Session to address zoning and land use recommendations for districts
SILVER SPRING, MD – The Montgomery County Planning Board, part of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, will conduct a work session to review the Bethesda Downtown Sector Plan on Tuesday, December 15 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Planning Department headquarters (8787 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring. MD). This special Tuesday session precedes the Planning Board’s regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, December 17.
View the December 15 Staff Report for the Bethesda Sector Plan work session.
The new Plan recommends increasing density in Downtown Bethesda near identified centers of activity and civic gathering spaces. The December 15 work session will address recommended zoning and land uses for the following areas:
- Eastern Greenway Districts north and south of East-West Highway. These transitional areas lie between the Wisconsin Avenue corridor and adjacent single-family residential neighborhoods.
- Arlington North District, located between Woodmont Avenue and Arlington Road, and extending from Hampden Lane to Moorland Lane.
- Arlington South District, which includes parcels to the east and west of Arlington Road south of Bethesda Avenue.
The Planning Board will also review proposed recommendations for the Battery Lane and South Bethesda Districts, if time permits.
Future work sessions will be held in January and February 2016 to discuss zoning and building heights as well as affordable housing recommendations, density transfer incentives, parks and open space, and environmental recommendations in the Plan.
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