The Montgomery County Council Approved the new Master Plan
The master plan, called Thrive 2050, sets goals and guidelines for the next 30 years of future development and resources in the county. It doesn't change any zoning, but will be considered when Zoning Text Amendments (ZTAs) are proposed and debated for specific sections of the county. A full explanation and discussion is here on the county website:
https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COUNCIL/resources/Thrive2050/index.html
Link to brief description of ZTA review process.
https://montgomeryplanning.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/MP_ZTAOnePager_061020_side1.pdf
Link to pending and adopted ZTAs.
https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council/leg/zta/index.html
https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COUNCIL/resources/Thrive2050/index.html
Link to brief description of ZTA review process.
https://montgomeryplanning.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/MP_ZTAOnePager_061020_side1.pdf
Link to pending and adopted ZTAs.
https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council/leg/zta/index.html
October 25, 2022
The Montgomery County council unanimously approved Thrive 2050.
August 2022
Email from Alan Bergstein:
The Council now has a webpage devoted to Thrive 2050:
https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COUNCIL/resources/Thrive2050/index.html
As I previously noted, the Council has engaged Nspiregreen and Public Engagement Associates, to develop a racial equity and social justice review of the policies and practices recommended in the Plan. Under "Next Steps" the Council website indicates that:
"The work of the consultants is expected to continue into September 2022, after which a draft chapter on Racial Equity and Social Justice will be delivered for Council review. In addition, Council staff are also expected to provide draft text related to the Plan’s impact on the environment and economic development.
There are six Council sessions currently scheduled between Sept. 13 and Oct. 18, 2022, during which time Council review and discussion of the Plan is expected to take place. In an election year the Council cannot adopt a master plan nor make any zoning changes after October 31 and a vote to adopt Thrive Montgomery 2050 is expected to occur no later than October 25, 2022."
Land Use/Zoning Committee Report for 12-15-21 Board Meeting
Thrive 2050 (Non-binding revision of County’s General Plan)
The Council has held two listening sessions since our last Board meeting. Most comments focused on a statement in the Attainable Housing chapter that favors allowing more diverse housing types in residential neighborhoods. Some participants felt that this would lead to destabilization of residential neighborhoods or and other contended these are necessary to means of remedy the effects of restrictive covenants and redlining in the County’s past.
Attainable Housing Strategies (Allowing duplexes and triplexes by right)
At the December 13, 2021, Planning Department staff community meeting, nothing new was learned, but the staff stressed that the Planning Board’s final report will not be sent to the Council until after the Council acts on Thrive 2050. Also, the Staff seemed that to acknowledge that the Planning Board’s interest in hearing from other jurisdictions could delay its vote on sending its report to Council.
From Alan Bergstein, GFCA Land/Use/Zoning Committee Chair, 12/10/2021:
On December 9 the Planning Board held its sixth work session on the Attainable Housing Strategies. The principal purpose of the session was for Planning Department staff to present their draft of the report the Board would send to the Council.
The Board expressed general agreement with the proposed structure of the report. However, the Board Chair twice stressed that it was in no rush. In fact, the Board requested that the Panning Department arrange for a panel discussion involving representatives of other jurisdictions with similar strategies in place.
The Chair noted that although the next work session, scheduled for January 27, was intended to allow for the finalization of the Board’s report to Council, it was likely that the Board’s final action will not occur for several months. As I previously noted, the Planning Department already recommended that the Board not send its report until the Council acts on Thrive 2050.
The staff’s finalization of this report will include the actual text required to amend the zoning ordinance to implement the strategies. Staff indicated that this text would likely exceed 100 pages in length due to the need to show redlined changes and several tables.
Finally, staff noted that over 80 persons had registered for the community meeting to be held virtually through the Microsoft Teams platform on December 13 at 7pm. Here again is the registration link: Community Meeting #4: Attainable Housing Strategies Planning Board Recommendations.
Previous email from Alan:
On December 13th Montgomery Planning staff will offer a virtual presentation on the Planning Board’s recommendation concerning the Attainable Housing Strategies that the Board is expected to make at its December 9th public hearing. Planning staff will share the Planning Board’s recommendations as well as next steps for the initiative. Planning staff will also hold a question-and-answer session after the presentation. This meeting will be held virtually via Microsoft Teams. RSVPs are required.
On December 15 at 7pm the County Council will hold a second virtual listening session on the complete revision to the County’s general plan known as Thrive 2050. The Council website does not yet contain information as to how the public can participate. I will be monitoring the website for further information and will share what I find on this listserv. This is an informal session and no substitute for the required public hearing.
