Friday, March 15, 2013
Montgomery County is the first county in Maryland to have more than 1 million residents.
Montgomery County is the first county in Maryland to have more than 1 million people living in it, according to a county planning department statement. The county's population, calculated by the U.S. Census Bureau, reached 1,004,709 last July, having gained more than 13,000 people between July 2011 and July 2012, "up from a revised 991,645 the previous year, a 1.3 percent increase," the statement added. "Most of the population increase is due to births, what demographers call a 'net natural increase' of 7,630 people. In the period, 13,097 births exceeded 5,467 deaths," the statement continued. The rest of the increase is from 8,700 people migrating into the county from abroad, "offsetting the net loss of 3,100 people moving out of the …
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 14, 2013
The Montgomery County Planning Board's speaker series this month features urban planners talking about how to turn ideas into reality.
Montgomery County's population may not be increasing as rapidly as it did in the 1980s—when the county accounted for almost one-third of Maryland's population increase, according to the county's website—but it's still increasing, and the Montgomery County Planning Board is bringing in two speakers this month to talk about ways in which to implement plans that will help manage the county's projected growth. In the speaker series, two urban planners will talk with the public (for whom admission is free-of-charge) about how a community can transition from planning ideas to making those ideas a reality. The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments estimates that, between 2010 and 2040, Montgomery County's population will increase by …
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
The Montgomery County Planning Board will discuss a development in Bethesda, the county's Zoning Rewrite Project and other issues at the board's Feb. 14 meeting.
Montgomery County Planning Board members and staff planners will discuss the proposed Bethesda development at 7900 Wisconsin Ave. at the board's meeting on Thursday, Feb. 14. The development—a 444,000-square-foot residential building with 475 units and more than 20,000 square feet of ground-floor retail between Wisconsin and Woodmont avenues at St. Elmo Avenue—fits all zoning requirements and amendments, according to the board's briefing materials for the meeting. Planning staff received only one email expressing concern about the development, according to the briefing documents. Residents of the adjacent Fairmont Plaza Condominium Building (4801 Fairmont Ave., Bethesda) expressed concern about construction hours and noise (several …
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 …
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Planning staff recommend that the board's comments on the proposed subdivision regulation amendments be sent to the county council for a public hearing on Jan. 22.
The Montgomery County Planning Board will consider three amendments to county subdivision regulations at its meeting on Thursday, Jan. 17, at the county planning headquarters at 8787 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring. All three subdivision regulation amendments will be discussed in the morning portion (approximately 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.) of the meeting, according to the meeting agenda. Planning staff recommend that the board's comments on the proposed amendments be sent to the county council for a public hearing on Jan. 22. The first amendment (SRA No. 12-02) regards platting exemptions for small parcels of land in Community Legacy Plan Areas. When small parcels of land in Community Legacy Plan Areas are developed, the platting requirements can be …
Monday, July 30, 2012
The traffic disasters on Rockville Pike and I-270 were enough to make you wish for an ATM that dispenses cupcakes.
If you weren't caught in massive backups on Rockville Pike or I-270 last week, consider yourself lucky. If you were –– heads up –– Montgomery County planners would like to change your usual view of the ubiquitous strip malls on your commute. It started Wednesday during rush hour when a fire at Marlo Furniture closed the Pike at Wootton Parkway and forced traffic into downtown. Flames were seen shooting through the roof of the giant box full of kindling in the form of mass-produced home furnishings. Then Thursday, a truck hauling thousands of gallons of Budweiser rolled over and hit a guardrail near the Old Hundred Road exit on I-270. Crews spent nearly seven hours cleaning things up, perhaps while crying over spilt beer. Where would …
Friday, May 18, 2012
The Montgomery County Planning Board appointed Rose Krasnow to serve as interim director of the planning department, while the search continues for a permanent replacement for Rollin Stanley.
The Montgomery County Planning Board appointed Rose Krasnow to serve as the interim director of the county's planning department, according to a statement issued by the planning department Friday. Krasnow will begin directing the 130-member agency on Monday, following the departure of Director Rollin Stanley, who resigned last month. The board has begun a nationwide search for a permanent director, and intends to hire one within six to nine months, said Montgomery County Planning Board Chair Françoise Carrier. Krasnow has worked for the planning department since 2004. For the last year and a half, she directed the department’s Area 1 team, which crafts master plans and reviews development applications for the inner-ring communities around …
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 …
Ray Whalen
12:00 pm on Monday, May 21, 2012
A good choice and hopefully Rose will apply for the permanent position. more ›