SILVER SPRING, MD – The Montgomery County Planning
Board received a detailed presentation from its planning staff today on the
status of development projects, roads, schools and other community facilities
in Clarksburg.
Planning Board Chairman Royce Hanson asked planners to provide
the Board and the community with a historical background as well as a snapshot
of development currently underway since the Planning Board found construction
irregularities throughout significant portions of the planned community two
years ago.
In conformance with the 1994 Clarksburg Master Plan and the
county’s overall General Plan, Clarksburg has been slated to be a
well-populated town built on some of the last rural land available for
development in Montgomery County. Of the 15,000 homes planned, about 9,300 have
been approved by the Board and approximately 2,500 of them have been built,
planners reported Thursday.
Staff reported that the Department of Permitting Services now
inspects all site plan projects under construction twice a month to ensure
structures are built in strict compliance with approved plans. A recent
inspection turned up a building height problem on an unoccupied house, and the
builder replaced the roof immediately to come into conformance.
When completed, Clarksburg will be a transit- and
pedestrian-oriented town comprised of three distinct neighborhoods – Clarksburg
Town Center, Cabin Branch and Newcut Road (comprised of the Clarksburg Village
and Greenway Village) – surrounded by open space. All of the neighborhoods
contain a combination of residential and retail with a mix of housing types,
generous parkland and street-oriented buildings.
The Clarksburg Town Center, planned as the focal point for
Clarksburg residents, will contain a mix of commercial, residential and condos
located atop storefronts. Staff showed a plan featuring a pedestrian-oriented
retail area with a library, a grocery store and a large public plaza with an
open-air pavilion in a model they hope to see emulated in other town centers
throughout the county as other shopping centers are revitalized and redeveloped
in the coming years.
Nine residential projects have been completed, nine
residential projects are currently under construction, and two additional
properties have been approved for residential development.
Two commercial and mixed-use projects have been built in the
community and plans for four additional commercial and mixed use areas have
been submitted for review.
Three new public schools – a high school, middle school and
elementary school – and a post office, interim fire station, public clubhouse
and community building have all been built.