More Hens, More Walking: New Zones Change County Landscape

The last time Montgomery County's zoning code was revised in a big way, Metro was less than a year old and hadn't yet extended into Montgomery County.

Times, like clothing choices, have dramatically changed since 1978—the year of that last major revision—rendering the of land use laws as out of touch with modernity as a pair of bell-bottoms. 

The zoning code regulates how property owners can build and utilize available land in the county. That space is shrinking as the population continues to grow by about 1 percent per year, said Joshua Sloan, Montgomery County Planning Department supervisor for the Gaithersburg area.

A proposed new code to address how people are using land, or want to use land, has been four years in the making, Sloan said. At a svelte 400 pages and a mere 41 zones, it was evaluated by the Montgomery County Planning Board and submitted to the Montgomery County Council, which held a public hearing Tuesday.

The goal is to push people coming into the county into areas that are already very dense and ready to absorb them, rather than building on the last vestiges of green space.

Planners would rather accommodate population growth in areas that could be mixed-use than build on green fields, Sloan said. Mixed-use zoning also takes cars off the road, he said.

New regulations for buildings—for example, less parking and entrances on the sidewalk—would encourage "walkability." Older buildings in areas that aren't very dense wouldn't need to change.

"We basically set a threshold and depending on the threshold and density—what's around you—if it's large lots, residential development—you're basically going to be working under the old rules because we don't expect people in those areas to walk to the shopping area," Sloan said. "Once you get a certain amount of density, the new rules kick in."

Besides decreasing car trips, new zones would make it easier for residents to keep some farm animals in their homes. Urban farming is what it's called, Sloan said.

Technically, a county resident could keep almost any animal in their home under the current zones. The problem is building a housing structure, like a chicken coop. Under the existing rules, such a structure would need to be 100 feet away from any other house.

"We're interested in making the new code more environmentally, economically sustainable," Sloan said. "We've also simply been following general trends, nationally and internationally, on urban farms."

The proposed zones limit the number of animals allowed, but make it easier to house them. A chicken coop could now be built using the same rules as any attachment structure, such as a detached garage or a shed in the back yard, Sloan said.

"We did have a lot of people ask us about the ability to keep hens, rabbits, things like that," he said. 

The Montgomery County Council, which will have the final say on zoning changes, hopes to vote on the new code this fall.