Committee meetings about retail policy, permitting and public safety guidance for instances of severe agitation; legislation to provide smoke escape hoods in multi-family residential rental buildings, update air-conditioning standards in single-family home rentals and expand eligibility for the Length of Service Awards Program; and resolutions to establish Regional Principles for Equitable Development and local housing targets
The Economic Development (ECON) Committee will meet on Monday, Nov. 9 at 9:30 a.m. to receive briefings about retail policy and permitting for commercial real estate development.
The members of the ECON Committee include Chair and Council President Natali Fani-González, Council Vice President Marilyn Balcombe and Councilmembers Evan Glass and Laurie-Anne Sayles.
The Public Safety (PS) Committee will meet at 1:30 p.m. to receive a briefing about the County’s public safety response to instances of severe agitation. In addition, the committee will review Bill 43-26, Fire Safety – Smoke Escape Hoods in Multifamily Residential Rental Buildings and Bill 20-26, Fire and Rescue Services – Length of Service Awards Program for Volunteers, Amendments.
The members of the PS Committee include Chair Sidney Katz and Councilmembers Dawn Luedtke and Kristin Mink.
The Planning, Housing and Parks (PHP) Committee will meet at 1:30 p.m. to review Bill 9-26, Rental Housing – Maintenance Standards and Essential Services – Air-Conditioning. In addition, the committee will review the Council of Governments (COG) Regional Equitable Development Principles and local housing targets.
The members of the PHP Committee include Chair Andrew Friedson, Council President Fani-González and Councilmember Will Jawando.
More detail on each agenda item is provided below.
Briefing: The ECON Committee will receive a briefing about retail policy, which will include a summary of Montgomery Planning’s Countywide Retail Market Assessment and an overview of policy considerations for establishing a legacy retail program. The retail market assessment examines supply and demand across 12 submarkets and along key commercial corridors, provides an assessment of development and consumer trends and considers the impact of regulatory barriers. The goal of the assessment is to provide refreshed data and new findings to inform master plans, development review, economic development policy and implementation of the complete communities and corridors envisioned in Thrive Montgomery 2050. The discussion on creating a legacy retail program will focus on recommendations developed for the draft East Silver Spring Communities Plan, which includes studies conducted on retail and protecting small businesses.
Briefing: The ECON Committee will receive a briefing about permitting for commercial real estate development from representatives of the Planning Department, Department of Permitting Services (DPS) and Department of Transportation (MCDOT). The briefing will focus on County and state initiatives to streamline development review and permitting. The briefing will serve as an opportunity to identify policy areas for future research and as a forum to understand how these issues impact development outcomes.
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Briefing: The PS Committee will receive a briefing about the County’s public safety response to instances of severe agitation from representatives of the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) and the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD). MCPD and MCFRS began working together in 2013 to develop a coordinated response to individuals experiencing severe agitation. The briefing is expected to include an overview of the initial response to these instances, on-scene responsibilities of officers and emergency medical personnel, medical decision-making, physical restraint, patient monitoring, transportation and personnel training.
Bill 43-26, Fire Safety – Smoke Escape Hoods in Multifamily Residential Rental Buildings
Review: The PS Committee will review Bill 43-26, Fire Safety – Smoke Escape Hoods in Multifamily Residential Rental Buildings, which would require a property owner of certain multifamily residential rental buildings to provide smoke escape hoods for occupants use during a fire emergency. In addition, Bill 43-26 would establish notice, inspection and maintenance requirements for smoke escape hoods. The bill would require the number of smoke escape hoods provided to meet the statutory minimum of five percent of the building’s occupancy. The fire chief may require additional smoke escape hoods, but the additional amount must not exceed 10 percent of the building’s occupancy.
The purpose of Bill 43-26 is to further expand tenant protections that the Council passed unanimously under Bill 7-24, the Melanie Diaz Act, which requires landlords to notify tenants of fire safety, insurance and building maintenance issues.
The lead sponsor of Bill 43-26 is Councilmember Kate Stewart. Council President Fani-González, Councilmembers Katz and Shebra Evans and Council Vice-President Marilyn Balcombe and Councilmembers Luedtke, Mink and Sayles are cosponsors.
Bill 20-26, Fire and Rescue Services – Length of Service Awards Program for Volunteers – Amendments
Review: The PS Committee will review Bill 20-26, Fire and Rescue Services – Length of Service Awards Program for Volunteers, Amendments. The bill would expand eligibility for Length of Service Awards Program (LOSAP) benefits to certain volunteer fire and rescue members, increase benefit amounts and update laws governing the program, consistent with the negotiated collective bargaining agreement effective July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2029.
The lead sponsor is the Council President at the request of the County Executive.
Bill 9-26, Rental Housing – Maintenance Standards and Essential Services – Air-Conditioning
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Review: The PHP Committee will review Bill 9-26, Rental Housing – Maintenance Standards and Essential Services, Air Conditioning, which would require detached single-family homes offered for rent to meet certain air-conditioning standards and update the times of year in which air-conditioning requirements apply. In 2020, the Council enacted Bill 24-19, which required landlords to provide air conditioning in rental units during the months of June through September.
Currently, Bill 24-19 exempts detached single-family homes and dwellings located on sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places from the air-conditioning requirement. Bill 9-26 would amend the air conditioning requirements enacted under Bill 24-19 to require the provision of air-conditioning in certain rental properties from May 15 through September 30. In addition, the bill would remove the current exemption for detached single-family homes. Dwellings located on sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places would continue to be exempt. The bill would provide for a transition period, in which landlords of detached single-family homes could seek a temporary waiver from the director of the Department of Housing and Community Affairs.
The lead sponsor of Bill 9-26 is Councilmember Mink. Councilmembers Sayles and Jawando are cosponsors.
Council of Governments (COG) Regional Equitable Development Principles
Review: The PHP Committee will review a proposed resolution which would approve the adoption of Regional Principles for Equitable Development. These principles serve as a regional model and standard for local governments to implement equitable development processes and policies through land use planning and housing actions. The goals of the Regional Principles for Equitable Development are to acknowledge history and repair past harm, practice inclusive and meaningful community engagement and commit to implementation with internal capacity and community transparency.
The intended policy outcomes include advancing economic opportunity and mobility, preventing displacement, expanding affordable housing options and preserving existing affordability, supporting and strengthening diverse community values, promoting people-centered multi-modal mobility and connectivity, developing healthy and safe communities and promoting and regulating environmental justice. Additional detail is available in the Council staff report.
Local Housing Targets Follow-Up
Review: The PHP Committee will continue to discuss local housing targets and review a draft resolution outlining local housing targets and affordable housing goals for the County. The proposed resolution adopts the 2040 and 2050 Local Housing Targets, establishes a goal of producing at least 27,000 net new housing units during 2031-2040 and 17,000 net new housing units during 2041-2050, and establishes local housing targets by planning area. The draft resolution is available in the Council staff report.
The committee previously discussed housing targets at a meeting held on Oct. 19. In 2018, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government’s (COG) Board of Directors passed a resolution resulting in a goal to add at least 320,000 housing units to the region between 2020 and 2030. In 2019, the Montgomery County Council signed on to COG’s housing goals through a resolution that called on the County to produce 10,000 units beyond the forecasted amount of 31,000 units by 2030. In March of 2023, the PHP Committee and Montgomery Planning began work on translating the County’s 2030 housing target into local housing targets for the County’s 22 planning areas.
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.
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