WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE COUNTY
For anyone who thinks that development and planning issues have slowed down in the County during the COVID-19 pandemic, the truth is, “NOT!” In fact, there are several efforts in a variety of areas that, while initially separate, in fact overlap to a large degree and require one to pay attention to many issues simultaneously. And, with each such effort having one or more coalitions commenting and with many of us are interested in all of these issues, we can find ourselves asking, “Now, is that the coalition letter about Thrive Montgomery or the one about the climate plan or missing middle housing? Or all of the above?” The good thing is that a lot of what we learn about one issue tends to apply to the others as well; the bad thing is we can never keep track of what letters we have signed on to and what the next Zoom meeting is about!
In any event, this newsletter will be an attempt to do an overview of three major issues the County is currently grappling with and show how they are connected. These are also part of other, ongoing actions the County is dealing with. For instance, last month, the County agreed to allow large-scale solar projects in the Agricultural Reserve, although in a more limited area than originally proposed. That is undoubtedly part of the Climate Action Plan (CAP) which is discussed below but that plan will be much broader and more inclusive.
The County will also continue to deal with the short and long-term impacts of COVID. On the good news side, the supply of vaccine is rising, the County is moving down the priority tiers (I get my second shot on March 29), and business is slowly getting back to normal. On the other hand, it’s not so clear what “normal” will look like going forward. Some businesses that shut down may not reopen and office and retail building owners may discover that many tenants don’t need all the space they had before. That may leave a lot of open building space – but open space in prime locations near Metro spots and the like may be just what we need to address some of the housing issues discussed below. In short, the next year or so is going to be very much of a “glass half full, glass half empty” situation. Which one it will be depends in large part on how smart and adaptable we can be in reacting to this brave new world we’ve been thrust into this last year. And much will depend on how much the changes we have seen will be the “new normal” going forward. So, here’s hoping for the best – and let’s see what the County is working on and seeking input about in dealing with near and not-so-near future.
Thrive Montgomery 2050 (“TM 2050”)
This is a master planning documents that the Planning Board is developing to set a general overall course for County development for the next 30 years in areas ranging from economic development to housing to transportation to dealing with climate change. A working draft was put together over the first half of 2020. In written comments in August 2020, the County Executive stated that he viewed the draft as unclear, not adequately setting priorities, and failing to address issues regarding infrastructure and transportation. A final working draft issued on October 1, and a public hearing was held on November 19, despite other comments expressing significant issues with the draft as presented. For more info on "TM 2050," click here.
Following the closing of the public record, the comments were used by Planning Staff to revise the initial draft and those revisions have been presented over the last several months chapter by chapter to the Planning Board. The new version does not just rearrange the prior document but also has substantial revisions. Although the public could comment on those segments, it is hard to do so without a complete draft. On January 27, 2021, the County Executive again commented on the product to that point, noting that the three original theme chapters had been dispersed; new themes had been added; and recommendations and factual analyses had been substantially changed. He asked how one could reasonably comment without seeing a single full draft. Indeed, as of March 29, there is no single compiled complete draft plan that one can click on in one location to review to determine what is currently being proposes as Thrive Montgomery 2050.
Instead, after some 10 work sessions on different parts of the plan, with the last being held on March 4, the Planning Board staff intend to finally publish a full updated draft plan on April 1, that the Planning Board will then be approve on April 8, for submission to the County Executive and Council. In light of this somewhat haphazard process, a letter was submitted on March 18, signed by a large group of municipalities and community organizations asking that the Planning step back and slow down the process. In particular, they suggest that the full rewrite be published for further comments (and those comments could have the benefit of hearing the Board’s review of the work to date) and that a new public hearing be held on the updated draft. In that way, it is hoped that a better consensus could be reached including how to deal with these issues at a time of limited resources. [link to letter.] (In light of the short turn-around time on the letter, KHCA did not sign on, but the concerns there are ones that the Executive Committee shares.)
