URGENT: ZONING REWRITE HEATS UP--COUNCIL HEARINGS NEXT TUESDAY AND THURSDAY

[Meredith Wellington]

Dear Neighbors,

Unusual—the full Council is holding not one but two public hearings next week on the evenings of November 12 and 14 at 7:30 pm to hear our views on the proposed new zoning code, and on a district map amendment that would rezone almost all of the County’s commercial areas.  After the hearings, the Zoning Rewrite and rezoning are on a fast track:  the Council’s Planning, Housing and Economic Development  (PHED) Committee will finish its work in December, and the full Council will take up the proposed new code and the rezoning in January.
 
Now is the time for us to share with the Council our views on the proposed zoning code and the commercial rezoning. Please attend the hearings next week (at least one night), send emails to the Council president (councilmem...@montgomerycountymd.gov) and alert your civic association as to what is happening. It is time for our residents and civic associations to weigh in with the County Council.

Neighborhood Montgomery is concerned with the impacts of the new code as currently drafted on the County’s single-family residential neighborhoods and the commercial areas that adjoin them. We are equally concerned with the consequences, intended and unintended, of rezoning all of the commercial areas of the County in a single action immediately after approval of the new code.
 
Here is what we are asking the Council to do:

For the new zoning code:

1.  Make no changes to our single-family R-60 and R-90 zones.
 
v No “Nonresidential Buildings”
v No “Nonresidential Floating Zones”
v No easing of requirements for rezoning single-family residential property                 to higher density multi-family residential property
v No back yard barnyard “pets” --miniature goats, hens, ducks, rabbits                                  and/or bees
v No front yard farm stands and markets
 
2. Retain the zoning rules that protect our neighborhoods. Do not adopt “Residential Floating Zones” that would allow duplexes, townhouses, and nonresidential buildings on small properties now zoned for single-family homes.
 
3.  Raise the bar for public amenities to be provided by developers in our commercial areas. A recent County study reported that, on average, 60% of the “public benefits” provided by the developers of new projects in White Flint would have been provided anyway.
 
4.  Retain and preserve the historic role of master plans in the zoning and development processes. Do not water down the importance of master plan recommendations in order to provide “flexibility” in these processes.
 
5. Retain in the new zoning code the CBD, C-1--C-5, and any other existing zones that have worked well for the County, and let zoning changes occur as needed for good development.
 
For the District Map Amendment to rezone almost all commercial property:

6.  Separate the adoption of the new zoning code from any subsequent rezoning of the County’s commercial areas. Do not rezone virtually all the commercial areas in the County through a single district map amendment in one fell swoop immediately following passage of the new code.
 
7.  After the new zoning code is adopted, require that any subsequent rezoning of these areas occur on a property-by-property basis through the master plan process and by local map amendment.

Let’s finish the work we have started. See you on Tuesday,

Meredith

Neighborhood Montgomery
A Neighborhood Network for Sensible Growth
http://groups.google.com/group/neighborhood-montgomery