Community invited to virtual presentation on Takoma Park Minor Master Plan Amendment’s Review of Existing Conditions on March 29

The planning team will brief the City Council of Takoma Park on existing conditions on March 9 and the Montgomery County Planning Board on March 31.

WHEATON, MD – The Montgomery County Planning Department, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), and the City of Takoma Park are holding a virtual presentation to the community on the existing conditions within the study area of the Takoma Park Minor Master Plan Amendment. During the meeting, which will be held online on Zoom on March 29 from 6 to 8 p.m., the Planning team will share timeline and process information as well as answer questions from participants about the plan and process. Advance registration is required. Live translation services can be provided upon request when community members register. The deadline for live translation requests is 5 p.m. on March 22.

Register for Takoma Park Minor Master Plan Existing Conditions Presentation.

The Takoma Park Minor Master Plan Amendment will re-envision the Washington Adventist Hospital and University campuses, the Erie Center, as well as the area along Maple Avenue. The plan, which will update related portions of the 2000 Takoma Park Master Plan, is being developed in partnership with the City of Takoma Park, with collaborative engagement with community members, property owners, and other stakeholders.

The team’s presentation to the community will focus on the latest data since the 2000 Takoma Park Master Plan related to land use, zoning, transportation, environment, and Parks’ facilities. This analysis will serve as the foundation for the eventual plan recommendations expected by 2023.

Ahead of the March 29 virtual community event, Montgomery Planning will brief the City Council of Takoma Park on the existing conditions of the Minor Master Plan Amendment on Wednesday, March 9 at 6:30 p.m. Community members may consult the City Council’s agenda for more information, including how to watch the briefing online via live stream.

The Planning team will present the same existing conditions presentation from the community event to the Montgomery County Planning Board on Thursday, March 31. The last time the team appeared before the Planning Board was in September 2021 when the Board approved the plan’s Scope of Work. Following the presentations, the slides will be available in Spanish, French, and Amharic, in addition to English, on montgomeryplanning.org/takomapark.

To stay up to date on the progress of this plan, sign up for our eLetter. You can also reach out directly to the project team with any questions or comments about the plan:

Melissa Williams, Project Lead
301-495-4642
[email protected]

About the Takoma Park Minor Master Plan Amendment

Before moving to White Oak in 2019, the Washington Adventist Hospital was one of the largest employers in Takoma Park and contributed to the community for over 100 years. Now Montgomery Planning, in partnership with the City of Takoma Park, has the unique opportunity to revisit the area and update related portions of the 2000 Takoma Park Master Plan with the Takoma Park Minor Master Plan Amendment. The Minor Master Plan Amendment will re-envision the Washington Adventist Hospital and University campuses, the Erie Center, as well as the area along Maple Avenue. The planning team will work with community members throughout the planning process to guide the area’s growth.

About the Equity Agenda for Planning

Montgomery Planning recognizes and acknowledges the role that our plans and policies have played in creating and perpetuating racial inequity in Montgomery County. We are committed to transforming the way we work as we seek to address, mitigate, and eliminate inequities from the past and develop planning solutions to create equitable communities in the future. While it will take time to fully develop a new methodology for equity in the planning process, we cannot delay applying an equity lens to our work. Efforts to date include:

• Developing an Equity Agenda for Planning. The Planning Board approved Equity in Master Planning Framework, and Montgomery Planning staff is implementing its action items.
• Prioritizing equity in Thrive Montgomery 2050. Community Equity is one of the three priority areas of our county General Plan update, Thrive Montgomery 2050.
• Focusing on equity in upcoming plans. Equity is a central focus of the Silver Spring Downtown and Adjacent Communities Plan, the first master plan to launch since Montgomery County’s Racial Equity & Social Justice Act passed. All upcoming plans and studies will have an equity focus.
• Created an Equity Focus Areas mapping tool and developing a Community Equity Index. Equity Focus Areas in Montgomery County have high concentrations of lower-income people of color, who may also speak English less than very well. Montgomery Planning developed this data-driven tool to identify and map these areas to assess potential racial and social inequities and produce master plans that will foster more equitable outcomes for communities in Montgomery County. The Community Equity Index will expand on the previous Equity Focus Area analysis, creating a more robust, diagnostic tool providing additional detail of critically selected neighborhood characteristics relevant for equity analysis countywide.
• Viewing management and operations through an equity lens. Our efforts are not limited to the master planning process. Management and operational functions like communications and human resources are developing approaches, tools, plans, and training to ensure that we look at everything through an equity lens.