Public events in January and February focus on schools and transportation issues related to new development and growth
Silver Spring, MD – The Montgomery County Planning Department, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, is in the process of updating the Subdivision Staging Policy (formerly called Growth Policy) for review and approval by the County Council later this year. The intent of the Subdivision Staging Policy is to ensure public facilities, particularly schools and roads, are adequate to meet the needs of new development and growth.
On Tuesday, January 12, a community meeting was held from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Planning Department auditorium (8787 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD) to discuss current school tests and school facility funding as they relate to the staging of future subdivision development.
The approximately 40 participants provided comments on four topics related to school facilities: school facility funding, options for new schools, calculation of the annual school test and school adequacy policies. They voiced concern about overcrowding at the elementary school level and how the school impact tax is calculated.
Feedback from this event will help planners revise the sections related to schools in the current Subdivision Staging Policy.
View the presentation from the January 12 meeting.
Next Steps for the Subdivision Staging Policy
Aspects of the Subdivision Staging Policy related to transportation and schools will be discussed at Planning Board meetings and community events scheduled in February, as follows:
February 4 – The Subdivision Staging Policy team will continue to discuss new ideas for transportation testing with the Planning Board. View the Planning Board Agenda for details about this item.
February 18 – The Subdivision Staging Policy team will engage in its third discussion of new ideas for transportation testing with the Planning Board. View the Planning Board Agenda for details about this item.
February 18 –After the Planning Board meeting, a public forum to discuss whether the Subdivision Staging Policy can include new approaches to determining the adequacy of school facilities will start at 7 p.m. at the Planning Department headquarters (8787 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring MD). It will focus on possible changes to the current school tests and school facility funding as they relate to the staging of subdivision development. Feedback from this event will help planners revise the current Subdivision Staging Policy.
February 25 –The Planning Board will hold a work session on the update to the Subdivision Staging Policy at its regularly scheduled meeting. This session will focus on draft recommendations related to the work of the Transportation Impact Study Technical Working Group. Feedback from this event will help planners revise the current Subdivision Staging Policy.
Background on the Subdivision Staging Policy
The County’s Subdivision Staging Policy is revised every four years. Planners are currently researching new ideas in transportation and school capacity planning to help them revise the regulations to make them as useful as possible in managing growth in the county. The policy update will first be presented to the Planning Board in May 2016 for comment. This quadrennial policy includes criteria and guidance for the administration of the County’s Adequate Public Facility Ordinance (APFO), which matches the timing of private development with the availability of public services.
In the past, the APFO was designed to ensure that road and school capacity – as well as water and sewer and other infrastructure — kept pace with new development. Where new areas of the County were developed, infrastructure to support new homes and businesses was needed.
Today, much of the County has been developed. Growth is occurring through infill development and redevelopment. This type of growth creates pressure on existing transportation systems and school facilities. In updating the Subdivision Staging Policy, staff will evaluate whether the current methodologies effectively account for these changing growth patterns.
Learn More About the Update to the Subdivision Staging Policy
Sign up for the Subdivision Staging Policy e-newsletter
Check out the Subdivision Staging Policy webpage
Watch the Subdivision Staging Policy promo video
Contact Planning Department staff:
Pamela Dunn, Chief of Functional Planning and Policy, tel. 301-650-5649, Pamela.Dunn@montgomeryplanning.org