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

The Montgomery County Planning Department will hold a community meeting to discuss the 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. 

Initial planning effort focuses on the area surrounding the future Corridor Cities Transitway.

The Montgomery County Planning Department hosted a community meeting on Monday, April 20 from 7-9 p.m. at the Johns Hopkins Montgomery County Campus to kick off an update to the Bicycle Master Plan, particularly as it relates to the planned Corridor Cities Transitway, a 15-mile bus rapid transit line extending from Shady Grove to Clarksburg.

At the meeting, County planners explained that they will be focusing on the areas surrounding the future Corridor Cities Transitway over the next few months to ensure the latest thinking in bicycle planning is reflected in the many projects now underway in the area. The goal is to develop a regional bikeway network plan for the Great Seneca Science Corridor area to maximize the coordination, connectivity and effectiveness among the various transportation modes. Learn more here.

County planners discuss transportation, schools and environment.

The Montgomery County Planning Department held a community meeting on April 22 from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at Walt Whitman High School to present the latest refinements to the Westbard Sector Plan, which was last revised in 1982. The Sector Plan is now being updated at the direction of the Montgomery County Council to keep pace with the times and changes in the area. Its recommendations aim to enhance the experiences of people who live in the Westbard area by providing for more choices of retail and housing, new parks and open spaces, and greater environmental sustainability. Learn more about the presentation at the April 22 PlanWestbard meeting.
 

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.

The Planning Board and others took a tour of Downtown Silver Spring to see the product of some of the plans they approved as well as get a better look at what it means to practice design excellence. Watch the recap here.
 

View the recap video of a recent tour of Montgomery Parks with a delegation from Japan. The visiting group made up of Japanese parks officials toured the Capital Crescent Trail, Sligo Creek Trail and Brookside Gardens. The group visited with Chair Casey Anderson, Parks Director, Mike Riley and Parks Planner Rachel Newhouse to learn more about urban parks and promoting health. Watch the recap here.

The Montgomery County Planning Department is coming out with new tools to better assist residents. Find out how easy it is to follow development review applications with the Real-Time Tracker with this promo!

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.