SILVER SPRING – Following months of deliberation on revisions to the Montgomery County Zoning Code, the Planning Board has begun considering the implementation of the proposed changes. Their primary focus: to present the rationale for zone conversions, review how the new zones will actually be applied on the ground, and highlight the most significant changes to uses and development standards.
The Board scheduled numerous sessions in the last month and in the next few weeks to evaluate implementation strategies for the proposed Zoning Code. A public hearing on the preliminary Planning Board draft will be held from 5-7 p.m. Tuesday. In May, the Board will send the revised Zoning Code and implementation approach to the County Council for consideration.
Starting last fall, the Board held dozens of worksessions and public hearings on revisions to the text of the Zoning Code, a multi-year effort to modernize an ordinance that has not been redrafted in a comprehensive way since the 1970s.
The process to revise the code began in 2009, starting with a thorough analysis of the existing code followed by drafting a revised code, section by section. Each draft was reviewed and revised with input from a Planning Board-appointed Zoning Advisory Panel as well as residents and stakeholders who interacted with staff at more than 80 public meetings. The resulting draft contains new and existing zones, a consolidated table of uses – some of which have been modernized and/or consolidated with similar uses – updated development standards, and clearer rules for development review.
The implementation work covers the county zoning map and how it would change under the new Zoning Code. Anyone interested in the proposed changes to the code and how they will be implemented is welcome to attend upcoming Planning Board meetings and to offer comments before the draft is finalized and transmitted to the Council for consideration.
Learn more about the the Planning Board schedule.
Who: Montgomery County Planning Board
What: Zoning Revision public hearing
When: 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 23
Where:
Park and Planning Headquarters auditorium
8787 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring
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