Tuesday Feb 23rd at the Council: WF Sector Plan Worksession and CR Zone Vote

According to the latest Council agenda, the full Council plans to hold a work session at 9:30am this Tuesday morning to discuss the White Flint Sector Plan. That same morning the Planning Housing, and Economic Development (PHED) committee will have their work session on Financing with another PHED work session the next day February 24th, on Staging.  Read the staff report here.


And, that same afternoon of Tuesday, February 23rd, at 2pm, the Council will hold a closed session to discuss the legality of the proposed Commercial/Residential (CR) Zone. And...the vote on said CR Zone will take place just a few minutes later, at 2:30pm.  Read the staff report on the CR Zone here.

Be there folks to watch your county council discuss these issues which will impact your quality of life in the coming decades. The Montgomery County Civic Federation has sent a letter to the Council stating they have ‘grave doubts’ about the CR Zone.

And, according to a memo signed by former Planning Board members Pat Baptiste and Meredith Wellington,

“…the Legislative Attorney told the members of the PHED Committee that, as presently drafted, he could not recommend the CR zone to the full Council.”

Time to Speak Up on Commercial/Residential (CR) Zone

We received the following from Meredith Wellington, a former Montgomery County (MD) Planning Board member.  She asks that you contact the County Council by this Monday, February 22, and tell them to reject this zone.  To send an email to Nancy Floreen, click here.  To send an email to the whole council, click here.

Dear Friends,

It is time to speak up again about the CR zone. The Full Council took it up yesterday, and is supposed to have its final vote next Tuesday, February 23rd in the afternoon. In a three and a half hour work session, it became clear that the CR zone is inferior to existing zones, and that it carries with it a serious set of problems, as explained in the attached memo. We ask that you send an email to Nancy Floreen, Council President (Councilmember.Floreen@montgomerycountymd.gov)--it should arrive no later than COB on Monday, February 22-- that includes some of the following ideas:

The CR zone should be rejected because it is untimely, untested, legally deficient, overly complex, and contrary to Montgomery County’s tradition of public participation. Further, it is a “one size fits all” zone when, in fact, one size does not fit all in communities as different as White Flint, Kensington, and Takoma/Langley. The imposition of the zone throughout the entire County will result in fewer significant public benefits throughout, and, in certain parts of the County, little, if any, benefits at all. Please reject this zone, and look to existing zones, like the TMX, that do not have the problems currently found in the CR zone.

Please feel free to forward this to other civic organizations.

Thanks very much,

Meredith Wellington

Staging: Staff Report is Out

The Staff report on Staging is out, and you can read it here. The PHED work session is February 16, at 1:30 in the 7th Floor Conference Room, at the Montgomery County Council (Maryland) Building, 100 Maryland Ave., Rockville.

PHED Committee Work Sessions in February – Staging and Financing

The next two work sessions of the Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee (PHED) on the White Flint Sector Master Plan are scheduled for Tuesday, February 16th, on Staging, at 1:30 in the 7th Floor of the County Council Building, 100 Maryland Ave., Rockville; and Tuesday, February 23rd on Financing at 11:30AM, in the 3rd FL Conference Room of the County Council Building. The February 23rd work session appears to be a joint session with the Management and Fiscal Policy Committee. That committee is headed by Duchy Trachtenberg (D-at large), and other members are Valerie Ervin (D-District 5) and Nancy Navarro (D-District 4).

Staff reports are not out yet but will be on this blog, so stay tuned!