Montgomery Planning releases preliminary recommendations for the Eastern Silver Spring Communities Plan – Mocofeed

Master plan focuses on Silver Spring neighborhoods east of the Sligo Creek Stream Valley Park and south of the Capital Beltway

Wheaton, Md. – The Montgomery County Planning Department, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), released the preliminary recommendations of the Eastern Silver Spring Communities Plan today online. The preliminary recommendations were developed following planners’ research and analysis of the plan area and comprehensive community engagement over the past two and a half years.

View the full preliminary recommendations staff report, an explainer of the key recommendations and an interactive zoning map explaining the key zoning recommendations. Watch a YouTube playlist explaining key elements of the preliminary recommendations and provide feedback on them by completing a brief questionnaire.

Preliminary recommendations represent planning best practices, county policies, professional expertise, qualitative and quantitative data analyses, and what the plan team learned throughout the process from community members about their needs and desires for the plan area. The Montgomery County Planning Board, also part of The M-NCPPC, will provide the plan team its feedback on the preliminary recommendations over a series of Planning Board meetings on March 5, March 12, and March 19. The Board’s feedback, along with feedback received from the community, will inform the development of the plan’s first draft, or the Working Draft, that’s scheduled to be shared with the community and the Planning Board this fall.

Following the review of the Working Draft, the Planning Board will hold a public hearing and work sessions for the plan. Watch Planning Board meetings live or on-demand.

March 5: Preliminary recommendations overview briefing
March 12: Preliminary plan-wide recommendations briefing
March 19: Preliminary zoning recommendations briefing

Key preliminary recommendations

Land Use and Zoning

• Give places of worship, community institutions, and senior housing communities more flexibility to update buildings, expand services, or add housing on their properties.
• Keep existing zoning for commercial properties in Long Branch that were rezoned as part of the 2013 Long Branch Sector Plan to continue supporting housing, small businesses, and community spaces in Long Branch.

Housing

• Expand housing choices and affordability by increasing family sized, senior friendly, and accessible homes.
• Allow more diverse housing types (duplexes, triplexes, townhouses, small apartments) along major corridors and near Purple Line stations.
• Protect and grow affordable units by maintaining existing affordability during redevelopment and adding more income-restricted homes while supporting mixed housing and neighborhood retail near Purple Line stations and most Bus Rapid Transit stations.
• Improve housing quality without raising rents by exploring the use of incentives, loans, and rehabilitation programs to fix older buildings while keeping rents stable. Strive for no net loss of affordable housing in this area and helping residents stay, including encouraging the right to return after redevelopment.

Urban Design and Placemaking

• Create a walkable, connected, and people-focused environment by placing buildings close to the street, activating ground floors and public spaces, improving streetscapes, enhancing wayfinding, and expanding pedestrian and bike connections throughout the plan area.
• Utilize increased zoning capacity and height around transit stations to deliver new and infill development that expands housing diversity, improves pedestrian safety, includes shade tree canopy, and enhances access to neighborhood-serving retail and amenities.  
• Use temporary placemaking installations on publicly owned land to create hubs for social gatherings, growing food, and testing ideas for long-term improvements to these areas.
• At the March 5 Planning Board briefing, staff will provide an overview of the Eastern Silver Spring Placemaking Initiative, which will kick off this spring. Placemaking as a strategy is being used in the master planning process to help visualize and test ideas for public spaces. Guided by input received through community engagement, staff identified five spots within the plan area that will be improved with temporary amenities to serve as focal points for neighbors to gather.

Economic Development and Small Businesses

• Support local small businesses, by offering incentives whenever redevelopment occurs to keep existing local businesses, help them relocate, and provide affordable retail spaces.
• Create community ownership of commercial spaces through supporting the establishment of a commercial land trust that can purchase properties and offer affordable spaces for businesses.
• Showcase and maintain Long Branch’s unique character by promoting legacy and international businesses and supporting the Long Branch Business League.

Transportation

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• Improve access and transportation safety for people walking, biking, and rolling to Purple Line stations, planned Bus Rapid Transit stations, and schools
• Add dedicated bus lanes on University Boulevard between I-495 and Piney Branch Road by repurposing one travel lane in each direction.
• Improve east-west travel for people walking and biking with a new bicycle and pedestrian connection over the Northwest Branch Trail attached to the I-495 bridge.
• Redesign Hartwell Road into a low-speed shared street for pedestrians, bicyclists, and vehicles, better connecting the Manchester Place Purple Line Station and Flower Avenue Urban Park.
• Provide more frequent protected pedestrian crossings along major roads through transportation improvements that stop vehicles to allow people to cross the road safely.
• Install sidewalks on neighborhood streets, prioritizing areas near transit, parks, and schools.

Parks and Trails

• Expand and improve existing parks to better serve the community.
• Enhance park accessibility and integration with Purple Line stations in the plan area.
• Improve park safety with increased public visibility, community interaction, accessibility and enhanced design.   

Environment

• Create a network of “cool streets.” Utilize extensive canopy tree plantings to create shaded, comfortable pedestrian corridors that connect parks and key destinations while improving ecological connectivity, reducing heat island impacts, supporting wildlife movement, boosting biodiversity and climate resilience, and delivering social, mental, and economic benefits.

The plan also includes preliminary recommendations related to community facilities, schools, and historic preservation.

More about the plan

The Eastern Silver Spring Communities Plan sets a vision for communities that are poised to experience change when Purple Line service begins in 2027. Three future Purple Line stations are included in the plan area and there are plans for Bus Rapid Transit service along the main corridors of University Boulevard and New Hampshire Avenue, complementing existing Bus Rapid Transit service on Colesville Road. The plan builds on these transportation investments by recommending more housing, safer ways for people to get around without a car, and creating complete communities that provide residents and visitors choices in how they live, work, and spend time in the plan area The plan will amend several existing master and sector plans and covers an area stretching from Sligo Creek Stream Valley Park to the Prince George’s County line and south to the edge of the City of Takoma Park, which is not included in the plan boundary. Community members can stay informed and involved by visiting the Eastern Silver Spring Communities Plan website, subscribing to the plan’s newsletter, or contacting the team at easternsilverspring@montgomeryplanning.org.