Takoma Park Minor Master Plan Amendment Council Draft Now Available to Review

On March 19, the Montgomery County Council took straw votes on the Planning Board Draft of the Takoma Park Minor Master Plan Amendment and the recommendations of the Council’s Planning, Housing and Parks (PHP) Committee. A preview of the draft resolution, showing the Council’s changes to the plan, is now available on the Council’s website for review prior to final action. A Council vote is tentatively scheduled for April 2, 2024.

Per the County Council press release: The Takoma Park Minor Master Plan Amendment updates portions of the 2000 Takoma Park Master Plan to re-envision a section of the city that includes the Washington Adventist Hospital and University campuses, the Erie Center (located at the intersection of Flower Avenue and Erie Avenue), and the properties located along Maple Avenue. The plan makes recommendations on land use, zoning, housing, transportation, parks, trails and open space, the environment, community facilities and historic preservation.

The planning team, working with the City of Takoma Park, held numerous in-person and virtual outreach activities where stakeholders could share their insights and preferences for the plan area. This extensive engagement yielded several priorities for the future of the plan area and helped shape the plan’s vision of a Reimagined, Reconnected, and Resilient Community with new housing and other uses, greener and safer streets, and improved access to employment and amenities.

On December 13, 2023, the City of Takoma Park voted 6-1 to approve a resolution supporting the Planning Board Draft of the Takoma Park Master Plan Amendment. The Council held a public hearing on the Planning Board Draft on January 25, 2024. Following the public hearing, the Council’s Planning, Housing, and Parks (PHP) Committee met on January 29, February 5 and March 4 to review the plan and make recommendations to the full Council. The Committee strengthened the recommendations for preservation of affordable housing and recommended increasing the requirement for new development to provide a minimum of 15 percent of all new units as Moderately Priced Dwelling Units.

The Council held a worksession to review the recommendations of the PHP Committee on March 12 and took straw votes in support of all changes to the plan on March 19. On Monday, March 25, the City of Takoma Parkissued a letter outlining its support for the Council-amended plan.

A minor master plan amendment revisits a specific portion of an approved and adopted master plan and reexamines certain elements, often to address a change that was not anticipated at the time the adopted master plan was approved.  In recent years, the Montgomery County Council and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) have approved and adopted two sector plans for communities in Takoma Park and adjacent areas. These include the 2012 Takoma-Langley Crossroads Sector Plan and the 2013 Long Branch Sector Plan.

More information can be found on the Planning Board resource page.