully Prize, the Jefferson Medal, and the Brandeis Medal.
They have co-authored five books, Suburban Nation, The New Civic Art, The Smart Growth Manual,
Garden Cities, and Landscape Urbanism and its Discontents.
Alex Krieger, FAIA
is a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he has taught since 1977. He served as
Chairman of the Department of Urban Planning and Design, 1998-2004 and 2006-2007, as Director of the
Urban Design Program, 1990-2001, and as Associate Chairman of the Department of Architecture, 19841989. In addition to design studios and seminar courses at the GSD, he teaches a general education class
on the evolution of American cities at the College. In 2003, 2005, and 2007, he was honored as one of the
outstanding teachers at Harvard University. Design Intelligence Magazine annual national survey named
him one of seven “2007 Architectural Educators of the Year.”
Mr. Krieger is a principal at NBBJ, a global architecture and planning firm. Offering services in architecture,
urban design and planning since 1984, the studio, formerly Chan Krieger Sieniewicz, has served a broad
array of clients in numerous cities worldwide, focusing primarily on educational, institutional, healthcare
and public projects in complex urban settings.
Mr. Krieger’s major publications include: Co-editing Urban Design (University of Minnesota Press, 2008)
two volumes of Harvard Design Magazine, (focusing on the evolution of urban design as a discipline), 2005
-06; Remaking the Urban Waterfront, 2004; Mapping Boston, 1999; Towns and Town Planning Principles,
1994; A Design Primer for Towns and Cities, 1990; and Past Futures: Two Centuries of Imagining Boston,
1988. He has also authored more than two-dozen essays on American urbanization for various
publications. He lectures frequently at national conferences and universities. Mr. Krieger is a frequent
advisor to mayors and their planning staffs, and serves on a number of boards and commissions.
Mr. Krieger received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cornell University and a Master of City
Planning in Urban Design degree from Harvard. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.
Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, FAIA, CNU
is a founder of the Congress for the New Urbanism, which was established in 1993, the same year that The
New York Times characterized the New Urbanism as “the most important phenomenon to emerge in
American architecture in the post-Cold War era.” She has co-authored two books: The New Civic Art and
Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream.
Plater-Zyberk received her undergraduate degree in architecture and urban planning from Princeton
University and her Master’s degree in Architecture from the Yale School of Architecture. With her partner
Andrés Duany, she has been awarded several honorary doctorates and awards including the Brandeis
Award for Architecture, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Medal of Architecture from the University of
Virginia, the Vincent J. Scully Prize for exemplary practice and scholarship in architecture and urban design
from the National Building Museum, and the Seaside Prize for contributions to community planning and
design from the Seaside Institute.
Speakers
Guy (Jeff) Campbell
recently retired after a 45 year career in banking, finance, and real estate. Mr. Campbell began his career in New York
with Chemical Bank, moved to the Washington area to join Chevy Chase Bank, and finished at Capital One
Bank.
Mr. Campbell began his career at Chemical Bank in New York. He served in various capacities over 15
years in credit and lending, the creation of strategies, and financial planning. At Chevy Chase Bank, Mr.
Campbell had executive responsibility for the Communities Management Group that assumed
management of four master planned communities with an aggregate of 19,000 residential units plus
extensive acreage for commercial activities. Included was the Kentlands community in Gaithersburg, MD.
Mr. Campbell served as President of Great Seneca Development Corporation, the Chevy Chase Bank
affiliate corporation that was the final developer of Kentlands between 1991 and 2003. Mr. Campbell has
also managed the construction of office buildings and apartments.
Mr. Campbell has been active in the Urban Land Institute serving on national Community Development
Councils, and the Executive Committee, Urban Plan Committee (co-chair), and Smart Growth Committee
of the ULI Washington District Council. He has taught courses and individual classes on the broad subject
of real estate finance and development.
Robert Gibbs
is a leading urban planning consultant who has contributed to over 400 master plans across the U.S.,
including Alexandria, Birmingham, Charleston, Detroit, Disney, Houston, Marquette and Naples. He also
planned Michigan’s first ten New Urban communities and Form Based Codes. He founded GPG in 1988,
and has prior experience with JJR/Smith and Taubman Centers.
In 2012, Gibbs was honored by the Clinton Presidential Library for his life’s contributions to urban planning
and development and by the City of Auckland, New Zealand for his planning innovations. Gibbs is a charter
member of the Congress for the New Urbanism, gives frequent lectures and has co-authored four books.
