County Committees Meet on Nov. 5

The Montgomery County Council’s Education Committee at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 5, will hold a worksession on the pilot program to make the Silver Spring Civic Building more accessible for certain community uses. At 11:30 a.m. in the Third Floor Hearing Room, the full Council will continue its discussions on the 2012 Subdivision Staging Plan (which was formerly known as the County Growth Policy).

The Education Committee, which is chaired by Valerie Ervin and includes Councilmembers Phil Andrews and Craig Rice, 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). The broadcast also will be streamed through the County Web site at www.montgomerycountymd.gov.

In its Fiscal Year 2013 budget, the County appropriated $200,000 to its Office of Community Use of Public Facilities (CUPF) to support a pilot project “that focuses on enhancing the use of the Silver Spring Civic Building and reducing the cost for certain community uses.” At a Sept. 18 meeting, Executive Branch staff told the Council that the pilot program was intended to provide financial assistance and increase opportunities to use the building for groups, organizations and community members that meet eligibility criteria.

The Civic Building opened in July 2010 in downtown Silver Spring. Its Great Room can seat approximately 400 and hold as many as 700 people standing. Rooms of other sizes are available for a variety of uses.

At 9:30 a.m. in the Third Floor Conference Room, the Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee (PHED), which is chaired by Nancy Floreen and includes Councilmembers Marc Elrich and George Leventhal, will hold a worksession on the Burtonsville Crossroads Neighborhood Plan that would transform the area on the eastern side of the County from a crossroads to a complete community. To accomplish this, the plan recommends allowing a variety of uses in the 191-acre planning area. Those uses would include residential, creating a main street, improving local vehicular and pedestrian connections between properties, providing public spaces for recreation and gathering and by focusing on infill and redevelopment in the village center.

The PHED Committee will reconvene at 2 p.m. to discuss the County’s plans to expand its bikeshare program by offering incentives for certain property owners to establish bikeshare facilities. The committee also will continue its discussions on proposed Zoning Text Amendment 12-11 that would make significant changes to the County laws regarding accessory apartments. This meeting will also be televised live on County Cable Montgomery.

At 2 p.m. in the Seventh Floor Hearing Room, the Government Operations and Fiscal Policy (GO) Committee, which is chaired by Nancy Navarro and includes Councilmembers Ervin and Hans Riemer, will discuss Bill 25-12 that would allow impact taxes to be used in some circumstances to help finance the expanded bikeshare program. The committee also will continue its discussions on municipal tax duplication—payments to incorporated communities in the County that provide certain services to their residents.

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