Land use newsletter | Debbie Spielberg for County Council

The County has limited input and oversight over some agencies, and the Planning Board is one of them. (There’s even less authority with MCPS.) However, a knowledgeable District Councilmember can make a difference, and I have that knowledge.

This week I am focused on Planning and how, as your District Councilmember, I will work to make interactions with the Planning Board less aggravating and more transparent and responsive.

First, some context and background:

The state of Maryland in 1927 created the Maryland National-Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), to address conservation and land use policies in Montgomery and Prince George's counties, the two Maryland counties that border Washington, D.C. Each county has its own Planning Board, with its Planning and Parks Departments reporting to the Board. (Unlike here, in Prince George’s the recreation department is also under their Planning Board, and Planning Board members are appointed by the County Executive. In Montgomery County, Board members are appointed by the County Council.)

The Montgomery County Planning Board makes zoning recommendations to the County Council, which has the final zoning authority via approval of master and sector plans, implemented by map amendments that define the height, density, and allowed uses of each property. The Council also determines the Planning Board’s work plan and approves its budget.

In 1957, the first general plan was approved, presenting a vision for the entire county. At the time, Montgomery County was still rural and largely farmland. Many things have changed over the nearly 100 years since the Planning Board was created. Montgomery County is now a mature community with urban centers and well-established suburbs. And over the years, the Planning Board has recommended, and the County Council has approved, plans that were thoughtful, and at times, visionary. Montgomery County has been a leader in land use with its preservation of the Agricultural Reserve, recognizing early on that preserving local land for food production is absolutely essential, and developing a General Plan (“wedges and corridors”) that recognized the importance of concentrating density around transit. And the County created an innovative program for affordable housing, the Moderately Priced Dwelling Units (MPDU) program, with a requirement for a certain percentage of affordable units in new residential construction.

These days, too often the Planning Board fails to remember the responsibility to be accountable and transparent. And too often the Board and the Council have failed to listen to the people who know what works and what doesn't in their communities.

Here’s what I would do as your District 1 Councilmember:

Work for real diversity - geographic, economic, racial/ethnic - on the Planning Board. The geographic area that encompasses District 1 has not been represented on the Board since 2007, yet it is the economic engine of the County and the focal point of new development.
Center planning decisions around communities, not via county-wide one-size-fits-all zoning changes.
Require the Board to return to community advisory committees for master and sector plans, which ensures meaningful community participation and facilitates notifications to residents.
Require planners - in a public setting, like a Planning Board or Council hearing - to provide the data and assumptions on which recommendations are based.
Ensure that the diversity of the community is represented, record their views and respond to their concerns. As your Councilmember I will ask planners and the Planning Board, what did or didn’t change as a result of the engagement.
Eliminate the ability to change an existing master or sector plan via a new, unrelated plan without notice to all those affected, even if they are not within the new plan’s boundaries. This has been a concern with overlapping functional and corridor plans.
Work to eliminate duplicative processes between the Planning Board and Executive agencies.
Work to streamline the development approval process to create real accountability. Prince George’s and Montgomery are the only two counties in Maryland with planning departments separate from the Executive branch.
Ensure that we have zoning that plans for the future by balancing the need for residential and commercial/industrial zones. We should not rush into rezoning all available land into residential. We need our commercial and light industrial zones for job creation and economic development.
Ensure that plans take into account stormwater management, tree preservation, school capacity and traffic and parking impacts.
Fund the Office of People’s Counsel, to provide expert advice and assistance to residents regarding zoning and other land use issues.

I will work for changes that ensure we plan for the future with the people who are here now. We can do both - preserve and enhance existing communities and build for a future that is successful, resilient, and welcoming.