Gibbs authored the Urban Retail Form Based Code Module, and in 2012 published Principles of Urban
Retail Planning and Development. The book has received wide acclaim and was described by the APA as
“…Not all sweetness and light, but one planners can ill afford to ignore”
A professional Landscape Architect in Michigan and North Carolina, Gibbs earned an MLA from the
University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and resides in Birmingham, Michigan. He serves on
the Board of Directors for the Michigan chapters of the ASLA and CNU and is active in his community.
Gibbs has been profiled in the New York Times, Urban Land Institute and the Wall Street Journal. The
Atlantic Monthly stated: “Gibbs has an urban planning sensibility unlike anything possessed by the urban
planners who usually design downtown renewal efforts.”
Colin Greene, APA, AICP, LEED AP
is the director of planning for HOK’s Washington, DC office. Mr. Greene is an advocate of sustainable
development, smart growth, and traditional urbanism. He provides design direction for urban design
projects and planning projects that range from small infill efforts to large-scale regional plans, both
domestically and internationally. He serves on the HOK Design Board, providing design direction and
mentorship in planning and urban design for the firm’s 24 offices and 1,600 professional staff.
After a seven year career with Duany Plater-Zyberk, working in the Kentlands Town Architects Office, Mr.
Greene opened the New Urban Studio for HOK, with offices in Miami and Washington. In his thirteen year
career at HOK, Mr. Greene has led the planning of the world’s largest LEED Platinum project, the King
Abdullah University of Science and Technology in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which was the recipient of
a Congress for the New Urbanism Charter Award. In Virginia, he authored the Downtown Portsmouth
Master Plan and Waterfront Strategy, which helped the City of Portsmouth garner a US Environmental
Protection Agency Smart Growth Award in Planning Policy in 2012. Closer to home, Mr. Greene led the
design effort to develop an updated master plan for the Kentlands Commercial District that honored the
successional nature of Kentlands’ original plan. With the City of Gaithersburg, HOK provided a framework
for the district to grow into a more intense and sustainable urban center with future public transportation
connections. The Plan was adopted in 2008.
Mr. Greene received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Miami. He holds LEED
Accredited Professional designation from the US Green Building Council and is a member of the American
Institute of Certified Planners and the Congress for the New Urbanism. He lives happily in a New Urban
Community with his wife and two daughters.
John Francis Torti, FAIA, LEED AP BD+C
is President of Torti Gallas and Partners. Mr. Torti has provided the strong conceptual leadership to bring
his firm to international recognition. His firm has been the recipient of
over 100 prestigious national design awards in the last 20 years. With offices in Washington, DC, Silver
Spring, Los Angeles, and Istanbul, he and his partners have built a firm that understands the inextricable
relationship between placemaking, architecture and sustainability.
Torti Gallas’ work achieves success for their clients and for the communities in which it is located. Mr. Torti
joined the firm he now leads in 1973. Under his leadership, Torti Gallas and Partners has focused its
practice on TransNational Urbanism, transit-oriented development, mixed-use, mixed-income
architecture, and human sustainability. Prior to joining Torti Gallas and Partners, Mr. Torti worked with
NASA and the National Capital Planning Commission. He also was a Principal in an architectural firm in the
Midwest
and was the director of a non-profit housing and community development corporation.
In recognition of his many design contributions in architecture and urban design, Mr. Torti was elected to
the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows in 2001. Mr. Torti was awarded the Paul H. Kea
Medal for Leadership by the Potomac Valley Chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 2007. He is
a member of the Advisory Council for the School of Architecture at the University of Notre Dame. Mr. Torti
is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame.
Mike Watkins, FAIA, NCARB, AICP, LEED-AP, CNU-A
is the founder and principal of Michael Watkins Architect, LLC, an architecture and town planning firm.
The firm’s work includes the preparation of master plans for neighborhoods, hamlets and town
extensions, preparation of design guidelines, various town architect services for TNDs, and leading and
participating in urban design charrettes.
