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At the Planning Board’s request, Montgomery Planning staff studied several options for the expansion of the plan boundary into the surrounding neighborhoods of east, north and west Silver Spring.
After hearing staff recommendations, the Planning Board opted to expand the plan boundary to include the neighborhoods surrounding downtown Silver Spring that are within a half-mile/ten-minute pedestrian walkshed (i.e., able to be reached within a 10-minute walk) from the future Silver Spring Library Purple Line Station. This expansion option generally includes whole blocks that are within the walkshed, extending into Woodside, Woodside Park and East Silver Spring. The plan area is approximately 505 acres.
At the start of the Silver Spring Downtown and Adjacent Communities plan, the staff was asked to study housing options within the Adjacent Communities. However, the Attainable Housing Strategies initiative is countywide and therefore supersedes earlier efforts to explore housing options within this plan.
A note about community engagement related to the plan boundary:
Expansion of the plan boundary caused concern among community members, who expressed frustration about not having more input into the board’s decision. Montgomery Planning staff recognize this frustration and wish to assure the community that their voices will be an integral part of this planning process.
Plan boundary decisions are typically determined by the Planning Board without community consultation because they simply allow us to study and include certain areas within our plan recommendations, which are developed in conjunction with the community. Community members will have many opportunities throughout this process to shape what this plan recommends within the plan boundary.
For more information about the plan boundary decision and implications for individual properties, read our FAQs below.
Frequently Asked Questions
During the March 26, 2020 Montgomery Planning staff presentation of initial boundary recommendations to the Planning Board, the Board requested that staff explore planning area expansion options to include some of the surrounding neighborhoods beyond the 2000 Silver Spring CBD Sector plan boundary. After the briefing from staff, the Board opted to expand the plan boundary. This expansion allows planning staff to study – and engage the community – about whether those neighborhoods can accommodate a wider range of housing types than single family homes.
The commercial core of downtown Silver Spring previously known as the Central Business District (CBD) has many redevelopment opportunity sites, and millions of square feet of zoning capacity. Montgomery Planning staff do not intend to expand this area in this Sector Plan process.
CBDs no longer have zoning relevance and planners will no longer use that terminology when referring to the retail and commercial core of Silver Spring.
In the 1980s and 1990s, CBDs were established to identify defined areas as financial and commercial centers. In Montgomery County, there were specific zones that could only be used within CBD boundaries. However, with the 2014 countywide zoning ordinance rewrite, the CBD zones were abolished and the descriptions of the limits of the CBD areas were removed from the code. We now promote mixed-use commercial residential (CR) zones, which can be used anywhere.
Montgomery Planning staff will study all properties inside the plan boundary as part of the existing conditions and analysis phase. We will evaluate each parcel based on several factors, including conversations with the community and individual property owners, existing zoning capacity and the potential for redevelopment. If your property is within the plan boundary, some plan recommendations may apply to your property at the conclusion of the plan.
Community input will guide all decisions and Montgomery Planning will provide numerous engagement opportunities for your participation in the decision-making process with planners and the Planning Board. Thorough neighborhood and community engagement is part of the plan process and we encourage you to sign up for our eLetter to receive alerts about engagement opportunities and plan progress.
Anyone who works, plays or spends time in downtown Silver Spring – or considers the plan area as part of their neighborhood – is a stakeholder in this plan. If you spend significant time in Silver Spring, this is still your plan and there will be many opportunities to participate in the planning process. Sign up for our eLetter to receive alerts about engagement opportunities and plan progress.
If the plan process recommends rezoning, that will happen at the very end of the plan through a legal update to the zoning map. Even if a property is rezoned, nothing can physically happen to the property unless the owner initiates a change (e.g., sale or redevelopment). Keep in mind that sector plans only produce recommendations for the future; no change can occur to a privately-owned property unless initiated by the owner.
Rezoning sometimes has tax or property value implications. That’s why the planning team will carefully analyze these potential impacts to residents as part of the plan visioning process and will discuss any potential changes with the community.
The planning team will keep the community updated throughout the process. We encourage you to sign up for our eLetter to receive alerts about engagement opportunities and plan progress.
The first year of the plan process involves analysis of existing conditions and possibilities with a lot of community engagement and conversations. After many months of working with the community, plan recommendations are evaluated through:
- a public hearing and comment period at the Planning Board,
- several months of Planning Board work sessions, then
- a repeat of the public hearing, comment and work session process at the County Council.
Montgomery Planning welcomes and encourages public participation and feedback up until the final version of the plan goes to the County Council for approval. Note that it is the County Council that has the power to approve the plan and authorize changes to the zoning map.
No. A master plan or sector plan is aspirational and outlines goals and recommendations for the future of a planning area over a 20-year period. Master and sector plans do not take any ownership away from or impose development mandates on residential property owners. If a property owner wants to redevelop a property after the County Council approves and adopts a sector plan and the sectional map amendment, then the new zoning rules would apply.
Staff Contact
Atara Margolies
Project Manager
301-495-4558
Email