Community Workshops Continue for Glenmont Sector Plan

Montgomery County planners will hold a second community visioning workshop for the Glenmont Sector Plan Update this Wednesday. The workshop will take place from 7-9 p.m. at the Saddlebrook/Park Police Headquarters, 12751 Layhill Road, Silver Spring.

This update to the Glenmont Sector Plan, designed to create a framework to guide development for the next 15-20 years, includes several opportunities for public input: community visioning workshops, community hearings and a public hearing anticipated later this year, according to a timeline in the scope of work document. 

The Feb. 22 workshop comes a little more than two weeks after the first workshop, at which planners asked residents about what changes they would like to see to the central shopping center and the rest of Glenmont.

“Some of the things we have heard before, but some of it was new ideas we need to consider,” Michael Brown, the county's senior planner for the sector plan, told the Gazette. For full story, visit http://www.gazette.net/article/20120205/NEWS/702059989/1022/glenmont-wants-retail-residential-town-square-pedestrian-access&template=gazette.

According to a summary prepared by planners, participants identified the following as the most important issues in Glenmont: the Glenmont Shopping Center, pedestrian and bicycle accessibility and safety issues, traffic congestion, and “crime and public disorder.” 

Chris Coleman, who attended the meeting, wrote the following in an email to Patch: 

If I could sum it all up, the takeaway is this: Glenmont residents want to be able to feel safe as they walk or bike along attractive corridors to a mixed-use town center-type development for their entertainment, shopping and relaxation. They want to take advantage of the Metro as a means to attract new residents and businesses. And, they don't want to have to leave their community for basic needs.

The presentation planners gave at the Feb. 4 workshop is available online. 

The agenda for the Feb. 22 workshop is posted online: http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/community/glenmont/documents/GlenmontWorkshopIIMeetingAgenda.pdf