Community invited to free festival that temporarily reimagines Main Street Damascus to inspire permanent improvements for the future
Montgomery Planning
Plan amendment revisits the implementation-related recommendations of the 2017 Bethesda Downtown Plan
The Montgomery County Planning Board approved the scope of work for the Bethesda Downtown Plan Minor Master Plan Amendment at its June 27, 2024 meeting. The scope of work outlines the focus of the plan amendment and retains the boundary of the 2017 plan.
The Montgomery County Planning Department has secured the Montgomery County Council’s approval to proceed with its work program for fiscal year 2025 (FY25), which begins on July 1, 2024. The County Council approved Montgomery Planning’s $25.5 million budget for FY25 at its meeting on May 23, 2024. These funds support the work program for the department and represent a 5% increase compared to the FY24 Operating Budget.
The Montgomery County Planning Board approved the transmittal of recommendations for the Incentive Zoning Update project for the County Council’s review. The project was started in 2022 by the Montgomery County Planning Department and updates the Public Benefits Point System for Commercial-Residential and Employment Zones which is used to evaluate new development and determine to what extent it must provide corresponding public amenities.
Planning Board votes 5-0 to recommend allowing more types of homes to be built countywide; sends proposal to the County Council for review and approval
In a move to address Montgomery County’s housing crisis, the Montgomery County Planning Board voted unanimously today to approve recommendations developed by the Montgomery County Planning Department that give property owners the option to build a wider range of housing types in areas of the county that for decades have only allowed one single-family detached home per lot. The Montgomery County Council will review the proposal and decide whether to proceed with new legislation toimplement the recommendations.
The Montgomery County Historic Preservation Office within the Montgomery County Planning Department unveiled two permanent historic markers today as part of The M-NCPPC’s Remarkable Montgomery: Untold Stories program, an ongoing project to install historic markers around the county that highlight underrepresented topics in local history.
Following the Montgomery Planning Board’s approval of The Great Seneca Plan: Connecting Life and Science last month, the plan has been transmitted to the Montgomery County Council, which will hold a public hearing on the Planning Board Draft of the plan on Wednesday, June 12, 2024, at 7 p.m.
The Montgomery County Planning Board approved the Eastern Silver Spring Communities Plan Scope of Work at its May 16 meeting. The Scope of Work lays out the Montgomery County Planning Department‘s approach to developing land use recommendations for areas in eastern Silver Spring that address how properties and buildings are used today, zoning, transportation, housing, schools, parks, urban design, environmental resilience, historic preservation, community identity and character, community facilities, and infrastructure.
The Montgomery County Council unanimously voted to reappoint Shawn Bartley to the Montgomery County Planning Board at its May 21 meeting. Bartley, who was first appointed in March 2023 to complete the unexpired term of Commissioner Gerald Cichy, will now serve a second four-year term on the Planning Board and as a M-NCPPC Commissioner.
It has been nearly 10 years since Walmart officially abandoned its plans to open a store in Aspen Hill. The retail giant was intending to build a 118,000-square-foot store with expanded grocery offerings on the site of the vacant BAE/Vitro office building at 4115 Aspen Hill Road, touting the creation of nearly 300 jobs. The nearly 10-acre Aspen Hill property included a 262,000-square-foot office building that was vacant since 2010. In 2019 it was purchased by Kaiser for a future Medical Center that was originally planned to open in 2022. The pandemic halted those plans, and we are still awaiting the next move by Kaiser.