Montgomery Planning to host virtual community meetings to connect and discuss issues, vision and goals for the update to Montgomery County’s General Plan
Silver Spring, MD –The Montgomery County Planning Department, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), will host a series of virtual events in April and May to stay connected to community members as work continues on the update to the county’s General Plan, known as Thrive Montgomery 2050. The events consist of a virtual happy hour and several virtual townhall-style events. Montgomery Planning will live stream the events so that community members can share their questions live or submit questions ahead of time through phone, email and social media.
The General Plan is Montgomery County’s long-range policy framework for guiding land use and growth. The update will outline shared priorities and guide decision making for the next 30 years. Thrive Montgomery 2050 focuses on three primary outcomes: community equity, economic health and environmental resilience.
Due to the COVID-19 crisis and M-NCPPC’s commitment to safety above all else, all in-person events and activities for April and May have been cancelled. Instead, Montgomery Planning is inviting community members to attend a series of virtual events where they can provide feedback on the latest work on planning for the future of Montgomery County.
“We want to meet people where they are, at home, acknowledging that we’re all focused on the current pandemic situation and are all yearning for social connection,” said Planning Director Gwen Wright. “Even though we aren’t together in person, we’re continuing to share the work that we have done on the General Plan, incorporating many ideas and values from community members and local organizations. It is important to continue gathering feedback from the community, even during these uncertain times, as we develop this plan for Montgomery County to address our challenges and thrive into the future.”
Below is a schedule of the virtual events:
Pints with a Planner – April 28, 5 to 6 p.m. (bit.ly/PlannerPints): Planning Board Chair Casey Anderson and Planning Board Member Partap Verma will host this online happy hour while discussing the pandemic’s impact on planning for the future of Montgomery County.
Ask Me Anything: Planning Director Gwen Wright will host four virtual townhall events to introduce the Thrive Montgomery 2050 Draft Vision and Goals to the community. Community members can share their ideas and questions during the livestreamed sessions or submit them ahead of time through phone, email and social media. Three of the meetings will be in English with live Spanish translation while one will be in Spanish with English translation.
Below are the dates and times for the Ask Me Anything sessions:
- Friday, May 15, 8 to 9 a.m.
- Monday, May 18, Noon to 1 p.m.
- Wednesday, May 20, 7 to 8 p.m.
- Saturday, May 23, 2 to 3 p.m. (Spanish)
Residents can also provide comments at any time online, send an email to Thrive2050@montgomeryplanning.org or call 301-495-4556.
Planning Staff presented the Thrive Montgomery 2050 Draft Vision and Goals to the Planning Board at a virtual meeting on April 16. It is the first component of an updated General Plan for the county.
View the April 16 Staff Report on the Thrive Montgomery 2050 Draft Vision and Goals Briefing.
View the Introduction to the Thrive Montgomery 2050 Plan.
View the Draft Vision and Goals.
View the Distance Engagement plan.
Background on Thrive Montgomery 2050, Future Challenges and Opportunities
During summer 2019, Montgomery Planning launched the update of Montgomery County’s General Plan, the county’s long-term framework for land use and development. This effort, called Thrive Montgomery 2050, will result in new countywide policies to help Montgomery County thrive by addressing the challenges and opportunities in the decades to come.
A lot has changed in the county since the Montgomery County Council originally approved the General Plan in 1964. Thrive Montgomery 2050 will guide future growth in response to the demographic shifts, technological innovations, changing lifestyles and economic disruptions that have taken place in recent decades.
The overriding question for Thrive Montgomery 2050 is how do we plan for our future? The Montgomery County of 50 years ago didn’t face the same changes we do today: climate change, the rise of the sharing economy, increasing population diversity, regional and global economic developments, autonomous vehicles, new technologies and so much more. These changes will affect how we travel, live, work, play and interact with others.
With anticipated growth of more than 200,000 people within the next 25 to 30 years, how can we ensure our county will thrive with a strong economy, fairness and opportunity for a dynamic and diverse population, and environmental resilience to address the threats of climate change? And how can we grow in a way that will retain and enhance what we have and cherish today as a community while addressing challenges such as housing affordability, environmental degradation, social injustice and even traffic congestion?
COVID-19 and the Unpredictable Future
COVID-19 is a good example of how unpredictable the future is. It has forced us to adapt, even if temporarily, to new realities unthinkable only a few weeks ago. Before the coronavirus crisis, only about 6 to 7 percent of the workforce worked remotely full-time. What if in the post-COVID-19 era the share of people working remotely goes up to 20 or 30 percent? What kind of impact will it have on traffic congestion? How much reduction in greenhouse gas emissions will we experience? What if that share goes up to 50 percent? It may be unthinkable today, but COVID-19 has demonstrated that it is not only possible but quite feasible.
The events taking place as we write this plan place new emphasis on two concepts that we have included from the beginning: community equity and resilience. The pandemic exacerbates existing social and economic disparities and distresses that existed prior to the crisis. The concept of resilience, while frequently used in the environmental context as a response to climate change, is also about developing policies that help communities withstand economic and social challenges. Since it is futile to predict the future, the best we can do is to prepare for multiple possibilities and try to influence the outcomes in our favor. We can do that through an updated General Plan.