Developers for the Beall's Grant II apartments could be moving forward with a modified building plan despite the concerns of the West End Citizens Association.

A memorandum of understanding that was forged after nearly six months of negotiations between Montgomery Housing Partnership, the non-profit organization that wants to build the affordable housing apartments in downtown Rockville, and a subcommittee of the citizens association, outlined the blueprint of the structure.

At a meeting of its full membership last week, WECA ratified the memorandum with 63 in favor, one opposed and two abstentions.

However, the version WECA voted on did not include several 11th-hour clauses added by Montgomery Housing Partnership that specified the conditions under which the memorandum would be considered void.

"MHP's hope, its intent, is to move forward with the 74-unit plan," said Cheryl Kagan, community outreach director for the non-profit housing organization. "The fundamental goal that the committee wanted to achieve has been achieved."

Dennis Cain, who headed the WECA subcommittee, told the assembled membership last week that aside from the clauses added by MHP, an agreement had been reached.

"We think we've come to a final meeting, a final document," he said. "We've gone as far as we can go as a civic association."

Cain and another committee official could not be reached by Gazette press time Tuesday for further comment.

MHP agrees with the citizens on the footprint of the plan, Kagan said.

Robert Goldman, president of MHP, agreed.

"We're just pleased to be where we are," he said. "We're pleased to go forward with this. We think it will be an asset to the community."

The memorandum outlines a plan for the affordable housing apartments that includes 74 dwelling units, 95 underground parking spaces, a 37,000-square-foot building footprint and a maximum of three stories above ground in some areas of the structure.

It specifies that the building be a mix of approximately 5 percent to 7 percent three-bedroom units, 50 percent to 60 percent two-bedroom units, 35 percent to 40 percent one-bedroom units and less than 5 percent studio units.

It also specifies that 20 percent of the units be rented at market-rate price, 70 percent of the units be rented to individuals or families earning between $35,000 and $60,000 per year and 10 percent of the units be rented to individuals earning less than $35,000 per year.

The memorandum states the group would like MHP to give preference to tenants who are working as teachers, firefighters, law enforcement officers, emergency service personnel, U.S. military service members or City of Rockville employees.

Adult prospective residents will be screened for a criminal record when they apply, the MOU states.

The memorandum caps more than a half-year of discussions between the neighborhood committee and MHP over what each would like to see built at the site on North Washington Street.

MHP officials were not invited to last week's full membership meeting, Kagan said.

The developers must now ask the City Council to send a letter of support for the project to the state in order to secure funding.

Hours before the WECA meeting, a group of West End residents who in May were rebuffed by a District Court judge who rejected an appeal that the city had violated its Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance in approving MHP's original plan filed an appeal in the Maryland Court of Special Appeals.

Larry Giammo, former mayor and one of the residents to file the appeal, said he "got involved to make sure the AFPO was interpreted correctly.

"If this one decision [by the Rockville Planning Commission to approve the plan] is allowed to stand, it will essentially neuter the AFPO," Giammo said.

The Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance, which Giammo championed when in office, calculates the impact of new development on schools and other public facilities.

He believes the city misinterpreted the ordinance.

"It's really critical for the city government to get this right," Giammo said. "For me, it's a matter of principal. That fact that we lost at the District Court to me kind of is irrelevant."