Community invited to learn about the upcoming Bicycle Master Plan beginning with a focus on the Corridor Cities Transitway station areas.
 

The Montgomery County Planning Department is hosting a community meeting on Monday, April 20 from 7 - 9 p.m. at the Johns Hopkins Montgomery County Campus (9601 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, MD 20850: Academic and Research Building, Room 106-110) to kick off the Bicycle Master Plan.  This meeting will provide an overview of the coutywide planning effort while focusing specifically on bikeways in the vicinity of the planned Corridor Cities Transitway.

At the April 20 meeting, planners will present their approach to the plan and milestones of the process while providing opportunities to give feedback and engage in person. RSVP's are encouraged but not required. Learn more here.  RSVP here.

 M-NCPPC has issued a Request for Proposals to identify a tenant for the Darby Store, a historic resource located in the Beallsville Historic District at 19801 Darnestown Road. M-NCPPC intends to lease the store to a qualified to an end user who will reinvigorate the building while keeping in mind its historic character.  A Mandatory Pre-Bid Meeting for Potential Tenants: Tuesday, April 21 at 10:00 am, park activity building at Owens Local Park (19900 Beallsville Road, Beallsville, MD) Please visit here for more details.

Residents and business owners invited to provide feedback on planning framework.

The Montgomery County Planning Department will hold a community meeting to discuss concepts for the Westbard Sector Plan on Wednesday, April 22, from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. at the Walt Whitman High School cafeteria (7100 Whittier Blvd., Bethesda, MD). Anyone who lives and works in the area or has an interest in the future of the Westbard community is invited to attend this event.

The updated Sector Plan seeks to transform part of Westbard from an area focused on older commercial centers and light industrial uses into a more pedestrian-friendly town center that preserves the local services on which the community depends. At the April 22 session, planners will present the newest plan concepts and provide an opportunity for attendees to comment and ask questions. This meeting will serve as a valuable "feedback loop" for planners before they present the Westbard Concept Framework Plan to the Planning Board on April 30, 2015.

 RSVP for the Westbard Plan Concepts Community Meeting. Learn more here.

April 23, 7 p.m. at Montgomery Regional Office Auditorium

 Join Montgomery Parks and Montgomery County Department of Recreation to learn about the Capital Improvements Program for 2015 - 2022. A joint public forum will take place on April 23 where the public is invited to ask questions and provide suggestions for future park and recreation projects. More information is available here.

Residents and business owners invited to provide feedback on planning framework.

The Montgomery County Planning Department will hold a community meeting to discuss concepts for the Greater Lyttonsville Sector Plan on Wednesday, April 29, from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. at the Gwendolyn E. Coffield Community Recreation Center (2450 Lyttonsville Road, Silver Spring, MD).

Since the last public meeting on January 21, staff has been refining the Greater Lyttonsville Sector Plan to reflect community feedback about specific areas and will present those changes as well as a recap of the planning process at the April 29 event. Participants will have the opportunity to comment and make suggestions about the proposals before the plan concepts are presented to the Planning Board on Thursday, May 7.

 RSVP for the April 29 Greater Lyttonsville Sector Plan Community Meeting. Learn more here.

Community invited to give feedback on a comprehensive rewrite of Chapter 50 of the Montgomery County Code

The changes being proposed to Chapter 50 of the  Montgomery County Code that govern the subdivision of County land, will be the subject of a public hearing before the Montgomery County Planning Board Thursday, April 30. Board members previously discussed the draft on March 19 and approved its release with refinements for public comment.

At the April 30 meeting, they will receive feedback about the newly revised Subdivision Regulations Amendment from interested stakeholders. View the draft of the Subdivision Regulations Amendment. Learn more here. 

New digital tool allows County residents to determine need for tree planting in their neighborhoods

The Montgomery Planning Department now offers a Tree Canopy Explorer web application to determine the extent of tree canopy in communities throughout the County. This tool enables users to view the  layer of leaves and branches shading the ground, which ultimately contributes to improving the local climate of urban and suburban areas.

The new Tree Canopy Explorer allows residents to measure the tree canopy around their homes or businesses by identifying the street address, zooming in on the location and using a tool to calculate the percentage of cover. An update to the existing canopy data will soon make it possible to determine the loss in canopy experienced due to storms and recent tree trimming efforts. By understanding the extent of the canopy, property owners can take steps to plant more trees and create healthier, greener communities. The more shade from trees, the less energy required for cooling homes and cars. Also, trees clean the air we breathe and the runoff from storms. Learn More here.

The Montgomery County Planning Department helped to initiate a new Maryland law requiring the State Highway Administration to act within one year on local designations of Bicycle-Pedestrian Priority Areas. Work on the newly enacted law began with a collaborative effort among County Transportation Planner Larry Cole, Maryland House Delegate Alfred Carr, Jr. and Kelly Blynn of the DC regional Coalition for Smarter Growth.

Maryland Senator James Rosapepe introduced the bill on February 6, 2015 and, on February 12, 2105, the Planning Board voted to support it. The final Senate Bill 371 was signed by Governor Larry Hogan on April 14, 2015.

Learn more here.

Montgomery Parks will be hosting a community meeting on the renovation project for Wheaton-Claridge Local Park on Tuesday, May 12, 2015 beginning at 7:00 pm.  The meeting, to present the design, phasing and schedule of the renovation project, will be held at the Wheaton- Claridge Park Activity Building, 11901 Claridge Road in Wheaton, Maryland. For additional information about the project, or to review a summary of comments and presentation materials, please visit www.parkprojects.org.

The 2015 Montgomery County Recreation and Parks Camps and Programs Guide is here! Registration is open and we have early bird specials to save $25 on select camps. www.MontgomeryParks.org/camps

View every presentation for March 7's Infrastructure Forum (sponsored by Council member Roger Berliner) at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School.