Status of initiatives:
Attainable Housing
In anticipation of the December 9th Planning Board meeting, Planning staff prepared a draft report for the Board to send to the Council. The report includes the following recommendation:
"Small Scale Attainable Housing Recommendations
• Applicable Residential Zones for Small Scale Attainable Housing: Small scale attainable housing includes house-scaled duplexes and multiplexes (triplexes and quadplexes). The Planning Board recommends allowing, by-right with pattern book conformance, small scale attainable housing as follows:
* duplexes in theR-40, R-60, R-90, and R-200 zones;
* triplexes in theR-40, R-60, and R-90 zones; and
* quadplexes in theR-40, R-60, and R-90 zones within the Priority Housing District.
Our neighborhood is in the R-90 zone. I do not think it is within the Priority Housing District, which would be defined as “a straight-line buffer of 1-mile from Red line, Purple Line, and MARC rail stations,7 plus 500 feet from a BRT Corridor,8 River Road (inside the Beltway) and Connecticut Avenue)".
The pattern book is intended to provide clear and objective form based standards, compliance with which would be determined at the permitting stage.
Adding these use permissions would require a Zoning Text amendment. In a significant shift, Planning staff no longer recommends that the Board offer such an amendment to the Council, but instead should leave it to the Council to decide whether to initiate one. The recommendation also recognizes that many other statutory provisions would also need to be amended. Thus the draft concludes by stating:
“The next steps for this initiative would be to present the Planning Board’s recommendations to the County Council. The Council may then choose to introduce a zoning text amendment to implement the Board’s recommendations. While the Planning Board believes these zoning changes are important steps in addressing the housing crisis and meeting the county’s equity goals, the Board also recognizes that it is not enough to make zoning changes. There are other pieces – from financing, permitting, and subdivision – that need to work hand-in-hand with the zoning changes.”
A final Planning Board work session is scheduled for January 6.
The Council’s Planning, Housing, and Economic Development Committee has completed its review of the General Plan revision. The plan continues to state that:
“Adding more ‘Missing Middle’ housing types – ranging low to medium densities such as accessory dwelling units (ADU’s); duplexes; triplexes; quadplexes; live-work units; and clustered housing such as townhouses, courtyard dwellings and smaller apartment buildings to more neighborhoods will provide more choice, enhance intergenerational interaction, promote aging in place, and build social capital.”
The Council has already held a town hall and a listening session, and as noted is scheduled to hold a further session on December 15. There will also have to be a formal public hearing before any Council vote. The next Council session after the listening session is January 6.
Here is an article in DCist.com about THRIVE 2050:
https://dcist.com/story/21/11/02/thrive-montgomery-2050-controversy/
This is Montgomery County's THRIVE 2050 page:
https://montgomeryplanning.org/planning/master-plan-list/general-plans/thrive-montgomery-2050/
ATTAINABLE HOUSING - BACKGROUND
The Land Use provisions of the Maryland State Code require every jurisdiction to adopt a plan that states “the policies, statements, goals, and interrelated plans for private and public land use, transportation, and community facilities documented in texts and maps that constitute the guide for an area's future development.” These plans are not laws. They are guidance documents that include policies many of which require the adoption of laws or regulations to be fully implemented/
The current general plan for the County is over 60 years old. The Planning Department has been working on a comprehensive revision since 2006, which is refers to as Thrive 2050. The Planning Board authorized the submission of the draft to the County Council. The draft includes a chapter on affordable and attainable housing, which notes that:
Adding more “Missing Middle” housing types – ranging from low to medium densities such as accessory dwelling units (ADU’s); duplexes; triplexes; quadplexes; live-work units; and clustered housing such as townhouses, courtyard dwellings and smaller apartment buildings to more neighborhoods will provide more choice, enhance intergenerational interaction, promote aging in place, and build social capital.
On September 29, the Council held a Town Hall to solicit additional input. The Council received 70 questions associated with Thrive; a majority of those were related to housing and zoning.
The Council Committee on Planning, Housing, and Economic Development held several work sessions with Planning Department Staff but has not seem to have made any major changes in the attainable housing language. It is not clear whether or when the Committee will hold a public hearing, or when the draft will come before the entire Council.
Separate and apart from Thrive 2050, the Planning Department has formulated a zoning proposal that will permit the conversion of single-family homes into duplexes and triplexes in the zone district in which our neighborhood is mapped. Staff held three recurring virtual “office hours,” offering community members personalized opportunities to meet with planning staff to provide their feedback and ask their questions about the initiative.
