Planners will explain recommendations for the Georgia Avenue corridor from Forest Glen neighborhood to Montgomery Hills commercial area in draft plan posted online
SILVER SPRING, MD – The Montgomery County Planning Department, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, has posted the Working Draft of the Forest Glen/Montgomery Hills Sector Plan on its web site and will present the draft to the Montgomery County Planning Board on Thursday, April 25, 2019.
The sector plan’s preliminary recommendations focus on transportation and road improvements, pedestrian and bicycle safety and connectivity, environmental upgrades, affordable housing and land use considerations. The planning area stretches along the Georgia Avenue corridor to encompass the Montgomery Hills commercial area and Forest Glen neighborhood located between 16th Street and North Medical Park Drive.
The plan is organized around the themes of Reconnect, Reinvest, Reimagine to encourage equitable, attractive development; provide housing choices for all incomes; and improve connectivity and open space. The Working Draft of the Forest Glen/Montgomery Hills Sector Plan includes the following strategies under the each of the three themes:
Reconnect: Restoring healthy relationships
- Introduce measures, such as Vision Zero, to improve safety for pedestrians, bicyclists, drivers and others who travel on Georgia Avenue.
- Prioritize multi-modal options and encourage alternatives to single-occupancy vehicular travel.
- Invest in infrastructure that creates access to opportunity.
Reinvest: Increasing the value of community places for enhanced experiences
- Create built environments that improve quality of life through public amenities, improved mobility and air and water quality, and safe and accessible public spaces.
- Encourage equitable development that preserves and strengthens the community.
- Ensure quality design that is compatible with the neighborhood and follows sustainable design practices.
Reimagine: Thinking about familiar places with new ideas
- Provide healthy, safe and affordable housing choices for people of all incomes, household sizes and stages of life.
- Create solutions for improved ecological health.
- Remedy past environmental impacts and protect against future ecological degradation.
The recommendations of the Working Draft of the Forest Glen/Montgomery Hills Sector Plan were presented to the community on March 19, 2019 and the current draft represents further refinements informed by ongoing dialogue with stakeholders. The Planning Board will hold a public hearing for the plan on Thursday, May 30, 2019.
About the Forest Glen/Montgomery Hills Sector Plan
The Montgomery County Planning Department launched the Forest Glen/Montgomery Hills Sector Plan in 2017 with a study of traffic conditions along the Georgia Avenue corridor from 16th Street in Silver Spring to the Forest Glen Metro Station.
Previous plans for the area, including the 1996 Forest Glen Sector Plan and 2000 Silver Spring North and West Master Plan, need to be updated due to recent changes planned for the corridor. The Maryland State Highway Administration initiated planning for road improvements along Georgia Avenue between 16th Street and the Capital Beltway, and these upgrades will affect properties on both sides of the road.
The Montgomery Planning team has explored ways of improving pedestrian and bicycle access, connectivity and safety within the Forest Glen/Montgomery Hills plan area. Strategies to help implement the county’s Vision Zero policy to eliminate traffic-related fatalities and severe injuries by 2030 will be included in the plan.
Opportunities for redevelopment at strategic locations to provide walkable, neighborhood-serving development were examined, as well as previous plans and studies of streetscape designs to improve sidewalks, street trees and lighting.
Staff presented the sector plan’s preliminary recommendations at a community meeting on December 4, 2018 and to the Planning Board on December 6, 2018. All previous meetings, presentations, videos and outreach materials related to the Forest Glen/Montgomery Hills Sector Plan are available at montgomeryplanning.org/forestglen
For more information, contact lead planner Melissa Williams at 301-495-4642 or Melissa.Williams@montgomeryplanning.org.