He serves as the Town Architect for Norton Commons (a DPZ master plan) in Louisville, Ky. and Whitehall
(a PlaceMakers master plan) near Wilmington, Del. He collaborates with numerous other New Urbanist
firms, among them Urban Design Associates, Torti Gallas and Partners, PlaceMakers and the Prince’s
Foundation for Building Community. In 2007, Mr. Watkins left his position as Director of Town Planning
with Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company to enroll in the Master’s program in Classical Design offered by The
Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America and the Georgia Institute of Technology. While with
DPZ, he opened their Washington, D.C. office (1988), where he served as the Town Architect for
Kentlands, a 352-acre neo-traditional neighborhood northwest of Washington, D.C., led many charrettes
for a wide variety of types on projects, and was a member of design teams for over sixty towns and
neighborhoods in the United States and abroad. Mr. Watkins is one of the co-authors with Andres Duany
of the SmartCode, a zoning ordinance that legalizes the development of traditional neighborhoods.
In 2003 Mr. Watkins edited and produced The Guidebook to the Old and New Urbanism in the
Baltimore/Washington Region. Mr. Watkins speaks on the subject of traditional architecture and urban
design at universities and conferences in the U.S. and abroad. He is a member of the Congress for the New
Urbanism, the American Institute of Architects, the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art, the New
Urban Guild and the American Institute of Certified Planners.
Stephen C. Wilcox
Mr. Wilcox is the founder and President of Parkwood Homes. Since beginning operations in the Kentlands
in1995, Parkwood has built over 500 single family homes, townhomes and live/work units in widely
acclaimed neotraditional communities in the Washington, DC and Denver metropolitan areas. Parkwood
has been recognized for its traditional American architecture and excellent energy efficiency. It has been
featured in Builder, Professional Builder and Money magazines, as well as the Denver Post and the
Washington Post.
Wilcox has been employed in the real estate development industry for 35 years. Prior to starting
Parkwood Homes, he was Executive VP of the Joseph Alfandre Company, the founder and developer of
Kentlands. He was involved in all phases of land acquisition, planning, development and sales with the
community.
Mr. Wilcox received an MBA from Harvard University with an undergraduate degree from Brigham Young
University. He is married with five sons and has been actively involved with Boy Scouts and other youth
activities for many years.
Panelists
Bill Edelblut
Owned and operated O’Donnell’s Restaurant in the Kentlands from July 1997 to July 2013.
Bill is the third generation of the family business which dates back to 1922. Previous Awards include: Best
Restaurant in Montgomery County, Best Restaurant in Bethesda and Best Restaurant in Gaithersburg.
Bill grew up in Bethesda and attended Sidwell Friends School and Guilford College, receiving a Bachelor of
Science Degree in Business and Economics. Bill lives in Bethesda with his wife Kelley.
Dr. Dennis Stiles
has been practicing dentistry for over 28 years in Montgomery County, Maryland and is co-owner of Stiles
Dentistry, along with his wife Dr. Marie Tigani Stiles. Originally from Amherst, Massachusetts, he
graduated in 1986 from Georgetown University School of Dentistry.
When he is not treating patients, Dr. Stiles enjoys serving in his community, profession, and church.
Currently, he is President of the American Prosthodontic Society Foundation and is coaching JV hockey for
Georgetown Prep High School. He previously served as vice president of the Kentlands Community
Foundation. He is a Dean’s faculty member at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry where he
teaches part time. He lives in Darnestown, Maryland with wife and their dog Samson. He can be contacted
at www.stilesdentistry.com
Theo Hristopoulos
operates Vasilis Mediterranean Grill, which has been owned and operated by his parents Bill and Julie
Hristopoulos for over ten years. We take pride in providing only the freshest Greek food to the people of
Gaithersburg, Maryland. Our specialty is adding love in every bite and making sure that each and every
family knows that Vasilis is their extended dining room. Our Greek restaurant is located in one of the livework units along Main Street in Kentlands and our family home is above the restaurant. Our goal is to
provide pure organic foods that stay close to traditional Mediterranean cuisine to the people of the
Kentlands area and beyond.
Nick Hurson
Nick Hurson began life commuting to the Kentlands to attend first grade at Rachel Carson while his
family’s house was under construction. The expected December completion slid a bit, but by April Nick
was a fulltime resident as well as student, and had been a regular on the birthday party circuit all year. His
own July birthday was celebrated that year at the green next to the clubhouse, on an unseasonably hot
and humid day: the kids were huddled up against the twigs of the now lush trees, trying unsuccessfully to
find a little shade.
Nick spent five years on the Kentlands Kingfish, enjoying the themes, cheers and concessions, but the
swimming – not so much – leaving the team in middle school, when his parents said he could now decide.
