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Community members are invited to provide feedback at the Planning Board meeting on the Thrive Montgomery 2050 Draft Vision, Goals, Policies and Actions
Silver Spring, MD –The Montgomery County Planning Department, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), will present the Thrive Montgomery 2050 Draft Policies and Actions to the Montgomery Planning Board at a virtual meeting on June 11. Thrive Montgomery 2050 is the update to Montgomery County’s General Plan, its long-range policy framework for guiding future land use and growth. The update will outline shared priorities and guide decision making for the next 30 years. Thrive Montgomery 2050 focuses on three primary outcomes: community equity, economic health and environmental resilience.
Community members will be able to participate remotely by providing feedback to the Board through a call-in feature, time permitted, at the discretion of the Planning Board Chair. Community members interested in testifying at the hearing may sign up online. They can also submit comments about the plan via email or mail. These comments will become part of the public testimony and public record for the plan. The deadline to sign up to testify and/or submit comments is Thursday, June 11 at noon.
The Thrive Montgomery 2050 Draft Policies and Actions is the second component of the updated General Plan. The first component was the initial draft Vision and Goals that Montgomery Planning presented to the Board on April 16. The June 11 staff report includes updated content for the draft Introduction, Vision and Goals and new draft policies and actions, being presented for the first time, for each of the eight Thrive Montgomery theme chapters.
View the June 11 Staff Report on the Thrive Montgomery 2050 Draft Vision, Goals, Policies and Actions
“The draft policies and actions represent the culmination of a year’s worth of community feedback and analysis on how to keep our county thriving for the next 30 years,” said Planning Director Gwen Wright. “These recommendations will be refined over the summer with more engagement and ultimately lead to the Working Draft of the plan in the fall. It’s important we continue to hear from all community members during this process.”
All Planning Board meetings are currently conducted solely online while Montgomery Planning headquarters (8787 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD) is closed to the public due to the COVID-19 crisis. Community members can listen live either online or via phone.
Commenters can send their written testimony via e-mail to mcp-chair@mncppc-mc.org to Chair Casey Anderson or mail a letter to: Casey Anderson, Chair, Montgomery County Planning Board, 8787 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Written comments received less than 24 hours before a hearing date will be placed in the Thrive Montgomery 2050 file.
Community Engagement
Over the summer, Montgomery Planning will continue to conduct community engagement to obtain feedback on the draft Thrive Montgomery 2050 Polices and Actions for inclusion in the Thrive Montgomery 2050 Working Draft Plan. The community is invited to participate in the Thrive Montgomery 2050 Virtual Community Chats during the month of June. It’s a chance for the community to join an online conversation with Montgomery Planning staff to learn more about policy recommendations related to planning for the future of the county on housing, transportation, the economy, the environment and more. The Community Chats follows the Ask Me Anything virtual townhalls that Planning Director Gwen Wright hosted during the month of May. View all of the Distance Engagement events, including the recap of the four Ask Me Anything events.
Additional opportunities for community feedback will take place when the Working Draft Plan is delivered to the Planning Board by September 2020 and the Board begins its plan review process. The final draft plan will be submitted to the County Council for its review and approval by March 2021.
Residents can also provide comments at any time online, send an email to thrive2050@montgomeryplanning.org or call 301-495-4556.
About Thrive Montgomery 2050
During summer 2019, the Montgomery County Planning Department launched the update of Montgomery County’s General Plan, the county’s long-term framework for land use and development. This effort, called Thrive Montgomery 2050, will result in new countywide policies to help Montgomery County thrive by addressing the challenges and opportunities in the decades to come. A lot has changed in the county since the General Plan was originally approved in 1964. Thrive Montgomery 2050 will guide future growth in response to the demographic shifts, technological innovations, changing lifestyles and economic disruptions that have taken place in recent decades. The new General Plan will consider many issues framed by three pillars: economic health, environmental resilience and equity. This framework will help guide the recommendations of the plan with input from the community.