Friday, March 15, 2013
Montgomery County is the first county in Maryland to have more than 1 million residents.
Montgomery County is the first county in Maryland to have more than 1 million people living in it, according to a county planning department statement. The county's population, calculated by the U.S. Census Bureau, reached 1,004,709 last July, having gained more than 13,000 people between July 2011 and July 2012, "up from a revised 991,645 the previous year, a 1.3 percent increase," the statement added. "Most of the population increase is due to births, what demographers call a 'net natural increase' of 7,630 people. In the period, 13,097 births exceeded 5,467 deaths," the statement continued. The rest of the increase results from 8,700 people migrating into the county from abroad, "offsetting the net loss of 3,100 people moving out of the…
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
The county planning staff will make recommendations to the board about future bus rapid transit systems at the meeting on Thursday.
Discussion about the implementation of dedicated bus lanes or bus rapid transit systems in Montgomery County will continue at the Montgomery County Planning Board's next meeting, on Thursday, Feb. 21. The county planning staff will update the board on its recent work on the Countywide Transit Corridors Functional Master Plan. A public hearing for the plan will be held on May 2, according to a planning department briefing. The planning staff recommends that Maryland State Route 355 "is the best candidate for pursuing a high-quality BRT treatment to serve future planned growth," and that U.S. Route 29 "is the best candidate for implementing dedicated bus lanes in the near term," according to the briefing. There is a concern, however, that …
Thursday, February 7, 2013
The county's zoning rewrite would allow a residential neighborhood to change, gradually, to diversify its housing stock.
The revisions in the works for Montgomery County's aging zoning code—which dates to 1977 and is more than 1,200 pages long—are meant, among other things, to help Montgomery County's residents age in place, architect and sustainability expert Carl Elefante said. In the planning department's December 2012 cable show Montgomery Plans, Elefante—who served on the planning department's advisory panel when planning staff drafted the zoning code rewrite—explained how the county's ambitious Zoning Rewrite Project would make it possible for residents to stay in their communities as they grow older. The zoning rewrite—which is entering into its final stages of revisions—is meant to allow for more variety in residence size and type within a …
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
A discussion of the county's recently updated Athletic Field Use Permit Policy has been postponed to a later date.
When the Montgomery County Planning Board meets on Thursday, board members will be in for a long day, according to the meeting's agenda. In the morning, the board will consider a revision to a property plat in the Bethesda neighborhood of Bradley Hills, and a revision to a property plat in the Churchill Town Sector of Germantown. Design guidelines for the Chevy Chase Lake Sector—a large development still in the planning stages—will be presented by county planners to the board. Planners are suggesting ways to make new buildings in the sector appear smaller through design tweaks, the use of traditional materials and other design methods, Patch reported. Next, the board will discuss a preliminary plan to re-subdivide an existing 11-acre lot …
Monday, July 30, 2012
The traffic disasters on Rockville Pike and I-270 were enough to make you wish for an ATM that dispenses cupcakes.
If you weren't caught in massive backups on Rockville Pike or I-270 last week, consider yourself lucky. If you were –– heads up –– Montgomery County planners would like to change your usual view of the ubiquitous strip malls on your commute. It started Wednesday during rush hour when a fire at Marlo Furniture closed the Pike at Wootton Parkway and forced traffic into downtown. Flames were seen shooting through the roof of the giant box full of kindling in the form of mass-produced home furnishings. Then Thursday, a truck hauling thousands of gallons of Budweiser rolled over and hit a guardrail near the Old Hundred Road exit on I-270. Crews spent nearly seven hours cleaning things up, perhaps while crying over spilt beer. Where would …
Monday, April 23, 2012
Montgomery County Planning Director Rollin Stanley will leave his post next month for a position in Calgary, Alberta.
When Montgomery County Planning Director Rollin Stanley leaves his position next month, he'll head north to Calgary, Alberta, where he will head the city's planning, development and assessment department. Calgary—which, at one million residents, is Canada's third-largest city—recruited Stanley last winter after interviewing him several years ago for another position and after an international search, according to a Montgomery County Planning Department news release. "Stanley did not seek out the position, he said, but considered the offer too good to refuse because it provides the challenge of managing Calgary’s tremendous growth as well as professional opportunities for his wife, also a planner," read the statement. Stanley, who has …
Annette
2:22 pm on Saturday, March 16, 2013
Anytime you're driving 270 and the MD beltway it's very easy to believe that 1 million figure. more ›