The 2017 Bethesda Downtown Plan has a 20-year vision to help downtown Bethesda continue to be a thriving urban center and one of the county’s most desirable communities. The plan included a cap on total development in downtown Bethesda, including existing and approved new development. The County Council has authorized Montgomery Planning to develop a Minor Master Plan Amendment (MMPA) to the 2017 plan to focus on implementation.
The Planning Board approved the Scope of Work for the MMPA on June 27, 2024. (Watch the presentation of the scope of work to the Planning Board.) The MMPA will cover the same Plan Area as the 2017 plan. It will not re-open the entire 2017 plan: the existing zoning, parks, transportation, and other recommendations will remain unchanged while we explore how better to implement those recommendations.
The Planning team is working closely with the Bethesda Downtown Plan Implementation Advisory Committee, a volunteer panel with representatives from the resident and real estate development communities, as well as select County agencies, on this update. With many opportunities to engage and provide comments, the current schedule anticipates a Planning Board Public Hearing later in the fall and County Council review in early 2025.
View the Introductory presentation and watch a recording from staff.
Working Draft Plan available now!
Based on feedback from public meetings and discussions with the Bethesda Implementation Advisory Committee, county agencies, and other stakeholders, Planning and Parks staff have built the preliminary recommendations presented to the community and Planning Board in September in the Working Draft Minor Master Plan Amendment.
Staff will be briefing the Planning Board on Thursday, October 24, 2024.
Community informational workshops
Following a series of introductory public meetings in the spring, Planning staff held informational workshops on the tools available to implement master plan visions recommendations and hear from residents. The format and content for each meeting was the same.
View the Building the Vision presentation shown at the summer workshops. Watch the August 14 workshop recording.
Bethesda Overlay Zone
The Bethesda Overlay Zone (BOZ) is intended to implement the recommendations of the Bethesda Downtown Plan as it relates to density, building heights, affordable housing, parks and open space and design. The BOZ sets a cap on development to ensure that total density in the Plan Area, including existing, approved and new development (including affordable housing), does not exceed 32.4 million square feet of gross floor area. Once development comes within 2 million square feet of the cap, the plan recommended that Montgomery Planning Department check in with the County Council to see if additional recommendations are needed to help implementation of public amenity and infrastructure recommendations like new parks and transportation-related improvements.