The Planning Department presented the proposal to the Planning Board last June, which held an informal public hearing in June, and which will consider whether to propose actual text on December 2. The Planning Department has indicated it will hold a community meeting in mid-December in advance of a Board public hearing. Ultimately the text amendment would have to be transited and approved by the Council following public hearing.
GFCA's Land Use/Zoning Committee is following these proposals and will make periodic reports to the board and community.
The Montgomery County council unanimously approved Thrive 2050.
August 2022
Email from Alan Bergstein:
The Council now has a webpage devoted to Thrive 2050:
https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COUNCIL/resources/Thrive2050/index.html
As I previously noted, the Council has engaged Nspiregreen and Public Engagement Associates, to develop a racial equity and social justice review of the policies and practices recommended in the Plan. Under "Next Steps" the Council website indicates that:
"The work of the consultants is expected to continue into September 2022, after which a draft chapter on Racial Equity and Social Justice will be delivered for Council review. In addition, Council staff are also expected to provide draft text related to the Plan’s impact on the environment and economic development.
There are six Council sessions currently scheduled between Sept. 13 and Oct. 18, 2022, during which time Council review and discussion of the Plan is expected to take place. In an election year the Council cannot adopt a master plan nor make any zoning changes after October 31 and a vote to adopt Thrive Montgomery 2050 is expected to occur no later than October 25, 2022."
Land Use/Zoning Committee Report for 12-15-21 Board Meeting
Thrive 2050 (Non-binding revision of County’s General Plan)
The Council has held two listening sessions since our last Board meeting. Most comments focused on a statement in the Attainable Housing chapter that favors allowing more diverse housing types in residential neighborhoods. Some participants felt that this would lead to destabilization of residential neighborhoods or and other contended these are necessary to means of remedy the effects of restrictive covenants and redlining in the County’s past.
Attainable Housing Strategies (Allowing duplexes and triplexes by right)
At the December 13, 2021, Planning Department staff community meeting, nothing new was learned, but the staff stressed that the Planning Board’s final report will not be sent to the Council until after the Council acts on Thrive 2050. Also, the Staff seemed that to acknowledge that the Planning Board’s interest in hearing from other jurisdictions could delay its vote on sending its report to Council.
From Alan Bergstein, GFCA Land/Use/Zoning Committee Chair, 12/10/2021:
On December 9 the Planning Board held its sixth work session on the Attainable Housing Strategies. The principal purpose of the session was for Planning Department staff to present their draft of the report the Board would send to the Council.
The Board expressed general agreement with the proposed structure of the report. However, the Board Chair twice stressed that it was in no rush. In fact, the Board requested that the Panning Department arrange for a panel discussion involving representatives of other jurisdictions with similar strategies in place.
The Chair noted that although the next work session, scheduled for January 27, was intended to allow for the finalization of the Board’s report to Council, it was likely that the Board’s final action will not occur for several months. As I previously noted, the Planning Department already recommended that the Board not send its report until the Council acts on Thrive 2050.
The staff’s finalization of this report will include the actual text required to amend the zoning ordinance to implement the strategies. Staff indicated that this text would likely exceed 100 pages in length due to the need to show redlined changes and several tables.
Finally, staff noted that over 80 persons had registered for the community meeting to be held virtually through the Microsoft Teams platform on December 13 at 7pm. Here again is the registration link: Community Meeting #4: Attainable Housing Strategies Planning Board Recommendations.
Previous email from Alan:
On December 13th Montgomery Planning staff will offer a virtual presentation on the Planning Board’s recommendation concerning the Attainable Housing Strategies that the Board is expected to make at its December 9th public hearing. Planning staff will share the Planning Board’s recommendations as well as next steps for the initiative. Planning staff will also hold a question-and-answer session after the presentation. This meeting will be held virtually via Microsoft Teams. RSVPs are required.
On December 15 at 7pm the County Council will hold a second virtual listening session on the complete revision to the County’s general plan known as Thrive 2050. The Council website does not yet contain information as to how the public can participate. I will be monitoring the website for further information and will share what I find on this listserv. This is an informal session and no substitute for the required public hearing.
Status of initiatives:
Attainable Housing
In anticipation of the December 9th Planning Board meeting, Planning staff prepared a draft report for the Board to send to the Council. The report includes the following recommendation:
"Small Scale Attainable Housing Recommendations
• Applicable Residential Zones for Small Scale Attainable Housing: Small scale attainable housing includes house-scaled duplexes and multiplexes (triplexes and quadplexes). The Planning Board recommends allowing, by-right with pattern book conformance, small scale attainable housing as follows:
* duplexes in theR-40, R-60, R-90, and R-200 zones;
* triplexes in theR-40, R-60, and R-90 zones; and
* quadplexes in theR-40, R-60, and R-90 zones within the Priority Housing District.
