Montgomery Planning Archives - Page 13 of 23

Montgomery County Planning Board and Planning Department Announce August 2023 Calendar of Events

Published July 31, 2023 at 12:20PM

The Montgomery County Planning Board and Montgomery County Planning Department have announced their August 2023 calendar of events and meetings. While the Montgomery County Planning Board is on recess until September 2023, past meetings can be watched on demand. The Montgomery County Planning Board is currently in recess. The first meeting after the summer recess will be held September 7, 2023. August Calendar of Events:

August 1 – The Development Review Committee (DRC) will meet in-person and virtually. The community is invited to attend the meeting in-person or online by watching the DRC live video stream or viewing on-demand. The DRC is an inter-agency task force comprised of representatives from Montgomery Planning, public agencies, and utilities such as WSSC, PEPCO, the State Highway Administration, and the county Departments of Permitting Services, Environmental Protection, and Public Works and Transportation. At these regularly scheduled meetings twice a month, DRC members discuss development applications with the Applicants.

Annual Monitoring Report for Bethesda Downtown Plan Presented to MoCo Planning Board

By MCS Staff

Published July 27, 2023 at 5:07PM

Planners provide updates on Bethesda Overlay Zone, development, schools, and more

The Bethesda Downtown Sector Plan recommended the creation of the Bethesda Overlay Zone. The Montgomery County Council, through Zoning Text Amendment 16-20, Ordinance No. 18-28, adopted the Bethesda Overlay Zone in July 2017 to implement the recommendations of the Bethesda Downtown Sector Plan as it relates to density, building heights, affordable housing goals, parks and open space and design.

Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan Community Kickoff Meeting Takes Place Wednesday, July 26

By MCS Staff

Published July 25, 2023 at 9:29AM

The Montgomery County Planning Department will hold a community kickoff meeting for the Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan at Clarksburg Neighborhood Park (22501 Wims Road, Clarksburg, MD 20871) on Wednesday, July 26th, starting at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will be held in the indoor building near the entrance to the park.

The Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan will examine undeveloped areas—specifically, the eastern side of I-270 within the I-270 corridor—that have largely remained unchanged in the last 30 years. Alongside extensive local input and in-depth conversations with residents, business owners, and the tech and life sciences communities, Montgomery Planning staff will evaluate the plan area’s trends and conditions before developing recommendations for realizing a thriving Clarksburg that works for the future of both its residents and the surrounding county.

MoCo Planning Board Briefed on the 2023 Travel Monitoring Report

By MCS Staff

Published July 24, 2023 at 9:39PM | Updated July 25, 2023 at 12:12PM

The Montgomery County Planning Department presented the 2023 Travel Monitoring Report to the Montgomery County Planning Board at their meeting on July 20. The biennial report provides insight into how well the county is meeting its transportation goals, objectives, and metrics defined in Thrive Montgomery 2050, Montgomery County’s General Plan, and Functional Plans. The report serves as a compendium of the Planning Department’s Transportation monitoring efforts and is produced by the Countywide Planning and Policy Division’s Travel Forecasting and Travel Monitoring Group (TFTMG). View 2023 Travel Monitoring Report.

This year’s report focuses on recent travel trends, performance measures suggested in Thrive Montgomery 2050 , and metrics defined in the current draft Pedestrian Master Plan and adopted Bicycle Master Plan. Also included are aspects of the Complete Streets Design Guidelines and a series of Thrive Montgomery 2050 Growth Corridor Profiles. Although previous editions of the TMR focused on data and less on recommendations, this edition of the TMR includes recommendations to address areas that may need attention based on findings in the report.

“Remarkable Montgomery: Untold Stories” Markers To Be Installed Across the County To Highlight Underrepresented Topics in Local History

By MCS Staff

Published July 19, 2023 at 6:20PM

Montgomery Planning’s Historic Preservation Office has initiated “Remarkable Montgomery: Untold Stories,” an ongoing project to install historic markers around the county that highlight underrepresented topics in local history. Both Montgomery Planning and Montgomery Parks will be installing “Remarkable Montgomery: Untold Stories” markers throughout the county in a shared effort to bring greater recognition to people, places, and events with significant histories that we have undervalued in the past. The markers, which offer more flexibility than a formal designation on Montgomery County’s Master Plan for Historic Preservation, tell stories of people and places that shaped our communities, even where physical evidence of those histories may no longer exist.

Focused on Equity: The Historic Preservation Office is committed to enacting Montgomery Planning’s Equity Agenda for Planning. In part, this includes acknowledging that the practice of historic preservation has long overlooked histories and historic sites related to non-dominant groups. To begin to address this imbalance, the marker program will bring forward histories tied to county residents’ struggles for racial and social justice and the stories of people who broke the boundaries of their times. Markers Currently in Production:

Montgomery County Planning Board Briefed on Friendship Heights Urban Design Study Scope of Work

By MCS Staff

Published July 15, 2023 at 7:41AM

Board provided feedback on approach of study to focus on open spaces, pedestrian and transit networks, activity centers and public life in Friendship Heights today

The Montgomery County Planning Board was briefed on the Friendship Heights Urban Design StudyScope of Work at its July 13 weekly meeting. The Scope of Work lays out the Montgomery County Planning Department’s approach to studying how residents, business owners, and visitors experience the open spaces, pedestrian and transit networks, activity centers and public life in Friendship Heights today.

