Community Engagement Report highlights the initial outreach process, data, and findings for the Fairland and Briggs Chaney Master Plan.
The Montgomery County Planning Department presented the Fairland and Briggs Chaney Master Plan Community Engagement Report to the Montgomery County Planning Board at their February 3, 2022 meeting. The report offers a summary of the initial community outreach and engagement activities, preliminary findings, and next steps for the plan.
Throughout the process, planners have engaged residents, business owners and other stakeholders through a series of in-person and virtual options. Materials and listening sessions were translated into different languages to encourage equitable participation with the area’s population. To date planners have:
- Received comments from more than 700 residents in the plan area.
- Held a speaker series, call “CommUNITY Conversations in Fairland” that highlighted people-first planning Fairland and the work of neighborhood influencers.
- Hosted four listening sessions to gather information on community concerns and document individual stories.
- Partnered with Everyday Canvassing to knock on over 3,850 doors to conduct in-person interviews.
- Conducted a pedestrian audit of the plan area to highlight opportunities for the plan to make recommendations to be more friendly to walk and roll.
- Reached out via online surveys, formal and informal community meetings, mailings and other tools.
Read the Community Engagement report.
“The overall outreach and engagement strategy has been a focused on putting people first,” said Upcounty Master Planning Supervisor Don Zeigler. “The community is the backbone of this plan process, and we have been happy to have been able to speak to so many residents in the plan area.”
Next steps
Planners will continue to engage the community throughout the process. Continued efforts include focus groups, business and property owner canvassing, a pedestrian audit toolkit and a public photo contest. As the plan shifts to other phases, the Working Draft of the plan will be presented to the Planning Board sometime in Fall 2022. A public hearing for the plan will be held in late 2022 or early 2023.
If you are interested in the Fairland and Briggs Chaney Master Plan, sign up for the plan’s eletter or contact Project managers:
[email protected] or [email protected]
About the Fairland and Briggs Chaney Master Plan
The Fairland and Briggs Chaney Master Plan is an update to a portion of the 1997 Fairland Master Plan and will establish a clear vision for an equitable, just, and prosperous future for the Fairland community, mirroring the county’s long-term priorities, which include a vibrant economy, equity for all residents, and a healthy environment. The master plan boundary consists primarily of property and communities of Fairland and Briggs Chaney along the US 29 Corridor from near Paint Branch on the south to Greencastle Road on the north. The update will examine and provide policies and recommendations on existing and future land uses and zoning, housing inventory and needs, transportation systems, historic preservation opportunities, area park facilities, and the environment. This master plan will take cues from the equity framework in the update to the county’s General Plan, Thrive Montgomery 2050, which describes how places with equitable access to opportunity produce strong, successful communities. Goals of the Fairland and Briggs Chaney Master Plan include:
- Complete Community: Identify and correct past inequitable development policies to make the Fairland and Briggs Chaney communities more whole and connected by integrating centers of housing, retail, and office development with parks and open space to make 15-minute living a reality for as many people as possible.
- Resilient Economy: Promote economic development and job growth within the plan area and surrounding communities.
- Housing: Promote racial and economic diversity and equity in housing to help rectify past discriminatory housing policies in every neighborhood.
- Arts, Culture and Environment: Support arts and cultural institutions, through parks, open space and environment, recreational programming, and development, to celebrate our diversity, strengthen pride of place, and make the county more attractive and interesting.
- Corridor Growth and Connectivity: Promote and prioritize public and private investment along the Route 29 corridor and neighboring communities to leverage and attract future private investment in community facilities and redevelopment, including a safer, more comfortable network for walking, biking, and rolling that connects the corridor communities.
Featured photo by @DronifyDMV
Online community meeting hosted in English with live Spanish interpretation, December 8, 2021, 7 – 8:30 p.m.
WHEATON, Md. – Montgomery Parks(opens in a new tab), part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, is hosting a virtual community meeting to present preliminary concept plans for the proposed community garden at Edgewood Neighborhood Park(opens in a new tab) in Fairland.
English and Spanish Virtual Community Meeting: Community Garden Project at Edgewood Neighborhood Park, December 8, 2021, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Watch and submit questions by joining the online Zoom meeting at https://mocoparks.org/edgewoodgarden(opens in a new tab) or listen only via phone by calling: + 301 715 8592 Webinar ID: 860 5602 8248
The Montgomery Parks Community Garden Program includes 12 gardens across the county and serves over 500 families, working through 20 partners. The goal is to continue the expansion of the program by identifying suitable park locations for additional gardens.
Edgewood Neighborhood Park was identified as a suitable location in the department’s Community Garden Site Suitability Study based on criteria necessary for local food production. The intent of the project is to introduce a community garden that engages families in local food production in smaller spaces, address food security, and establish a model for future designs to come.
For more information about the program and the site suitability study, residents can watch the Community Garden Program Briefing(opens in a new tab) presented to the Planning Board on April 15th, 2021.
The Fairland and Briggs Chaney Master Plan will establish a clear vision for an equitable, just and prosperous future for the Fairland community, mirroring the county’s long-term priorities, which include a vibrant economy, equity for all residents, and a healthy environment. The final plan will include policies, recommendations, best practices and implementation programs that provide clear direction for the public and county officials on how we will achieve this vision.
This sector plan amendment will take cues from Thrive Montgomery 2050, the county’s ongoing general plan update – particularly its equity framework – which describes how great places with equitable access to opportunity produce strong communities and people.
The update will examine and provide policies and recommendations on existing and future land uses and zoning, housing inventory and needs, transportation systems, historic preservation opportunities, area park facilities, and the environment. This project will amend portions of the 1997 Fairland Master Plan which is the current planning document for the community.
The planning team is now in the initial stages of this effort which includes background research and identifying existing conditions before presenting the Scope of Work to the Planning Board in the spring of 2021.
This webpage will be updated regularly throughout this process. You are encouraged to sign-up for our e-letter to stay informed of the latest news, meetings, and opportunities to participate.
Background
The properties within the sector plan amendment boundary are currently governed by the 1997 Fairland Master Plan. The 1997 Fairland Master Plan boundary area extends along US Highway 29 (Columbia Pike) from East Randolph/Cherry Hill Road in the south to Burtonsville in the north, and from Prince George’s County in the east, and the Paint Branch to the west. The 1997 Fairland Master Plan area consists of approximately 8,200 acres or about 13 square miles of land.
The 1997 Fairland Master Plan’s concept has three components: 1) Livable suburban communities, 2) open space and greenways, and 3) neighborhoods are served by commercial activity centers. The plan also addressed the following elements: transportation, community facilities, environmental resources, and historic resources. Policies and recommendations were implemented through zoning changes, a capital improvement program, and a water and sewer staging program.
Since 1997, the majority of the plan area has not been the subject of a master plan update. In 2012, the Burtonsville Crossroads Neighborhood Plan updated land use, zoning, environment and transportation recommendations for approximately 191 acres focused on mostly commercial land near the intersection of Old Columbia Pike and MD 198. The White Oak Science Gateway Plan was approved and adopted in 2014, covering the land south of Fairland including the commercial properties south of Cherry Hill Road, along Tech Road, and areas to the south along New Hampshire Avenue south to Hillandale.
These two planning efforts on either side of Fairland, plus the introduction of the new FLASH bus rapid transit line, and the ongoing awareness of the diversity and inequities within the planning area make now the perfect time to re-imagine Fairland as a vibrant, prosperous and equitable community for the 21st century.