He left the team, but not the friendships, and after graduating from the Global Ecology program at
Poolesville High and the University of Colorado at Boulder (human geography and humanities), he wanted
to return to his strong roots in the community, and is now working for Dewberry as an intern in their
Lanham Land Development Office.
Emma Lister
is a fourth- grade teacher at Kemp Mill Elementary School in MCPS. She holds a Bachelors of Science in
Elementary Education with a minor in Autism Studies from St. Joseph’s University; and will continue her
education this fall, pursuing a Master’s degree in English from American University. Additionally, she is
the Head Coach of the Rock Creek Swim Team in MCSL.
Emma is a product of New Urbanism and the Kentlands’ lifestyle – having resided in the neighborhood for
most of her life, from 1996-2013. She retains a deep sense of loyalty to the community and what it
provides for its residents: from the swim team (an integral part of her childhood) to the Oktoberfest (who
can say no to face painting and kettle corn?), to weekend walks with her mom and the dog to the local
coffee shop. In her adult life, she has come to recognize the uniqueness of her inherent desire to walk
everywhere she goes. She has sought refuge from traditional suburban sprawl by taking up residence in
DC’s Capitol Hill community where she can exercise her enthusiasm for walking – usually with the dog.
Andrew Meyrowitz
For the past dozen years I have been in business with my family at The Wine Harvest. My role in the family
business has been beverages and operations. I studied Hotel and Restaurant Management with The
University of Maryland Eastern Shore and have earned my Level 1 certificate with The Court of Master
Sommeliers. I also have spent lots of time working directly with wineries and breweries to be able to
provide information and product to our staff and customers directly. My goal in this business is to provide
wine and beer to each and every customer with a little bit of knowledge as to why the product they are
choosing is good or ideal
Nora Palka
is a working actress in DC and is a proud 2012 graduate of Catholic University with a degree in Music
Theatre. Since graduation, she has performed at the Kennedy Center, Signature Theatre, Studio Theatre,
Washington Stage Guild, Keegan Theatre and Next Stop Theatre. Nora was 3 when her family moved to
Kentlands and she now resides in another wonderful urban neighborhood in DC called Bloomingdale.
Nora has many happy memories of growing up in Kentlands including walking to school, exploring the
woods and ponds, and biking to the shopping center and movie theatre with her friends.
Jeremy Vest
is known as the unofficial Mayor of Kentlands. A resident since 1994, he knows just about everybody. He
was co-Grand Marshall of the first Kentlands Day parade.
Jeremy graduated from Quince Orchard High School, class of 2005, and then attended the Berkshire Hills
Music Academy in South Hadley, MA. He became a reporter with How’s Your News?, covering the 2004
Democratic and Republican conventions for a TV special. That led to a How’s Your News? series on MTV in
2009 and a part in an episode of the Sarah Silverman program. In 2012, he again reported from both
political conventions for a How’s Your News? internet documentary. Jeremy plays the title role in
“Bulletproof” a short independent film currently showing at film festivals throughout the U.S., including
The Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival and the Boston International Film Festival, among others. A
musician, he plays drums and piano; a highlight was playing at the SXSW music festival in Austin, Texas.
He’s hosted numerous events for organizations including Best Buddies, Cape Fear Community College,
Juvenile Diabetes and the Williams Syndrome Association. Jeremy is currently working as a host at
Largent’s Restaurant & Bar in Kentlands Downtown.
Jeremy has Williams Syndrome, a genetic condition. And more than 4,300 friends on Facebook. He lives
with his parents, Sue and Ken. www.iamjeremyvest.com
Moderators
Mary Fehlig
is the founder and president of The Fehlig Group, a management consultancy in corporate social
responsibility. Since 19943, The Fehlig Group has been helping companies develop comprehensive
corporate responsibility strategies. The Fehlig Group assists companies in the areas of sustainability
reporting, strategic community involvement, environmental impact, workplace practices, and supply chain
management. The Fehlig Group approach combines deep knowledge of the corporate responsibility field
with a commitment to understanding the unique situation of each business. The Fehlig Group helps
companies develop the products and practices to pursue responsibility goals. For the last five years, The
Fehlig Group has helped several companies communicate their environmental practices both internally
and externally, including corporate sustainability reporting.