Community Invited to Give Feedback on Montgomery County’s Development Review Process on July 18

By MCS Staff

Published July 10, 2023 at 9:17AM

Community members encouraged to sign up to testify about their experiences with the county’s development review process at listening session led by State Delegate Lesley Lopez, in coordination with the Montgomery County Planning Department and the Montgomery County Executive’s Office

Per Montgomery Planning: Members of the public are invited to provide input on Montgomery County’s process for reviewing and approving development projects during the second of three listening sessions for the Development Review Process Workgroup on Tuesday, July 18 from 2 to 4 p.m. at The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission’s (M-NCPPC) Wheaton Headquarters (2425 Reedie Drive, 2^nd floor, Wheaton, MD 20902). The listening session will feature in-person and virtual options for the public to testify.

“What are they building on Great Seneca and Key West?” Work Continues on PSTA Site Between Gaithersburg and Rockville

By MCS Staff

Published July 3, 2023 at 7:11AM

If you’ve been in the area, you’ve likely noticed a big construction site on Great Seneca Highway and Key West Avenue between Gaithersburg and Rockville at the former site of the Public Safety Training Academy (PSTA). For about a year, crews have worked to demolish the PSTA buildings and work towards a new community that will include 630 dwelling units (pictures of the construction site can be seen below).

The remaining PSTA facilities were demolished and crews began working on the construction of four (4) multi-family buildings, townhouses, and multi-family two-over-two multi-family units for a total of 630 dwelling units for a standard method project density of 0.46 FAR and 30% Moderately Priced Dwelling Units. So far, actual construction of the buildings has not yet started, but is slated to start soon. The Applicant, The Elms at PSTA, proposed to build the residential units, infrastructure, and amenities in the project over nine (9) phases.

Takoma Park Minor Master Plan Public Hearing to Take Place on Thursday, September 14

By MCS Staff

Published July 1, 2023 at 10:33PM

Per the City of Takoma Park: The Montgomery County Planning Board will hold a public hearing on Thursday, September 14, 2023, at 6 pm for community input on the Takoma Park Minor Master Plan Amendment at the Maryland-National Park and Planning Commission’s Wheaton Headquarters on the 2nd floor Auditorium. There will be a virtual option through the Planning Board’s website. The Public Hearing will also be livestreamed at the City of Takoma Park’s Community Center for the public to watch and provide testimony.

Sign-up to testify at the Public Hearing: In addition to testifying in person or via Microsoft Teams, residents may also email testimony to [email protected], fax testimony to the Planning Board Chair at 301-495-1320, or mail written testimony to: Chair, Montgomery County Planning Board, 2425 Reedie Drive, 14^th Floor, Wheaton, MD 20902.

Planning Board Approves Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan Focused on Areas Between I-270 and 355

By MCS Staff

Published June 26, 2023 at 6:36PM

The Montgomery County Planning Board approved the Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan Scope of Work at its June 22 weekly meeting. The Scope of Work lays out the Montgomery County Planning Department’s approach to developing land use recommendations for a section of the Clarksburg area on the east side of Interstate 270 and west of MD 355. The approval of the Scope of Work is the first step in the master planning process and outlines the purpose of the plan, elements to explore, boundary areas, public engagement strategy and the plan timeline. Montgomery Planning staff will begin community engagement and visioning, and study the existing conditions of the area, all leading up to developing recommendations for land use, zoning, urban design, transportation, environmental resilience, housing, historic preservation, and community facilities and infrastructure in the plan area.

Montgomery Planning invites the community to attend an open house on the plan on Wednesday, July 26 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the community building at the Clarksburg Neighborhood Park (22501 Wims Road at Route 355, Clarksburg, MD 20871). The open house will provide the public an opportunity to interact with the Montgomery Planning team about the plan, give their input, and discuss their neighborhood and community aspirations related to transportation, jobs, housing, land use, parks and open spaces, public amenities, and more. Planning staff will offer many more opportunities for community input throughout the plan process.

Finding Lost Cemeteries in Montgomery County (By: Brian Crane)

By MCS Staff

Published June 25, 2023 at 10:45PM | Updated June 26, 2023 at 1:43PM

Written by Brian Crane for Montgomery Planning and first appeared in Montgomery Planning’s The Third Place Blog.

Montgomery Planning is exploring the relationship between burial grounds and surrounding landscapes to better understand these sites and find graveyards whose locations have been lost. Cemeteries are important because they are valued by descendants and may hold valuable information about people’s lives historians and genealogists cannot find anywhere else. Since 2017, county law has required Planning staff to keep an inventory of all the graveyards in the county.