Montgomery County Council to Hold Committee Meetings on Monday, July 22

The Montgomery County Council will hold committee meetings on Monday, July 22. The full agenda is below courtesy of Montgomery County:

Commissions will review transportation demand management regulations, parking lot and urban district funding, updates to the Growth Levels Map, the Feasible Housing Strategies initiative, a zoning measure to expand the use of campgrounds in certain areas of the agricultural reserve, and the WMATA budget for FY 2025.

Financing of parking lot districts and urban districts

Briefing: The joint ECON and TE committee will receive a briefing on the financing of County parking lot districts and urban districts. The briefing will include fiscal projections and an overview of current and potential future financing models. Parking lot district financing has historically been a significant source of funding for urban districts.

The County operates three parking lot districts in Bethesda, Silver Spring and Wheaton. Each includes several structured parking garages and surface parking lots. The parking lot districts are funded primarily by parking fees and fines.

The Bethesda, Wheaton, and Silver Spring urban counties are currently funded by an ad valorem property tax levied on property owners within the district, as well as transfers from the parking lot districts and the county’s general fund. The Bethesda and Silver Spring urban counties also receive a small amount of revenue from optional method development payments.

Implementing Regulation 8-21, Transport Demand Management

Judgement: The Joint ECON and TE Committee will review Executive Regulation 8-21, Transportation Demand Management, which establishes standards for achieving Non-Auto Driver Mode Share (NADMS) targets established for portions of the County. The NADMS targets relate to the percentage of commuter trips made by modes of transportation other than single-occupant vehicles, coupled with the percentage of commuters who connect to work electronically. The regulations also establish Transportation Demand Management (TDM) plan requirements for employers and TDM plan requirements for new development projects and existing buildings in TDM Districts, as determined by the size and location of the project relative to the County’s designated Growth and Infrastructure Policy Areas.

Montgomery County Growth Tiers Map Update

Judgement: The PHP Committee will review a proposed update to the Montgomery County Growth Tiers Map. The Planning Board recommends an update to the map to reflect changes in sewer categories since 2012 and to correct inaccuracies in the current map.

In 2012, the Council passed Subdivision Regulation (SRA) 12-01 to comply with the Maryland Sustainable Growth and Agricultural Preservation Act of 2012. That law required local jurisdictions to establish and adopt growth levels to control the number of new subdivisions on septic fields. The goals were to protect agriculture, control growth in rural areas, promote growth in areas with infrastructure for that purpose, and reduce nitrogen from septic systems, a primary polluter of the Chesapeake Bay.

Initiative for Feasible Housing Strategies

Judgement: The PHP Committee will continue to review the Planning Department’s Attainable Housing Strategies Initiative, which offers a series of zoning and other policy changes that would allow duplexes, triplexes, townhomes and small apartment buildings in more residential areas of the County, while still allowing for the development of detached single-family homes. The proposed zoning changes discussed in the report would contribute to an effort to help current and future Montgomery County residents find housing that meets their needs and to create more diverse, better integrated and economically sustainable neighborhoods.

The PHP Committee was briefed on the report at a meeting on June 24. At a meeting on July 8, the committee discussed the small- and medium-scale portions of the study. At this meeting, the committee will review large-scale and other recommendations, as well as other code and policy considerations.

The Attainable Housing Strategies Initiative was launched on March 4, 2021, to consider zoning reforms that would provide more opportunities for Missing Middle Housing in Montgomery County. Missing Middle Housing refers to a range of buildings that are compatible with single-family homes in scale, form, and construction, but offer multiple dwelling units and a variety of apartments or condominiums of at least three stories. Current recommendations include a requirement for small-scale attainable housing to follow the same setbacks, lot coverage, and height restrictions as a detached single-family home. More information is available on the Planning Department’s Attainable Housing Strategies Initiative website.

ZTA 24-02, Agricultural and rural areas – Campsite

Judgement: The PHP Commission will revise ZTA 24-02, Agricultural and Rural Zones – Campground, which would expand camping use to the Agricultural Reserve (AR) Zone and Rural Cluster (RC) Zone on properties that meet the agricultural requirements in the zoning ordinance. Under the current zoning ordinance, camping is only allowed in the Rural (R) Zone and Residential Estate 2C (RE-2C) Zone. Additional requirements include a minimum square footage, a maximum number of structures, a maximum number of nights per guest, and restrictions on kitchen and bathroom facilities.

The lead sponsors of ZTA 24-02 are Councilmembers Balcombe, Dawn Luedtke, Sidney Katz and Fani-González. Council President Friedson and Councilmembers Gabe Albornoz, Glass and Laurie Anne-Sayles are co-sponsors of ZTA 24-02.

FY25 WMATA Budget Overview

Briefing: The TE Committee will receive a briefing on WMATA’s FY25 operating budget, Red Line Metrorail station closures, and the Better Bus Network redesign. The meeting will also include discussions on WMATA’s operations and ridership data, and an overview of DVMMoves, a collaboration between WMATA and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) to develop a unified vision and sustainable financing model for public transit.