By Montgomery Planning staff

Montgomery Planning is celebrating Black History Month by sharing the voices, journeys, and impact of Montgomery Planning’s Black leaders.

Shawn Bartley remembers how safe he felt growing up in his family’s house in Moreno Valley, Calif., especially the small but private yard where an introverted 8-year-old like him could play in peace and quiet.

Childhood photos of Shawn Bartley with his family

His family of four had been so excited to move there that they’d often drive out to the construction site to photograph their new home as it took shape. The house was small, about 1,200 square feet. But it would allow them to escape a gang-ridden area of nearby East Riverside. An apartment complex there had been what his family could afford after moving off March Air Force Base and his father had a difficult time finding work after retiring from United States Air Force after 20 years of service. Once his father secured a new job as a nurse and corrections officer for the California corrections system, his family purchased the home.

Now, as a lawyer and member of the Montgomery County Planning Board, Commissioner Bartley looks back fondly on growing up in that house.

“As an African American, I think I really benefited from growing up in a single-family home with two parents in a suburban environment,” Commissioner Bartley said recently. “Not having shared walls or shared outdoor space, having our own space, was really helpful for me.” Both of Commissioner Bartley’s parents grew up in single family homes.  It shaped how I view the world and how I view housing.”

It’s why, Commissioner Bartley said, he “champions” the idea that Montgomery County’s more suburban areas should remain reserved for detached single-family homes.

He believes more densely developed, urban parts of the county, such as downtown Wheaton, Bethesda, and Silver Spring, should readily develop and deliver plenty of high-rise apartment and condo buildings.

In those areas, he said, “I’m pro ‘build it as big and as high as you can.’”

Commissioner Bartley, now in his second term as a Montgomery Planning Board member, said he’s concerned that prices for the detached single-family homes that many people seek in more suburban areas will continue to soar if too few are built in favor of townhouses and apartment buildings. More Montgomery residents, he said, should have the opportunity to buy less expensive single-family detached houses, perhaps by encouraging construction of smaller houses on smaller lots, like the one where he grew up.

Commissioner Bartley said his views on housing stem from his belief that Montgomery County should provide opportunities for a diverse population.

The Path to the Planning Board

Commissioner Bartley earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he also played football. He got acquainted with Montgomery County while visiting the hometowns of two of his college friends – one grew up in the Hillandale area of Silver Spring and the other in Rockville’s Flower Valley neighborhood. He was attracted to the area because of the county’s diversity and opportunities for upward mobility for African American families.

“I remember visiting them while I was in college, and I said “Oh my gosh, you’re African American like me and you’ve got this big ol’ house in this big, pretty neighborhood?” Commissioner Bartley recalled.

While his Silver Spring law practice doesn’t focus on major real estate development, he grew interested in planning issues while watching the redevelopment of downtown Silver Spring in the early 2000s led by former County Executive Doug Duncan. He also represented clients on related issues, such as seeking street terminations and zoning changes. Among those clients was an African American homeowner in Anne Arundel County’s Severna Park, whom Commissioner Bartley helped retain his right to farm his property in an area that had transformed from African American-owned farms to single family homes.

When several positions on the Montgomery County Planning Board came open in 2022, a colleague told Commissioner Bartley, “Shawn, you should go for this! You’re always on fire about these issues!”

Commissioner Shawn Bartley

The Montgomery County Council appointed Commissioner Bartley to the planning board in 2023 to finish out the term of a commissioner who had resigned. In 2024, he was reappointed to a full four-year term. He is the board’s sole Republican. (No more than three of the five commissioners may come from the same political party.)  Shawn Bartley’s vast experience as a lawyer helps him identify problems, ask tough questions, and find solutions. And as a member of multiple executive boards, including the Maryland Board of Education under former Gov. Larry Hogan, he knows how to synthesize information and make hard decisions. He also readily acknowledges that Montgomery Planning and Parks staff are the experts in their fields, something he relies on.

Commissioner Bartley said he’d also like to see more bike lanes throughout the county and more residents engage in the planning process, including through the new Community Planning Academy. The free, mobile-friendly online course teaches the planning and development process and how residents can get involved in shaping their communities.

Commissioner Bartley and his wife, a middle school teacher for Montgomery County Public Schools, live in the Cloverly area of Silver Spring in–yes–a single-family home with a yard. It’s one of the places he most enjoys spending time with their two teenage children.

He said he’s grateful for the chance he and his wife have had over the years to move from an apartment to a townhouse, and eventually to their current home as their family grew: “I want other families to have that opportunity, also.”