Planners seek national perspective on creating higher and clearer standards for next generation of Montgomery County development
Silver Spring, MD – The Montgomery County Planning Department, part of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, is consulting with nationally recognized urban design and planning expert Noré Winter to upgrade its design guidelines for master plans. This initiative is part of a broader effort to implement design excellence throughout our County. Winter’s work will culminate January 27 to 29 with a series of presentations about the guidelines to the Montgomery Planning Board, Planning staff and the public.
The community is invited to attend the public presentation and discussion on the creation and implementation of effective Design Guidelines at an evening event on Tuesday, January 27, 2015 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Silver Spring Civic Center (1 Veterans Plaza, Silver Spring, Md.). The event will consist of a lecture given by Noré Winter and a discussion with developers, planners, architects and the community about how to improve the County’s master plan design guidelines.
RSVP for the lecture and discussion on Tuesday, January 27 from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Winter specializes in developing guidelines for communities with distinctive natural settings and traditional neighborhoods at the urban, suburban and rural levels. He is president of Winter & Company in Boulder, Colorado, and has worked on projects in 48 states for both local governments and federal agencies, and from large cities to small private developments.
Winter is frequently a featured speaker at conferences sponsored by organizations such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation, National Park Service and American Planning Association. From 1992-1996, he served as Chairman of the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions.
“Noré Winter understands that design guidelines must be tailored to the specifics of place and region,” says Planning Department Director Gwen Wright. “His expertise will help us develop clearer and stronger guidelines that will foster a higher level of design excellence and a better public realm, while at the same time help communities, developers and different public agencies to better understand and implement design goals for our communities.”
The Planning Department is currently working to emphasize design excellence in all aspects of the planning being done throughout the County so as to assure that Montgomery County can be a showcase for the best in urban, suburban, and rural communities. The Department’s design excellence initiative includes efforts to incentivize and promote great design through a variety of new programs – including outreach and awards to the design community, education and discussion with stakeholders, and a refinement of some regulatory tools.
Improving the Planning Department’s design guidelines, which are developed with each new master plan, will help achieve this design excellence objective. Design guidelines that are a part of future area, sector and master plans for the County are a key component of communicating community vision and goals for implementation.