Mary’s past and current clients include: Marriott International, Fannie Mae, BAE Systems, MedImmune,
Host Hotels and Resorts, Washington Gas, The Chubb Group of Insurance Companies, The Corporation for
National Service, The Points of Light Foundation, Mid-Atlantic Federal Credit Union, Community Health
Charities, EarthShare and many others. Prior to founding The Fehlig Group, Mary worked in business
development and systems implementation for Xerox and IBM. She brings a business perspective to her
work, helping companies engage in sustainability practices aligned with their business goals. A recognized
leader in the field of corporate social responsibility, Mary was elected to serve on the board of directors of
Business for Social Responsibility. Mary was a practitioner advisor for Georgetown University’s Center for
Social Impact Communications. She currently chairs the Gaithersburg Arts and Monuments Founding
Corporation and serves on the board of Interfaith Works. Mary has lived in Kentlands since 1996.
Sue Palka
I began my career at FOX 5 in 1985 after a short stop at WTVR in Richmond. Within a few months of my
arrival, my husband Joe and I welcomed our first daughter, Elizabeth. Little sister Nora followed in 1989
and they are my proudest accomplishments.
I've covered hurricanes on the ground and from the air inside the famed Hurricane Hunter's aircraft. I've
chased tornadoes and witnessed the total eclipse of the sun in Curacao. Now I can add earthquakes,
derechos and the polar vortex to the list! There've been countless live shots including riding in a hot air
balloon, paddle-boating in the Tidal Basin, the Presidential Lighting of the National Christmas Tree, and for
a few years when my girls were younger, Halloween at my house. The best part is always getting to meet
our viewers face to face. Along the way, I've collected six Emmy Awards for weather forecasting. Now
that I'm coming up on three decades at FOX 5, people tell me that they grew up watching me. That's the
greatest reward of all and I'm beyond grateful.
I am so pleased to moderate the panel of “Growing Up as a Kentlands Kid,” especially because the Palka
family has been living and thriving here since August 1993. I kept a close eye on the plan for Kentlands
from my previous neighborhood of Quince Orchard Knolls and drove through constantly as the first homes
were being built. I remember my toddler daughter Nora asking from her car seat if we were in Cape May.
I think that's the moment I realized we had found our new neighborhood. Kentlands has been everything I
hoped for and more. My now grown daughters loved being able to walk to Rachel Carson Elementary,
ride their bikes to the pool, explore the "woods" and paths around the lakes, walk to the movie theatre
and feel safe at night playing chase with the other kids. I often tell people that Kentlands is a self-selecting
neighborhood. The people that choose to live here enjoy getting to know their neighbors and are
generally quite extroverted. Some of us are now empty nesters but we raised our children together and
look forward to our get-togethers just as much. Even our grown children love to come! Of course, I won't
put words in their mouths. You'll hear what growing up in Kentlands was like from them directly during
our panel discussion. I suspect even Mr. Kent would be happy to see how his property has been the
source of so much joy. Congratulations to all on a first quarter century of Kentlands.
Marina Khoury
is a partner at Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company and Director of its Washington D.C. office, (including as
Kentlands Town Architect) since 2007, Marina Khoury is a licensed architect with 20 years of professional
practice. Her 17 years at DPZ have brought her extensive national and international experience in
sustainable development, community planning and form-based coding throughout the United States,
Canada, Europe and the Middle East. She was the project director for Miami 21, and was instrumental in
helping to successfully transform the City of Miami's use-based zoning code into the largest-known
adoption of a form-based code. She speaks widely on issues related to smart growth and creating
affordable, sustainable, and walkable communities.
Having lived in Florida until 2007, Khoury served in a number of community leadership positions. She
became the first female architect appointed to the City of Miami's Urban Development Review Board in
2001. She taught as an Adjunct Professor at the Design and Architecture High School (DASH) from 19931999 and was a member of their Advisory Board from 2000-2007.
Marina is an active member of the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), and a Board member of the
CNU-DC chapter from 2007-2012. She currently serves on the following Boards: Sustainia Council, the
Resource Council for the Form-Based Code Institute (FBCI), the Center for Applied Transect Study (CATS),
and the Transect Codes Council (TCC). She is a member of the New Urban Guild and a LEED Accredited
professional. Marina earned two masters degrees, in architecture and urban planning from the University
of Wisconsin-Milwaukee after attending the “Ecole Speciale D'Architecture” in Paris, France.
