Montgomery County Council Committee Meetings on Jan. 29, 2024

For Immediate Release: Friday, January 26, 2024

Committees will review legislation to establish a voluntary registry for 911 calls, zoning text amendment to allow certain properties with transferable development rights in the County’s Agricultural Reserve Zone to be used as cemeteries, and the Takoma Park Minor Master Plan Amendment

The joint Public Safety (PS) and Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee will meet on Monday , Jan. 29 at 9:30 a.m. to discuss Bill 33-23, Police – Voluntary Registry for Emergency 911 Calls – Established.

The members of the PS Committee include Chair Sidney Katz and Councilmembers Dawn Luedtke and Kristin Mink.

The members of the HHS Committee include Chair Gabe Albornoz and Councilmembers Luedtke and Laurie-Anne Sayles.

The Planning, Housing and Parks (PHP) Committee will meet at 1:30 p.m. to discuss Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) 23-08, Transferable Development Rights – Cemetery and the Takoma Park Minor Master Plan Amendment.

The members of the PHP Committee include Chair and Council President Andrew Friedson and Councilmembers Natali Fani-González and Will Jawando.

More detail on each agenda item is provided below.

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Bill 33-23, Police – Voluntary Registry for Emergency 911 Calls – Established

Review: The joint PS and HHS Committee will review Bill 33-23, which would establish a voluntary registry for emergency 911 calls to enable the public to provide personal and medical information to assist emergency responders, and generally amend the law regarding public safety, emergency response and policing.

The lead sponsor of Bill 33-23 is Councilmember Luedtke. Council Vice President Kate Stewart, Councilmember Evan Glass, Council President Friedson, and Councilmembers Albornoz, Katz and Fani-González are cosponsors.

Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) 23-08, Transferable Development Rights – Cemetery

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Review: The PHP Committee will review ZTA 23-08, Transferable Development Rights – Cemetery, which would allow certain properties in the Agricultural Reserve (AR) Zone with transferable development rights (TDRs) to be used as cemeteries. Councilmember Marilyn Balcombe is the lead sponsor of ZTA 23-08.

Under the current zoning ordinance, a cemetery is prohibited if the lot or parcel on which the cemetery would be located is in the AR Zone and is encumbered by a recorded TDR easement. ZTA 23-08 would allow a property owner in the AR Zone to expand a cemetery onto land that currently has TDRs.

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A TDR is a voluntary, incentive-based program that allows landowners to sell development rights from their land to a developer or other interested party who then can use these rights to increase the density of development at another designated location. While the seller of development rights still owns the land and can continue using it, an easement is placed on the property that prevents further development.

Takoma Park Minor Master Plan Amendment

Review: The PHP Committee will review the Takoma Park Minor Master Plan Amendment . The plan makes recommendations to improve quality of life, guide future development and encourage improvements to the natural and built environments within the plan area. A minor master plan amendment, like the Takoma Park Minor Master Plan Amendment, revisits a specific portion of the approved and adopted master plan and reexamines certain elements, often to address a change that was not anticipated at the time the adopted master plan was approved. This plan amendment would update portions of the 2000 Takoma Park Master Plan with the Takoma Park Minor Master Plan Amendment.

This amendment reenvisions the areas within the plan boundary that include the Washington Adventist Hospital and University campuses, the Erie Center (located at the intersection of Flower Avenue and Erie Avenue), and multi-family properties, parks and the Takoma Park Community Center located along Maple Avenue. The plan boundary was determined by the Montgomery County Planning Board in coordination with the City of Takoma Park. The plan boundary was approved by the Planning Board on Sept. 30, 2021.

In recent years, the Council and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) have approved and adopted two sector plans for communities in Takoma Park and adjacent areas. These include the 2012 Takoma-Langley Crossroads Sector Plan and the 2013 Long Branch Sector Plan . These plans, in addition to the 2021 Retail in Diverse Communities Study, will inform the Takoma Park Minor Master Plan Amendment process.

The Committee meeting schedule may change from time to time. View the current Council and Committee agendas, Council staff reports and additional information on items scheduled for Council review on the Council website .

Council and committee meetings are streamed live on the Council’s web page via YouTube and on Facebook Live and can be watched on County Cable Montgomery on Xfinity/RCN 6 HD 996/1056, Fios 30, and on the CCM live stream .

Release ID: 24-035
Media Contact: 240-777-7926, 240-777-7884

For updates and link to press release, see here: http://www2.montgomerycountymd.gov/mcgportalapps/Press_Detail.aspx?Item_ID=44683