Missing Middle Housing (“MMH”)
It is important to get the Thrive Montgomery framework right, since many other current issues also fall under that framework such as the discussions about MMH. This is the idea that between single-family housing and large apartment buildings and major townhouse complexes there is a range of housing types that used to exist but have tended to disappear, including buildings set up as duplex, triplex, or quad units, and smaller townhouses groups and mini-apartments; i.e., 6 to 8 units or so. There have been recent discussions about reintroducing such housing types to increase the supply of housing in general and more affordable housing in particular. The analysis has also looked to place these additional homes into broader plans for “complete communities” near business, retail, and transit to create neighborhoods less dependent on auto use. That is the same type of discussion that underlies many aspects of the Thrive Montgomery review process described above.
Council Member Will Jawando introduced a Zoning Text Amendment, ZTA 20-07, that would have allowed such added housing types essentially as a matter of right within areas within a mile of Metro lines. Council Members Riemer and Hucker are considering introducing a separate ZTA dealing with similar types of expanded housing opportunities along BRT (bus rapid transit) corridors and where proposed as part of approved Master Plans. There is certainly value in such proposals in terms of creating more housing opportunities in proximity to transit and jobs at prices that are more attainable for typical homeowners (although they are not expected to meet the criteria for “affordable” housing that is required to be a component of large-scale developments. On the other hand, there are also numerous concerns as to how adding such to existing neighborhoods like KHCA would affect the existing, generally smaller single-family homes. (That said, KH is, in fact, an example of a community with a wide variety of housing styles from small 1-story Cape Cods to large, 3-story single family homes and townhouses.)
In that regard, there was concern in the mid-2000s about the rise of “McMansions” in MoCo neighborhoods by which existing, relatively affordable single-family homes were being replaced by much larger and most costly single-family homes. This raised concerns about how to retain existing neighborhoods (see 2006 Planning Dept. Report here) and the County passed ZTA 08-11 in December 2008 to limit heights and lot coverage for new buildings being added as infill in existing neighborhoods.
A primary issue with these new proposals on MMH is that they could largely result in building the same bigger homes as in the earlier McMansions, although they would now house 2-4 families rather than only a single family. That has value in terms of creating more housing units, but each such unit would likely be close to the price of the prior, single-family house and there would now be additional pressures placed on infrastructure from these new multi-family units. There would also still be the issues relating to size, scale, and compatibility. In responding to these concerns, those supporting such projects emphasize that care must be taken to a) involve the public and engage their support, b) make the buildings compatible with existing development, and c) site them as part of an overall community development structure. The problem with ensuring such care is taken is that developers generally insist such projects must proceed under “by right” zoning in order to give themselves sufficient security that they will gain approval of their project to make it worth it for them to take on more difficult projects rather than just building more McMansions. The Planning Board recently compiled a report dealing with a neighborhood in Silver Spring that looks at all of these issues and tries to estimate the costs and likelihood of developing different types of projects and the monthly ownership/rental costs associated with them. It is very informative reading.
In an effort to deal with all of those issues, the County Planning Department on March 15, initiated an “Attainable Housing Strategies” project, in response to a request by the County Council to consider all of these options. (That followed a public hearing on ZTA 20-07 with some 80 speakers.) The memo states that the Board intends to look at a wide variety of options and tactics to assess the county housing supply and analyze best methods to increase it and make it more attainable. It designated a Housing Equity Advisory Team (“HEAT”) to discuss the issues, hold public meetings, and conduct work sessions. (Perhaps because, in speaking up at that public hearing on MMH, I stated that they needed a “task force,” I have been tapped to participate in the HEAT sessions.) The first such session was held on March 24, and a public hearing was held on March 29, There will be another meeting on April 21, 2021, at 7:00 PM; click here for more info.
This is a topic that is clearly not going away; it is being taken up all over the country and the Planning Board has been looking at it for several years. That said, its leading proponent, Daniel Parolek, repeatedly emphasizes how important it is that these projects be compatible with the surrounding communities, which means that the necessary changes need to be made with a fine engraving tool not a sledgehammer. There are many gradations of how such buildings could be approved between simply saying “anything goes” on the one hand, and creating a three-week hearing process for every duplex, on the other hand. Deciding on what can be allowed requires consideration of everything from the existing housing structure to the roadways, to the school capacity to the size of the storm drains. And, making workable projects may require thinking about more than just the houses themselves – for instance, if one wants to cut back on parking for these projects, it might be necessary to include car sharing requirements so that everyone can have access to a car without needing to each own one. So, there is much to consider.
