Plan establishes an updated vision to guide future growth in Clarksburg communities between I-270 and MD 355
Rockville, Md. – The Montgomery County Council today voted to approve the Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan, a comprehensive set of recommendations to reimagine underdeveloped areas of Clarksburg east of I-270 and west of Frederick Road (MD 355). These areas have largely remained unchanged over the past 30 years and present an opportunity for strategic and responsible growth over the next two decades.
The plan was developed over the last two and a half years by the Montgomery County Planning Department, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), through extensive community engagement and research and analysis. The recommendations respond to decades of limited development east of I-270 by proposing mixed-use zoning, improved transportation infrastructure, and the preservation of natural and historic resources to support a thriving and better-connected community.
The County Council’s approval follows a January 21, 2026, public hearing and a series of work sessions this winter that refined the plan. The plan was recommended for approval in December 2025 by the Montgomery County Planning Board, also part of The M-NCPPC, following its afternoon and evening public hearings on September 25, 2025, and subsequent work sessions. The County Council’s revisions to the Planning Board Draft are being incorporated in the approved plan document, which will be posted to the Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan website when completed.
“Throughout the planning process, residents expressed that they want a community that feels more connected, not only through new roads and transit options, but through parks, trails, and public spaces that bring people together,” said Planning Board Chair Artie Harris. “This plan lays out a clear vision for a complete and connected Clarksburg, where new housing and businesses, amenities, and transportation options grow in tandem with the protection of natural and historic resources. It gives Clarksburg a framework that is both forward-looking and grounded in the character of the community.”
“This sector plan area is one of the last remaining pieces of Clarksburg’s 1994 master plan that has yet to be fully realized, and the conditions on the ground have changed dramatically over the past 30 years,” said Montgomery Planning Director Jason K. Sartori. “Our team recognized that the original vision for a light industrial and employment-oriented district is no longer viable. Instead, we see a tremendous opportunity for this area to evolve into a mixed-use, transit-oriented activity center that better serves the Clarksburg community today and in the future.”
Key elements of the plan
Following community engagement and analyses of the plan area’s current conditions and expected future trends, the following key elements of the Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan align a new community vision for Clarksburg with adopted county plans, policies, and priorities:
- After extensive studies and to create opportunities for economic growth and to achieve the plan’s goals for the area, the plan does not recommend designating the former COMSAT Laboratories building as a historic building. Instead, the plan recommends acknowledging the building’s historic significance and supports mitigation measures for any proposed partial or full demolition. Learn more about the process in which this decision was made.
- The plan would rezone the former COMSAT property to allow for a range of development types. The plan anticipates a portion of the property occupied primarily by residential uses, a portion occupied by a compact, mixed-use activity center with a variety of residential, retail, and recreational uses, and a portion occupied by one or more uses that are major employers in strategic industries, such as professional office, manufacturing, and life sciences.
- Retain a planned new highway interchange with I-270 at Little Seneca Parkway Extended to serve the southern portion of the plan area.
- Connect Observation Drive through the plan area in coordination with future development, shifting the previously planned roadway alignment away from sensitive environmental areas and residential neighborhoods.
- Rezone existing employment-oriented zones to commercial-residential zones to add greater development flexibility with modest increases to maximum allowable development density.
- Establish an expectation that all new residential developments should provide a minimum of 15% of their total units as Moderately Priced Dwelling Units.
- Preserve land along the stream valleys of Little Seneca Creek and its tributaries by private conservation easement or by establishing or expanding public parkland.
- The County Council’s approval of the plan includes designating the Community of Faith United Methodist Church and the Clarksburg Heights subdivision as historic sites in the county’s Master Plan for Historic Preservation.
More about the Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan
The Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan is an update to the 1994 Clarksburg Master Plan and Hyattstown Special Area Study, which was last revised with the 2011 Clarksburg Master Plan and Hyattstown Special Study Area Limited Amendment and the 2014 Ten Mile Creek Area Limited Amendment. The plan area consists of approximately 969 acres and is generally bound by I-270 to the west, West Old Baltimore Road and Little Seneca Greenway to the south, Clarksburg Road to the north, and Frederick Road (MD 355) to the east.
The plan integrates policy guidance from countywide plans and initiatives, including Corridor Forward: The I-270 Transit Plan, the Pedestrian Master Plan, Complete Streets Design Guide, Thrive Montgomery 2050, the Climate Action Plan, and Vision Zero, as well as employs a robust outreach and engagement strategy to create a plan that advances racial equity and social justice.