Ailene Renzi
is the Co-Chair of the Celebrate Kentlands 25th Anniversary Steering committee. Since moving to
Kentlands in 1999 she has been actively involved in leadership roles within the Kentlands and greater
community. She was a member of the Kentlands Citizen Assembly HOA, started the Kentlands
Neighborhood Watch Program, served on the Capital Improvements Committee and the Pool
Improvement Committee. She is active in the PTA and Boy Scouts. Currently she serves as Secretary of the
Kentlands Community Foundation, a non-profit focused on supporting arts and culture, volunteerism and
the education of new urbanism that was established in the Kentlands by-laws.
Living in a New Urbanist community provides wonderful opportunities to become involved in the
community. The sense of community that the Kentlands and its purposeful design create draws folks into
active roles in order to give back to their neighborhood. Making the decision to raise their 3 children in the
Kentlands, Ailene and her husband, Silvio Renzi, take full advantage of those opportunities. In 2005 a
business opportunity took the Renzi family back to their first place of residence in NJ. It only took 9
months to realize the move and new environment was not right for their young family and they moved
back to the Kentlands to a home around the corner from the one they left. Through her role as K25 cochair the steering committee has planned 25 events over 25 months from February 2014 – February 2016
to celebrate the milestone of the community she feels so fortunate to have chosen as home.
Jennifer Russel
is a Principal at Rodgers Consulting, Inc., a civil engineering and planning firm headquartered in
Germantown, Maryland, largely responsible for the bulk of the engineering work completed at Kentlands
and neighboring Lakelands during the early days of neo-traditional town planning. The Planning team at
Rodgers is well-known for its expertise in acquiring entitlements for New Urbanist, infill development and
mixed-use development projects in Montgomery and Frederick Counties. Ms. Russel is responsible for
monitoring the regulatory environment and knowledge-based issues at the county and municipal levels.
She was appointed the first Clarksburg Ombudsman in 2006, by then County Executive, Doug Duncan and
served as a conduit between County government, citizens of Clarksburg, Park and Planning and the
development community. Tasks included facilitating delivery of services to Clarksburg, problem solving
and developing recommendations for planning and design solutions to create and preserve the vision for
the community as originally proposed.
Ms. Russel served as Director of Planning and Code Administration and prior to that as Planning Director
for the City of Gaithersburg for a 26-year period that spanned the development of Kentlands, Lakelands
and Washingtonian Center. She supervised and managed a multidisciplinary department of 40+
employees involved in planning, development and neighborhood services activities for the third largest
municipality in Maryland, under the aegis of autonomous planning and zoning powers. She was actively
involved in development review, Master Plan development, implementation of Smart Growth policies,
New Urbanism and quality managed customer service. Ms. Russel took responsibility for merging the
Planning and Code Enforcement departments into a “one-stop” shop for development review in the City
and assumed directorship of the combined department.
Clark Wagner
recently joined Pleasants Development and is responsible for managing land development projects for the
company in a variety of local jurisdictions. Prior to joining Pleasants, Clark coordinated land acquisition
activities for The Bozzuto Group, and managed the entitlement of major projects for the company. He has
developed over 2,000 total residential units over the last thirteen years that have won numerous awards.
Some of his recent accomplishments include the rezoning and redesign of a 120-unit, infill townhome
community in downtown Towson, MD, and approvals for a 315-unit mixed use residential neighborhood in
Frederick County, MD. He also developed the first and only stacked townhome units in Kentlands.
Prior to his career in development, Clark worked as the Urban Design Director for the City of Gaithersburg,
helping to bring to fruition prominent new communities such as Kentlands and Lakelands.
Mr. Wagner attended Towson University and obtained his BS degree in Liberal Arts, and holds a Master’s
in Planning degree from The University of Virginia. He holds LEED Accredited Professional designation
from the US Green Building Council. He is an active member of the Maryland National Capitol Building
Industry Association serving as its 2014 President.
He founded the Ride Allegheny bike tour in 2001, which is based in The Kentlands and has raised in excess
of $1,000,000 over the last 7 years for Operation Second Chance benefiting wounded soldiers recovering
at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He is a 2006 graduate of Leadership Montgomery, and has lived in
Kentlands with his wife and four children since 1994.
The K25 Steering Committee would like to thank all its partners in this
event: The City of Gaithersburg ▪ Kentlands Citizens Assembly ▪
Kentlands Community Foundation ▪ Montgomery County Department
of Police ▪ The Urban Land Institute
Symposium
Double Gold Sponsor
Silver Sponsors
Bronze Sponsors
Friends
AKG
Research