Great Seneca Plan: Connecting Life and Science

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Overview

The Great Seneca Plan envisions the Life Sciences Center as a complete community, a place that will include a range of land uses, jobs, diverse housing options, services, and amenities to meet the needs of a variety of people within a 15-minute walk, bike ride, roll, or other trip through safe, accessible, and reliable transportation infrastructure. The Plan envisions the Life Sciences Center becoming more than the sum of its individual parts. Anchored by a core downtown, the Plan embraces a high-quality built environment, an active and enriching social life, and natural features that contribute to better physical and mental well-being. The Plan envisions transforming roadways from barriers to vital elements of the public realm that knit neighborhoods together, providing valuable links and social spaces. The recommendations endeavor to strengthen the economic competitiveness of the Life Sciences Center as an epicenter of life sciences and biotech innovation, but also make the vision accessible for all who live in, work in, and visit the area. Beyond the Life Sciences Center, the Plan envisions a thriving residential neighborhood with local serving amenities and services in the Londonderry and Hoyle’s Addition area, and offers limited recommendations for the Quince Orchard, Rosemont, Oakmont, Walnut Hill, Washingtonian Light Industrial Park, Washingtonian Residential, and Hi Wood areas.

The Montgomery County Planning Board unanimously approved the Planning Board Draft of Great Seneca Plan: Connecting Life and Science at its meeting on April 25, 2024. The Montgomery County Council voted to approve the Plan on July 30, 2024. View the Council resolution.

Plan Draft Appendices:

• Climate Assessment
• Demographic appendix
• Economic appendix
• Engagement appendix
• Environmental appendix
• Existing Conditions appendix
• Historic Preservation appendix
• Parks appendix
• Transportation appendix
• Glossary

Key Recommendations

More Information and Resources

Racial equity and social justice

Plan boundary

Equitable engagement

Timeline

Racial equity and social justice

The Plan envisions a future for the communities in the Great Seneca Plan area that celebrates the diverse backgrounds, languages, and cultures that contribute to the character and history of the area and offers opportunities to all community members. All residents deserve high-quality housing, education, jobs, transportation, and recreational opportunities, and providing more equitable access to these opportunities requires us to prioritize private and public investment in the areas where more people work and live, as well as in communities that have experienced past patterns of discrimination.

The Draft of the Great Seneca Plan includes several recommendations to support equitable opportunities and outcomes for existing and future community members, including but not limited to the following:

• Encourage compact, mixed-use development near transit that integrates and connects life sciences uses with residential uses, retail, and neighborhood services and amenities.
• Encourage more housing overall, and further encourage public, private, nonprofit, philanthropic, and religious institution partners to expand housing affordability in infill and redevelopment.
• Expand transportation choices—including improved facilities for walking, biking, rolling, and public transit to enhance access to jobs and other opportunities.
• Improve safety for all travelers through reduced target travel speeds, narrower and fewer vehicular travel lanes, smaller turn radii, and the removal of channelized right-turn lanes.
• Create promenades, greenways, parks, and publicly accessible open spaces to facilitate physical activity, social interaction, access to nature, and environmental stewardship.
• Support economic competitiveness in the Life Sciences Center to bring more well-paying employment opportunities for people with a diversity of education and work experience.
• Invest in the Londonderry and Hoyle’s Addition area to address long-standing inequities.
  • Leverage private investment through redevelopment while protecting current residents from displacement.
  • Provide additional housing, neighborhood-serving retail, and public open space.
  • Provide dedicated transit lanes on Muddy Branch Road and improve bicycle, pedestrians, and transit connectivity.
  • Mitigate noise and air pollution from I-270, improve tree canopy, and minimize impervious surfaces.

Plan boundary

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The Plan borders the Intercounty Connector (ICC) and MD 355. The Plan area is non-contiguous and dispersed among municipalities. The City of Gaithersburg occupies 10 square miles in the center of the Plan area, the City of Rockville borders the Plan area on the east, and the Town of Washington Grove borders the Plan area to the northeast. The Plan includes several distinct areas, including the Life Sciences Center (LSC), Quince Orchard, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Londonderry and Hoyle’s Addition, Rosemont, Oakmont, Walnut Hill, Washingtonian Light Industrial Park, Washingtonian Residential, and Hi Wood. The Life Sciences Center is bordered by the City of Gaithersburg on the north and west, and the City of Rockville on the east. The Quince Orchard area is bordered by the City of Gaithersburg on the east. The remaining areas are nearly surrounded by the cities of Gaithersburg and Rockville.

Plan timeline