Our neighborhood is in the R-90 zone. I do not think it is within the Priority Housing District, which would be defined as “a straight-line buffer of 1-mile from Red line, Purple Line, and MARC rail stations,7 plus 500 feet from a BRT Corridor,8 River Road (inside the Beltway) and Connecticut Avenue)".
The pattern book is intended to provide clear and objective form based standards, compliance with which would be determined at the permitting stage.
Adding these use permissions would require a Zoning Text amendment. In a significant shift, Planning staff no longer recommends that the Board offer such an amendment to the Council, but instead should leave it to the Council to decide whether to initiate one. The recommendation also recognizes that many other statutory provisions would also need to be amended. Thus the draft concludes by stating:
“The next steps for this initiative would be to present the Planning Board’s recommendations to the County Council. The Council may then choose to introduce a zoning text amendment to implement the Board’s recommendations. While the Planning Board believes these zoning changes are important steps in addressing the housing crisis and meeting the county’s equity goals, the Board also recognizes that it is not enough to make zoning changes. There are other pieces – from financing, permitting, and subdivision – that need to work hand-in-hand with the zoning changes.”
A final Planning Board work session is scheduled for January 6.
The Council’s Planning, Housing, and Economic Development Committee has completed its review of the General Plan revision. The plan continues to state that:
“Adding more ‘Missing Middle’ housing types – ranging low to medium densities such as accessory dwelling units (ADU’s); duplexes; triplexes; quadplexes; live-work units; and clustered housing such as townhouses, courtyard dwellings and smaller apartment buildings to more neighborhoods will provide more choice, enhance intergenerational interaction, promote aging in place, and build social capital.”
The Council has already held a town hall and a listening session, and as noted is scheduled to hold a further session on December 15. There will also have to be a formal public hearing before any Council vote. The next Council session after the listening session is January 6.
Here is an article in DCist.com about THRIVE 2050:
https://dcist.com/story/21/11/02/thrive-montgomery-2050-controversy/
This is Montgomery County's THRIVE 2050 page:
https://montgomeryplanning.org/planning/master-plan-list/general-plans/thrive-montgomery-2050/
ATTAINABLE HOUSING - BACKGROUND
The Land Use provisions of the Maryland State Code require every jurisdiction to adopt a plan that states “the policies, statements, goals, and interrelated plans for private and public land use, transportation, and community facilities documented in texts and maps that constitute the guide for an area's future development.” These plans are not laws. They are guidance documents that include policies many of which require the adoption of laws or regulations to be fully implemented/
The current general plan for the County is over 60 years old. The Planning Department has been working on a comprehensive revision since 2006, which is refers to as Thrive 2050. The Planning Board authorized the submission of the draft to the County Council. The draft includes a chapter on affordable and attainable housing, which notes that:
Adding more “Missing Middle” housing types – ranging from low to medium densities such as accessory dwelling units (ADU’s); duplexes; triplexes; quadplexes; live-work units; and clustered housing such as townhouses, courtyard dwellings and smaller apartment buildings to more neighborhoods will provide more choice, enhance intergenerational interaction, promote aging in place, and build social capital.
On September 29, the Council held a Town Hall to solicit additional input. The Council received 70 questions associated with Thrive; a majority of those were related to housing and zoning.
The Council Committee on Planning, Housing, and Economic Development held several work sessions with Planning Department Staff but has not seem to have made any major changes in the attainable housing language. It is not clear whether or when the Committee will hold a public hearing, or when the draft will come before the entire Council.
Separate and apart from Thrive 2050, the Planning Department has formulated a zoning proposal that will permit the conversion of single-family homes into duplexes and triplexes in the zone district in which our neighborhood is mapped. Staff held three recurring virtual “office hours,” offering community members personalized opportunities to meet with planning staff to provide their feedback and ask their questions about the initiative.
The Planning Department presented the proposal to the Planning Board last June, which held an informal public hearing in June, and which will consider whether to propose actual text on December 2. The Planning Department has indicated it will hold a community meeting in mid-December in advance of a Board public hearing. Ultimately the text amendment would have to be transited and approved by the Council following public hearing.
GFCA's Land Use/Zoning Committee is following these proposals and will make periodic reports to the board and community.