Our best guess is that nothing will actually move forward on this until perhaps next year after much more in-depth discussion – and that will also give us time to see how the post-COVID “new normal” will affect our work, commuting, and shopping patterns, all of which may have a great deal of impact on where future development will end up. In any event, we plan on setting up a virtual General Meeting later this spring for KCHA to present information on these proposals and to get your feedback. No date set yet, but stay tuned and we’ll give you plenty of notice.
Climate Action Plan (“CAP”)
The other major piece that the County is currently looking at that slots into these other two projects is the CAP. This is the planning that goes into how the County hopes to achieve its goal of zero net greenhouse gas emissions. While the usual target date stated is 2035, as of now, the County’s plan only proposes to eliminate 83% of such emissions by that date and does not yet address how to remove some of the carbon dioxide that has already built up. The Plan does have many useful ideas and goals, but as time goes on, it becomes necessary to act with ever-greater urgency and dedication to reach the same point. A large group of county organization dealing with these issues such as the Sierra Club, Conservation Montgomery, Friends of Sligo Creek, the Montgomery County Civic Federation, and many more created another coalition (not to be confused with the Thrive Montgomery coalition) and submitted detailed comments on the plan.
The main thrust of the cover letter signed by those groups was to ask the County to commit to putting forward an actual implementation plan by April 22, Earth Day 2021, to specify what the County will be doing this year to move into emergency mode on these issues. The current CAP has an enormous number of good ideas; what needs to be done is to clarify the how, the when, and the who that will be taking the necessary steps to turn those ideas into reality. In that regard, reducing energy use in our buildings and our transportation structures will be a critical part of those efforts and the changes being proposed in the Thrive Montgomery Planning and the MMH discussions may well be critical in helping us to reach those energy reduction goals. The enforced jump into the “all virtual” world that COVID created has pointed the way to many changes that may help with that process but, once, again, we will need to see how things settled down into the “new normal” in the upcoming months. In any event, as of now, it appears the County will be putting out a detailed set of relatively short-term projects by Earth Day but does not think its entire long-range strategy will be detailed by then, but they will be continuing to work on it.
Vision Zero Traffic Safety
In addition to major Montgomery County projects discussed, the County has a number of other significant initiatives like its Vision Zero traffic safety project whose goals is to reduce pedestrian and bike traffic accidents and fatalities with an ultimate goal of zero. And, of course, much of the Thrive Montgomery project is also aimed at the economic side of the County development with an eye towards increasing jobs and businesses to provide the financial engine on which all of the rest of this depends.
Wheaton Gateway
Another major project moving forward at this time is the Wheaton Gateway, to be built at the corner of University and Veirs Mill. This was the site of the Ambassador Hotel and the mattress store and adjoins Lindsay Ford. The expanse of vacant land at that corner (including the Lindsay Ford space eventually) will be converted over the next few years into a major residential complex with some 800 units total, of which 30% will be affordably-priced units. It will be built in three phases, with the first being right on the corner, the second in the Lindsay Ford space, and the final phase will be on the west side of the space abutting the neighboring community. The buildings will step down in size so that the last one will not be towering over those adjacent homes. The first phase will have retail on the ground level and then about 12 stores of housing above that. For anyone who would like to see detailed drawing and a discussion of the project and its overall structure, you can check out this link. Their website can be accessed here. There are still several more phases of plan development and approval required; according to the site, construction is not expected to start before 2023.
All of the remarks, analysis, and ruminations below are those of Karen Cordry, KCHA President, alone; no one else in KCHA leadership or otherwise is responsible for them or needs to answer for them! As you will see at the end, we are also working on setting up a virtual KHCA General Meeting to discuss some or all of these topics, so keep your thoughts ready.
