Have an opinion on the proposed plan for the Chevy Chase Lake Sector?

Sign up to speak at a public hearing on the Chevy Chase Lake Sector plan on March 5 at 7:30 p.m. at the county council headquarters (100 Maryland Ave., Rockville, in the third-floor hearing room).

Only 30 speakers will be allowed to testify at the hearing, according to an email message sent by the Town of Chevy Chase office. The Town of Chevy Chase and the Connecticut Avenue Corridor Committee already have signed up to testify, the email added.

To sign up to testify, call the county council at 240-777-7803. The deadline to sign up to testify is 10 a.m. on March 5, but the 30 available spots are likely to be taken long before that, the Town of Chevy Chase advised. Organizations and individuals will receive three minutes for spoken testimony at the hearing, and speakers may not cede time to other speakers, according to the county website.

"If you have written testimony, please bring 15 copies to share with Councilmembers and enough extra copies for any news media who are there. Give the 15 copies to the Hearing Clerk at the end of the dais before the hearing starts," the website adds.

To submit written testimony in advance of the meeting, email your statement to the council president, at county.council@montgomerycountymd.gov, with "Testimony for Chevy Chase Lake public hearing, March 5" in the subject line.

The Montgomery County Planning Board recently approved county planners' draft for the Chevy Chase Lake Sector plan, Patch reported on Jan. 22. Now, the county council and executive will analyze the draft of the plan. The public hearing is part of the analysis process.

The draft plan's "recommendations emphasize mixed residential development [and] a shift [away] from the current commercial zoning ... [to] help balance the ... jobs-housing ratio" in the Chevy Chase Lake Sector—which straddles Connecticut Avenue between Chevy Chase Lake Drive and Manor Road—according to the draft. (The bulk of the development is east of Connecticut Avenue.)

County planning staff have recommended that the sector retain its human scale, and that there be a focus on traditional architecture and pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use development, Montgomery County Senior Planner Elza Hisel-McCoy said last summer, Patch reported.

Many local residents feel that staff-recommended building heights for the sector are too high. County planners recently drew up guidelines for the design of new buildings in the sector, and recommended a variety of design methods to make new sector buildings look smaller than they really are and blend into the existing community, Patch reported earlier this week. 

Read more about the Chevy Chase Lake Sector plan development on Chevy Chase Patch:

• Making Buildings (Look) Smaller in Chevy Chase Lake (Jan. 30, 2013)
• Chevy Chase Lake Sector Plan Draft Goes to County Council (Jan. 22, 2013)
• Chevy Chase Lake Sector Plan Draft up for Board Approval (Jan. 16, 2013)
• Planning Board OKs 150-Ft. Building for Chevy Chase Lake (Nov. 28, 2012)
• HOC Requests Density Increase in Chevy Chase Lake (Oct. 25, 2012)
• Planners Envision Chevy Chase Lake Sector Development (Sept. 17, 2012)
• Planners Suggest 'Traditional' Look for Chevy Chase Lake (July 26, 2012)
• Chevy Chase Lake: Is There a Middle Ground for Height? (July 24, 2012)
• Chevy Chase Lake Sector Recommendations to Go Before Planning Board (July 10, 2012)
• Chevy Chase Lake: Human Scale, Pedestrian-Oriented Plans (June 27, 2012)
• How Did Chevy Chase Lake Get Its Name? (June 27, 2012)
• 4-6-Story Buildings, Not High-Rises, for Chevy Chase Lake (June 21, 2011)