Long Branch Work Session & More

The Montgomery County Council’s Planning, Housing and Economic Development (PHED) Committee will hold its second worksession on July 29 at 1:30 p.m. on the Long Branch Sector Plan.

The worksession, which will be broadcast live on County Cable Montgomery and closed captioned in Spanish and English, will focus on moderately priced dwelling unit requirements, staging, the Flower Theater, property specific zoning and community facilities.

 The PHED Committee, which is chaired by Nancy Floreen and includes Councilmember Marc Elrich and George Leventhal, will meet in the Seventh Floor Hearing Room of the Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville. The meeting will be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM—Cable Channel 6 on Comcast and RCN, Channel 30 on Verizon) and will be streamed through the County Web site at www.montgomerycountymd.gov.

 The PHED Committee held its first worksession on the future redevelopment of Long Branch on July 22. Replays of that worksession can be viewed from the County Council web site—with closed captioning in Spanish and English—at:

http://www6.montgomerycountymd.gov/csltmpl.asp?url=/content/council/ondemand/index.asp

At Monday’s worksession, one issue the committee will address is the sector plan recommendation to strongly encourage the building of 15 percent moderately priced dwelling units (MPDUs) as the public benefit under the Commercial Residential Town (CRT) zone. The County requires MPDUs to be 12.5 percent in most developments.

 The Flower Theater and Shopping Center is another topic for discussion. The sector plan states that they meet the criteria for designation of the Historic Preservation Ordinance. However, it goes on to state, “The public interest in revitalization outweighs the benefits of their designation in the Master Plan for Historic Preservation.” The plan would basically save the Flower Theater’s façade so to allow better use of the property overall.

 At 9:30 a.m. in the Seventh Floor Hearing Room, the Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment Committee, which is chaired by Roger Berliner and includes Councilmembers Floreen and Hans Riemer, will have a worksession on the Office of Legislative Oversight report on “Coordinating Utility and Transportation Work in County Rights-of-Ways.”

 The report responds to the Council’s request for a report that describes how the County Government and utilities exchange information about planned and on-going construction projects in County rights-of-ways. The report identifies opportunities to improve coordination on projects between the government and the utility companies.

 The committee also will discuss proposed Bill 2-13 that would require the County’s director of transportation to adopt a five-year schedule of reconstruction, rehabilitation and resurfacing for County sidewalks, streets and roads—and to publicize the schedule.

 The chief sponsor of Bill 2-13 is Councilmember Leventhal. The bill is co-sponsored by Councilmembers Berliner, Elrich and Riemer.

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