Wednesday, March 20, 2013
The travel lanes are part of a proposal for a 79-mile bus rapid transit system using 10 routes across the county.
Planners are recommending taking out travel lanes to make way for bus rapid transit along certain sections of roadways in Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Germantown, Gaithersburg, Rockville, Takoma Park and Silver Spring. The recommendation is part of a staff draft of a Countywide Transit Corridors Functional Master Plan presented to the Montgomery County Planning Board Monday evening. The master plan includes a proposal for a 79-mile bus rapid transit system using 10 routes across the county. The draft will undergo an extensive public hearing process before it’s submitted to the Montgomery County Council this fall. Planners say the system will help Montgomery County meet an increasing transit demand as population and employment grows. “An …
Monday, March 18, 2013
Ever wanted to be on the county planning board? Now's your chance!
For anyone who's ever dreamed of serving on the planning board of a fast-growing county, your chance is here: The Montgomery County Council is seeking applicants to fill a vacancy on the Montgomery County Planning Board. Planning Board member Marye Wells-Harley's term expires on June 14, 2013, and she has "indicated her intent to apply for reappointment to a second term," according to a statement from the office of the county council. Want to run for the $30,000-a-year, council-appointed position? Submit a letter expressing your interest and a resume "listing professional and civic experience, political party affiliation, home and office telephone numbers and an email address" by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17, according to the statement. (…
Monday, March 11, 2013
Find out what other county projects are on the board's March 14 agenda.
The Montgomery County Planning Board will have its first work session for the Glenmont Sector Plan on Thursday. Possible topics in the discussion include land use, zoning and transportation, according to the meeting's agenda. Read the full agenda for March 14 at the planning department's website. *** County planning staff is expected to recommend the approval, with conditions, of a plan to redevelop 7535 Old Georgetown Rd., Bethesda at the March 14 meeting of the county Planning Board. According to a planning department memo: "The Applicant is proposing a mixed-use redevelopment with up to 120 multi-family residential units, including 12.5 [percent as] Moderately Priced Dwelling Units (MPDUs), 5,000 square feet of retail space, below-grade…
Friday, March 1, 2013
A hearing examiner and the Board of Appeals will make the final decision on the proposed gas station's fate.
Costco should not be able to build a gas station at its new Wheaton location, county planners said Thursday night. In a 3-2 vote, after nearly six hours of reviewing a planning staff report and hearing testimony that at times became emotional, the Montgomery County Planning Board recommended denial of Costco's special exception application for the 16-pump gas station. The case next goes to a hearing examiner, who will take up Costco's application at 9:30 a.m. on March 11, 15, 18, and 22 in the Stella B. Werner Council Office Building, Second Floor Davidson Memorial Hearing Room, at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville. The Costco store is scheduled to open April 10 at Westfield Wheaton. Why the Planning Board Voted 'No' The Planning Board came …
Thursday, February 28, 2013
The board rejected Costco's application in a close vote Thursday night.
In a 3-2 vote Thursday night, the Montgomery County Planning Board recommended denial for Costco's special exception application for a 16-pump gas station in Wheaton. The board members in the majority--Chair Françoise Carrier, Casey Anderson and Marye Wells-Harley--reasoned that the gas station does not fit with the overall thrust of the Master Plan for Wheaton, which encourages smart growth and transit-oriented development. For a deeper look into the Planning Board's reasoning: Planning Board: Costco Gas Station Does Not Fit With Wheaton Master Plan The final decision is yet to be made. Costco's application is scheduled to come before a hearing examiner on March 11, 15, 18, and 22 at 9:30 a.m. in the Stella B. Werner Council Office …
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Costco responds to negative report from the Montgomery County Planning Department.
The Montgomery County Planning Board is set to consider Costco's special exception case for a 16-pump gas station in Wheaton on Thursday. The proposed gas station would be located at Westfield Wheaton, where the Costco store is scheduled to open April 10. The board will discuss the special exception case during its afternoon session at 8787 Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring on Feb. 28. For more background on the Costco gas station, read the topics page on Wheaton Patch. Costco faces an unfavorable review from the Montgomery County Planning Department staff. The report, released earlier this month, states that Costco's "analyses and assertion of no adverse health impacts is based on insufficient information, and may have understated the …
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
The county planning staff will make recommendations to the board about future bus rapid transit systems at the meeting on Thursday.
Discussion about the implementation of dedicated bus lanes or bus rapid transit systems in Montgomery County will continue at the Montgomery County Planning Board's next meeting, on Thursday, Feb. 21. The county planning staff will update the board on its recent work on the Countywide Transit Corridors Functional Master Plan. A public hearing for the plan will be held on May 2, according to a planning department briefing. The planning staff recommends that Maryland State Route 355 "is the best candidate for pursuing a high-quality BRT treatment to serve future planned growth," and that U.S. Route 29 "is the best candidate for implementing dedicated bus lanes in the near term," according to the briefing. There is a concern, however, that …
Friday, February 15, 2013
The Montgomery County Planning Board held a Feb. 14 public hearing for an update to the document that will guide development in Glenmont for the next two decades.
Business and property owners joined residents, community association leaders and historians Thursday to testifying about the Glenmont Sector Plan before the Montgomery County Planning Board in Silver Spring. The proposed update to the sector plan, a document that dates back to 1997, will guide development around the Glenmont Metro Station and the Glenmont Shopping Center for the next 15 to 20 years. Montgomery County planners held three community visioning workshops last winter where stakeholders expressed enthusiasm for reviving Glenmont Shopping Center but cautious expectations for collaboration among the multiple property owners there. Comments at Thursday's hearing indicated tension between the challenges of reducing congestion and …
The Montgomery County Planning Board's speaker series this month features urban planners talking about how to turn ideas into reality.
Montgomery County's population may not be increasing as rapidly as it did in the 1980s—when the county accounted for almost one-third of Maryland's population increase, according to the county's website—but it's still increasing, and the Montgomery County Planning Board is bringing in two speakers this month to talk about ways in which to implement plans that will help manage the county's projected growth. In the speaker series, two urban planners will talk with the public (for whom admission is free-of-charge) about how a community can transition from planning ideas to making those ideas a reality. The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments estimates that, between 2010 and 2040, Montgomery County's population will increase by …
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Five things to know for this Valentine's Day in Wheaton: development, singing valentines, artwork and more. (Wait, what? ...development?!)
1) Glenmont Sector Plan Public Hearing What's more romantic than talking about development and smart growth? (Said no one, ever.) And yet, the Montgomery County Planning Board has scheduled a Feb. 14 public hearing at 5 p.m. for the Glenmont Sector Plan, a document that will guide development in Glenmont for the next 15-20 years. If you already made that dinner reservation for two, don't sweat it. Patch will cover the public hearing. 2) Singing Valentines Have you ever wanted to tell your someone special just how much you love him or her--but then when the time comes, the words fail you? The Capital Accord Chorus comes to the rescue each Valentine's Day with Singing Valentines. Hear one of their songs and let it be an inspiration for …
Brian Lev
3:59 am on Friday, March 22, 2013
These planners need to have their heads examined. Take away lanes for a few buses? NO, NO, and NO. more ›