Community residents learned about goals for the plan and provided feedback about initial ideas for areas surrounding the Boyds and Germantown MARC rail stations
SILVER SPRING, MD – The Montgomery County Planning Department, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, held a public meeting to discuss the proposed boundaries and receive feedback about the MARC Rail Communities Plan on Wednesday, November 4, 2015 at the Upcounty Regional Services Center (12900 Middlebrook Road, Germantown, MD).
This plan centers on the historic communities of Boyds and Germantown in western Montgomery County. The stations are located approximately three miles apart along the Brunswick line of the Maryland Transit Administration’s MARC system. Each of the two communities has a distinct development pattern and requires a different approach to land uses, design and multimodal access around the stations.
The meeting drew about 40 people who listened to planners explain the purpose of the MARC Rail Plan, proposed plan boundaries, existing conditions and demographics, and previous master plans affecting the station areas. After the presentation, participants were invited to provide feedback on four questions:
-What makes the Boyds and Germantown areas special?
-What would you like to change?
-How can the MARC rail station areas be a catalyst for that change?
-How do you envision the future of your communities?
The answers to these questions will help planners develop their Scope of Work for the MARC Rail Communities Plan that will be presented to the Planning Board in early 2016. For more information about the November 4 meeting, please access the presentation online.
Watch the recap of the meeting.
Background on the MARC Rail Communities Plan
The new MARC Rail Communities Plan will build on the recommendations of the previous 1985 Boyds Master Plan, the 1989 Germantown Master Plan and the 2009 Germantown Employment Area Sector Plan, and will examine in greater detail the land uses, zoning, design and multimodal access to the two MARC stations. Specifically, this limited Master Plan will:
-Evaluate land uses and zoning at sites near each station.
-Provide recommendations to improve multimodal access to each station (information gathered during the Master Plan of Highways and Transitways, and the current Bicycle Master Plan will help inform the access provisions of the MARC Rail Communities Plan).
-Address additional concerns raised during the planning process.
General Schedule for the MARC Rail Communities Plan:
November 4, 2015 – Kickoff Community Meeting (Upcounty Regional Services Center, 12900 Middlebrook Rd., Room A, Germantown, MD). The PowerPoint presentation is now posted online.
Early 2016 – Scope of Work presented to Planning Board.
Spring 2016 – Design Workshop (Charrette) and Development of Preliminary Recommendations.
Late April or early May 2016 – Presentation of Preliminary Recommendations to Community.
May 2016 – Presentation of Refined Recommendations to Community.
Summer 2016 – Presentation of Working Draft to Planning Board.
Stay Connected:
Visit the project website at https://www.montgomeryplanning.org/community/marc_rail_station/or contact the planners at:
Roberto.Duke@montgomeryplanning.org 301.495.2168
Leslie.Saville@montgomeryplanning.org 301.495.2194
We can meet with you at the Planning Department in Silver Spring (8787 Georgia Avenue) or one of your HOA or community meetings.