Following the adoption of Thrive Montgomery 2050 in 2022, the big question on our minds at Montgomery Planning has been – what’s next in terms of implementation? Thrive, the county’s updated General Plan, has big implications on how we grow as a county in the decades to come and marks a shift in how we plan. As we began developing Montgomery Planning’s new Strategic Plan, which outlines internal goals and objectives over the next five years, we realized we need to look at the department’s structure to position our organization for that shift.

We felt the timing was right to do so. The last time we had a comprehensive organizational structure update was in 2011. A lot has changed in our county and in the world since then. This reflection revealed where we lacked flexibility to address today’s challenges and tomorrow’s opportunities.

I’m excited to announce significant changes to how we operate as a department. I believe that these changes will better position us to ensure we are providing the best service we can to the county’s residents and our stakeholders, as well as meeting the call of Thrive and our strategic plan. This reorganization will be effective July 1, 2025, and while we are committed to providing communities and partners with the same level of customer service and innovative planning solutions, you may be working with some new faces.

New planning regions

To better align with the corridor-focused growth that Thrive calls for, we are reorganizing our geographically based planning divisions. These divisions oversee the development of neighborhood-level master planning efforts and development review. Our new planning divisions will be the West County Planning Division, the East County Planning Division, and the Upcounty Planning Division.

In addition to making more spatial sense, these boundaries better align our work with Thrive’s vision and allow us to focus on the priorities and connectivity opportunities most important to their planning areas:

• • Upcounty: Agricultural initiatives, regulatory cases, and master plans.

• • East County: Corridor planning and a strong master plan and development review portfolio.

• • West County: Master plan implementation and connections across existing plans along the MD 355 corridor.

The updated boundaries offer the four new functional-focused divisions important channels through which to advance their work, too.

New Structure

Montgomery Planning’s new internal structure reflects our focus on Thrive’s vision and the ways we actually work and serve the county. To put a greater emphasis on the important countywide work Montgomery Planning does, we’ve created four new divisions:

• • Design, Placemaking and Policy: Combines the housing, infrastructure, and zoning teams with urban design staff to implement Thrive’s vision for design, placemaking, and housing.

• • Historic Preservation: Responds to the increased volume of this team’s work, particularly relating to racial equity and social justice and understanding historic inequities.

• • Transportation Planning: Ensures consistency in transportation initiatives and development application reviews, and aligns multimodal, Vision Zero, and “complete streets” efforts.

• • Environment and Climate: Unites environmental and forest conservation staff to address climate change and promote resilience.

These new divisions complement the following existing divisions that won’t experience much change: the Research and Strategic Projects Division, the Information Technology & Innovation Division, the Communications and Engagement Division, and the Management Services Division. Internally, we will more overtly prioritize staff development, collaboration, and coordination and emphasize intention, transparency, and integrity in all community engagements. That lets us maximize efficiency, impact, and innovation across operations, and deliver outstanding planning for Montgomery County.

New benefits

This restructuring is about realizing a more efficient, reliable, flexible, and consistent department that builds stronger community relationships by fostering trust across smaller and more focused geographic and topical areas. Thrive’s vision of a sustainable future centered on complete, walkable communities will be built on our mission-driven, forward-thinking planning initiatives. What’s more, these adjustments enable better connections to the community, because we’re now set up for success today and tomorrow.

Staff will also have more opportunities for cross-training and interdepartmental collaboration, making for more robust planning and nuanced community relations and exposing employees to more diverse job functions.

What’s next

Looking ahead, county residents will start to see our enhanced operations play out in the Fiscal Year 2026 work program, which also begins July 1, 2025 and includes:

• • Burtonsville Employment Area Minor Master Plan Amendment

• • Kensington Sector Plan Amendment

• • Housing Needs Assessment and Preferences study

• • Retail Market Analysis and Strategy Update

• • Green Streets Guidelines

• • Locational Atlas Update

With these structural updates, we’re positioning Montgomery County for a brighter, more resilient future by reshaping our organization to better and more efficiently serve the evolving needs of the county and pursue Montgomery Planning’s vision of thriving, resilient communities for everyone today and in the future.

About the author

Jason Sartori has been the director of Montgomery Planning since November 2023. He joined Montgomery Planning in 2016 and led the Countywide Planning and Policy Division starting in 2019 before being appointed director by the Montgomery Planning Board. Jason previously served as the Associate Director of the National Center for Smart Growth at the University of Maryland.