Planning Board to hold a daytime in-person and online hearing at M-NCPPC Wheaton Headquarters and an evening in-person-only hearing at the Upcounty Regional Services Center
Wheaton, Md. – The Montgomery County Planning Board, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), will hold two public hearings on Thursday, September 25, 2025, for the Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan, which focuses on an area of Clarksburg east of I-270 and west of Frederick Road (MD 355). The sector plan envisions a more complete, connected, and sustainable community over the next 20-plus years that balances economic growth with the preservation of natural and historic resources.
The Planning Board’s first public hearing on September 25 will be immediately following the Planning Board’s lunch break in the afternoon during its regular meeting in the Planning Board Auditorium on the second floor of M-NCPPC Wheaton Headquarters (2425 Reedie Drive, Wheaton, MD 20902). The hearing will allow for both in-person and online testimony and is estimated to begin at about 12:30 p.m. Please be aware that this time may shift slightly, so the public is encouraged to check the September 25 meeting agenda for the fixed time of the hearing when the meeting agenda is posted on the Planning Board’s agenda website.
The Planning Board’s second public hearing on September 25 will be at 6 p.m. at the Upcounty Regional Services Center building (Conference Room A, 12900 Middlebrook Lane, Germantown, MD, 20875). This public hearing will be in-person only.
Sign up to testify before the Planning Board for either public hearing . You do not need to sign up or speak at both hearings. Please sign up for the one most convenient for you. The Board will be at both, and they are offering two options to provide more convenience for the public. Written testimony is also welcome via email to mcp-chair@mncppc-mc.org or via mail to Chair Harris, Montgomery County Planning Board, 2425 Reedie Drive, 14th Floor, Wheaton, MD 20902.
The public hearings were scheduled after the Montgomery County Planning Department, also part of The M-NCPPC, presented the Working Draft of the plan to the Planning Board at its meeting on July 31. The Working Draft is the first full draft of the plan and is based on Planning staff’s preliminary recommendations, which were presented to the Planning Board on June 5, 2025. The Working Draft includes the Planning Board’s comments on the preliminary recommendations and feedback from the community. The Planning Board accepted the plan’s Working Draft as the Public Hearing Draft, which will be posted on the plan’s website, along with plan appendices and other materials, before August 26.
“The draft plan charts a new course forward for Clarksburg to help shape future development and transportation networks and provide more recreation opportunities and housing choices for residents for the decades to come,” said project lead Clark Larson. “We look forward to hearing from Clarksburg’s residents, businesses, property owners, and other stakeholders on September 25. Planning Board members will review community feedback when they consider revisions to the plan during work sessions following the public hearings.”
Key Draft Recommendations
Following comprehensive community engagement and analyses of the plan area’s current conditions and expected market trends, Planning staff crafted the following key recommendations that align a new community vision for Clarksburg with adopted county plans, policies, and priorities:
- Re-zone 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.
- 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.
- Recommend a new bridge over I-270 as part of the completion of Little Seneca Parkway between Frederick Road and the Cabin Branch neighborhood, instead of a new highway interchange at I-270.
- Preserve land along the stream valleys of Little Seneca Creek and its tributaries by private conservation easement or by establishing or expanding public parkland.
- Designate the Community of Faith United Methodist Church and the Clarksburg Heights subdivision as historic sites in the Master Plan for Historic Preservation.
About 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 bounded 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 area represents one of the last remaining districts of the 1994 Plan yet to be fully realized. Many circumstances have changed in the Sector Plan area in the thirty years since the 1994 Plan’s adoption and the planning team believes that its vision for the Sector Plan area as a light industrial and employment-oriented district is no longer viable. The potential to contribute to the local community as a new mixed-use, transit-oriented activity center in Clarksburg is a guiding principle of the planning team’s approach to the plan update.
The Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan considers whether changes to land use, transportation, environmental, historic preservation, or other master plan policies are appropriate for the future of Clarksburg. These changes may apply to land use mix, density, and design standards, master planned street alignments and designs, historic designation guidance, and environmental protection and mitigation measures. The draft 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.
Major properties in the plan area include the Gateway 270 office park, the former Communications Satellite Corporation (COMSAT), Clarksburg High School, Rocky Hill Middle School, and the residential neighborhoods of Gateway Commons, Gallery Park (formerly Eastside), Hurley Ridge, Clarksburg Square (formerly Garnkirk Farms), and Dowden’s Station. Other areas in the plan have largely been developed according to the 1994 Plan or have been evaluated as part of the 2014 Ten Mile Creek Area Limited Amendment and therefore, are not being evaluated at this time.
Visit the Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan website for more information, resources, and updates.