The Montgomery County Planning Board has scheduled two public hearings in September to gather community feedback on the proposed Friendship Heights Sector Plan, a long-term vision for the area’s future growth and redevelopment.
Residents, business owners, workers, and other stakeholders will have the opportunity to comment on recommendations focused on downtown revitalization, affordable housing, transportation improvements, expanded public spaces, and safer pedestrian and bicycle connections.
The hearings will take place on Thursday, September 10, at 1:30pm at M-NCPPC headquarters in Wheaton (2425 Reedie Drive), with both in-person and virtual testimony available, and Monday, September 14, at 4pm at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center (4805 Edgemoor Lane) in Bethesda, where testimony will be accepted in person only. Both meetings will be livestreamed and available for later viewing.
Community members may sign up to testify beginning Monday, August 3. Planning officials ask participants to register for only one hearing date, as duplicate testimony will not be accepted. Written comments may also be submitted by email or mail to the Planning Board.
The plan covers downtown Friendship Heights, commercial properties along Wisconsin Avenue, the River Road corridor, and surrounding neighborhoods, including the Village of Friendship Heights and Chevy Chase Village.
According to Montgomery Planning, the updated sector plan is intended to guide development over the next 20 to 30 years and builds on the 1998 Friendship Heights Central Business District Sector Plan and the 2024 Friendship Heights Urban Design Study. Among the draft recommendations are:
- Encouraging redevelopment of key opportunity sites while incentivizing neighborhood-serving amenities.
- Increasing affordable housing, including larger family-sized units and homes with deeper affordability.
- Improving parks and creating new public gathering spaces.
- Enhancing pedestrian and bicycle safety and connections throughout the area and into Washington, D.C.
- Recommending dedicated transit lanes along Wisconsin Avenue to the Friendship Heights Metro Station.
- Protecting tree canopy, streams, and other natural resources while encouraging sustainable building practices.
Following the public hearings, the Planning Board will hold work sessions this fall before forwarding the revised plan to the Montgomery County Council and County Executive for additional review and approval.
