Skip navigation
The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission

Montgomery County, MD

Montgomery Planning
Text Size
| Text Size
Parks • Planning • Planning Board
Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission

Silver Spring Downtown and Adjacent Communities Plan Design Advisory Panel

  • aerial view of georgia avenue looking south at downtown Silver Spring

Design Advisory Panel

Purpose

The Design Advisory Panel (DAP) is established by the Downtown Silver Spring Overlay Zone. The primary goal of the DAP is to provide advice and recommendations that will improve the quality of architecture, urban design and landscape architecture and increase design excellence overall in downtown Silver Spring. The DAP will be guided by the Silver Spring Downtown and Adjacent Communities (SSDAC) Plan and the related Design Guidelines.

View the Design Advisory Panel Rules of Procedure (February 2023).

Panel Members

  • Bill Bonstra, registered architect from the greater Montgomery County community
  • Qiaojue Yu, registered landscape architect from the greater Montgomery County community
  • David Cronrath, member of the academic community (University of Maryland)
  • Praj Kasbekar, member of the development community
  • Alice Enz, architect/urban designer and Silver Spring community member

Submission Requirements

  1. Schedule a Design Advisory Panel review date with the Design Advisory Panel contact.
  2. A minimum of two weeks prior to the scheduled Design Advisory Panel meeting, provide the completed Submission Form and required attachments for review in PDF form to the Design Advisory Panel contact via email.
  3. Please see Submission Form for submittal requirements

DOWNLOAD SUBMISSION FORM

Upcoming Meetings

Meetings typically take place on the 3rd Wednesday of the month, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm. Meeting dates and times are subject to change. Currently, all meetings are in hybrid (both in-person and online) format. To attend, please contact the Design Advisory Panel administrator via email.

2023 Meeting Schedule

  • March 15, 2023
  • April 19, 2023
  • May 17, 2023
  • June 21, 2023
  • July 19, 2023
  • No August 2023 meeting
  • September 20, 2023
  • October 18, 2023
  • November 15, 2023
  • No December 2023 meeting

Public Participation

While the DAP meetings are primarily for panel members to consider and comment on proposed developments, meetings should be collaborative, and input from developers, their consultants, and members of the public is encouraged.  Because panel members are volunteers, however, the DAP is not expected to meet for more than one hour on any single project.

Members of the public who wish to participate in a DAP meeting should notify the DAP Liaison before the meeting.  Those who have not notified the DAP Liaison in advance may sign up to participate the day of the meeting.  Citizens will be invited to participate in the order in which they sign up.  In certain cases, there may not be sufficient time for all interested citizens to participate.  Members of the public who wish to ensure their comments are considered by the DAP should submit them in writing to the DAP Liaison no later than twenty-four hours before the DAP meeting.  Any written comments submitted to the DAP will also be sent to the Planning Board before the Board meets to consider the proposed development.

Although DAP meetings are intended to be informal, it may be necessary in certain cases, such as meetings with many interested citizens, for the DAP to impose equitable time limits on public comments or other reasonable rules of order.  When possible, the DAP Liaison will announce time limits at the start of the meeting.

Meeting Materials

DAP Meeting materials, including agenda and development application submission forms, will be posted one week prior to the meeting. Meetings notes and recordings will be posted generally within one week of the DAP meeting.

Next Meeting:

October 18, 2023; Submissions Due: October 4, 2023 

Past Meetings:

July 19, 2023

Last Updated: September 20, 2023