SILVER SPRING, MD – As the
Montgomery County Planning Board continues to discuss county housing policies –
with an eye toward affordability, stable neighborhoods and related issues – board
members and planning staff hope to involve the public both during its meetings
and through online technology.
The board’s research
staff established a blog that allows residents to stay abreast of the board’s progress
on housing issues and insert
themselves in the process. Visit the blog, dubbed The Home Stretch, and learn about the latest board
deliberations, submit comments, and fill out a user’s poll on housing costs.
Staff will roll citizen input into future presentations.
The blog is part of a
Planning Board focus on housing policy. The board launched a series of housing
presentations in February that will identify policies to help provide housing
choices that meet the needs of a wide range of incomes.
The housing
initiative also will inform recommendations to change the housing goals of the
county General Plan. First published in 1964 and amended several times since,
the General Plan establishes policies to guide growth. The presentations by
staff and guest speakers explore ideas about existing housing policies,
treatment of housing in master plans and development review, housing design,
housing markets (supply and demand), housing affordability and neighborhood stability.
Last year,
Maryland legislators required counties to amend their general plans to address middle-income
housing if they wanted to remain eligible for certain grants. The Planning
Board decided to update the county’s housing element to reflect housing issues
and policies that have changed since 1997. Board members will consider housing
issues throughout the spring.
In March, the board hosted
guest speaker David Rusk, a consultant who has worked with more than 120
communities to analyze urban problems such as housing inequities. The next
staff housing presentation is scheduled for April 17 and another housing expert
will speak with the board in May.