Council to Discuss Proposed Zoning Code Changes

The Montgomery County Council on Jan. 14, 15 and 16 will hold worksessions on the first proposed major changes in the County Zoning Ordinance since 1978. The Council’s Planning, Housing and Economic Development (PHED) Committee held numerous worksessions over the past six months on revisions that were recommended by the County’s Planning Board.

The PHED Committee, which is chaired by Nancy Floreen and includes Councilmembers Marc Elrich and George Leventhal, held its final review on Dec. 9. The committee has provided the Council with its recommendations on Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) 13-04 and District Map Amendment (DMA) G-956.

The updated proposed Zoning Rewrite draft, which includes changes made by the PHED Committee during 13 worksessions—in addition to plain language edits, corrections and clarifications—can be viewed at www.zoningmontgomery.org . The updated draft includes recommendations the PHED Committee made after the Council heard from more than 80 speakers at an additional public held in November on the Zoning Rewrite.

The PHED Committee recommended deferring action on District Map Amendment (G-956) at least six months and delaying the effective date of the Zoning Rewrite until a District Map Amendment is approved by the Council.

The all-day worksessions on the Zoning Rewrite scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 14; Wednesday, Jan. 15; and Thursday, Jan. 16 will begin at 9:30 a.m. each day. The worksessions will be held in the Third Floor Hearing Room of the Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville and will be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM—Cable Channel 6 on Comcast and RCN, Channel 30 on Verizon). The broadcasts also will be streamed through the County Web site at www.montgomerycountymd.gov.

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