Thursday, April 4, 2013
The county planning department's next featured speaker will talk about linking transportation policies with bicycle use. The free public lecture takes place at 7 p.m. on April 9.
As bicycling becomes a more popular form of transit, planners must look for ways to incorporate safe bicycle routes into existing urban fabric. The Montgomery County Planning Department's next featured speaker, Virginia Tech Professor Ralph Buehler, will address this topic next Tuesday, April 9. Buehler's talk, "Making Cycling Irresistible: Lessons from Europe and North America," will link transportation and land-use policies with bike use, according to a planning department news release. "Co-editor of the recently published book City Cycling, Buehler will report on cycling trends and policies in North American, European and Australian cities and tie those to how planners and local government officials can promote cycling in their …
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Ever wanted to be on the county planning board? Now's your chance!
For anyone who's ever dreamed of serving on the planning board of a fast-growing county, your chance is here: The Montgomery County Council is seeking applicants to fill a vacancy on the Montgomery County Planning Board. Planning board member Marye Wells-Harley's term expires on June 14, 2013, and she has "indicated her intent to apply for reappointment to a second term," according to a statement from the office of the county council. Want to run for the $30,000-a-year, council-appointed position? Submit a letter expressing your interest and a resume "listing professional and civic experience, political party affiliation, home and office telephone numbers and an email address" by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17, according to the statement. (…
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Square footage and building heights scrutinized; others praise the plan's transit-oriented nature.
Residents took concerns about the size of the “Town Center” portion of the Chevy Chase Lake Sector Plan to the Montgomery County Council at a public hearing Tuesday night. Nearly 40 people testified before the council about the plan recommended by the county Planning Board. Many took issue with the size of the “Town Center” portion of the plan, particularly the number of square feet the board recommended be built before the Purple Line is constructed. The Purple Line, a proposed 16-mile light rail line from Bethesda to NewCarrollton, would have a station in Chevy Chase Lake. The board recommended that the old Chevy Chase Lake Shopping Center (on the east side of Connecticut Avenue at Manor Road) be built up to 790,000 square feet of mixed-…
Read about the planning board's agenda for Thursday, March 14.
At next Thursday's county planning board meeting, planning staff will recommend the approval, with conditions, of a plan to redevelop 7535 Old Georgetown Rd., Bethesda. According to a planning department memo: "The Applicant is proposing a mixed-use redevelopment with up to 120 multi-family residential units, including 12.5 [percent] Moderately Priced Dwelling Units (MPDUs), 5,000 square feet of retail space, belowgrade parking, and public use space and amenity space. The application proposes the 5.0 FAR allowed by the Zone. The building proposal is 15 stories, or 143 feet as measured from Commerce Lane," the memo added. "The open public amenity plaza will create an appealing pedestrian experience with an intimate vest pocket park in an …
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 …
Thursday, September 6, 2012
The Montgomery County Planning Board will hold public sessions and work sessions on the zoning code rewrite.
Close scrutiny of Montgomery County's revised zoning code draft by the county planning board starts on Monday. "[An] ambitious schedule of [work sessions] and public sessions [will] consider the proposed revision of the Montgomery County Zoning Ordinance. [County planning] staff will present a consolidated draft of the Zoning Rewrite in sections to the [Montgomery County Planning] Board from September through the end of the year, with opportunities for public input along the way," according to a planning department news statement. The last time that the county's zoning code was comprehensively rewritten was in 1977. "The revised code is expected to reduce the number of zones, clarify what uses are permitted in each zone, and rethink 1950s-…
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 …
B Allen
8:45 am on Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Hey frankie, looks to me that the "shoe fits" in your case. You got your "dress" all ruffled up when I stated the guy sees the writing on the wall that MoCo is a worthless place to live and prosper because of the idiots running it in the county council and the exec...raising our taxes and fees, businesses leaving, REgressive attitudes, etc. I am tired of your little kiddy responses...if you don't… more ›