Board will address land use, density and other recommendations of the Sector Plan
SILVER SPRING, MD – The Montgomery County Planning Board, part of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, is reviewing portions of the Bethesda Downtown Sector Plan at work sessions held on Thursday, February 25, Thursday, March 10 and Thursday, March 24 at the Planning Department headquarters (8787 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring. MD).
The future work sessions will focus on parks and open space, environmental recommendations related to the high performance area and affordable housing in the Plan. The Planning Board and staff will also revisit the land use vision recommended by staff and the additional density recommended by the Planning Board in previous work sessions to determine the appropriate amount of overall density for the Plan area.
A vote to approve the Planning Board draft is likely to take place sometime in April 2016, and it is expected that the Draft will be transmitted to the County Council during the summer.
Background on the Bethesda Downtown Sector Plan
Launched in 2014, the new Plan builds on the success of Downtown Bethesda by offering ways to strengthen its centers of activity – Bethesda Row, Wisconsin Avenue corridor, Woodmont Triangle and other established and emerging districts – over the next 20 years. One of its recommendations is a high performance area that will incentivize more energy-efficient buildings, new parks, tree-lined streets and innovative storm water management. Making Bethesda into a truly sustainable downtown – economically, socially and environmentally – is the plan’s top priority.
Other goals of the plan focus on:
-A mix of housing options, including preservation of market-rate affordable apartments and new moderately priced dwelling units in exchange for development incentives.
-New and/or expanded civic greens at Veteran’s Park, Bethesda Farm Women’s Cooperative Market and Capital Crescent Trail.
-Economic competitiveness within the region based on new development, public amenities and proximity to transit, including Metrorail and the proposed Purple Line light rail.
The Plan serves as an amendment to the approved and adopted 1994 Bethesda Central Business District Sector Plan and the 2006 Woodmont Triangle Amendment to that Sector Plan.
View the Bethesda Downtown Sector Plan Public Hearing Draft.
For questions or comments about the Bethesda plan, please email bethesdadownplan@montgomeryplanning.org