Montgomery County Civic Federation - Questionnaire and Answers

June 1, 2008 - Montgomery County Civic Federation Planning Board Applicant Questionnaire

1) How do you view citizen participation in land use planning and development approval processes?

I view citizen participation in land use planning and implementation processes as absolutely critical and I would work to maximize the opportunities for citizens to participate in our planning and implementation processes. I think that there is broad consensus for active citizen participation among relevant stakeholders. To this end, I would advocate that citizens have the maximum possible access to Board and Commission staff and documents. I would work to see that citizens have appropriate notice of Commission meetings and opportunities to be heard on issues before the Commission and the Board. I would ensure for all stakeholders that the hearing process was predictable, reliable, transparent and fair. As I have told the County Council, I support the practice of convening Planning Board meetings throughout the County, and I would encourage the use information technology to facilitate two-way communications between residents and Planning Board and staff.

As a Planning Board member, I would attend community meetings throughout the County to learn first hand of the community’s concern about our land use and planning processes. Currently, I attend many public meetings of community associations to learn of their concerns.

Montgomery County has one of the most gifted populations in the United States. I strongly believe that we should engage the community as active and valuable participants in the process, and that residents should be considered as partners, rather than adversaries. Our planning process will be stronger if all stakeholders believe that the process is transparent and fair.

In this regard, I viewed Montgomery Preservation’s charette related to proposed development plans for the Comsat building as a great example of how the community can be made a partner in or contributor to development discussions. An enthusiastic group of residents, professionals and lay people joined together to discussed various development alternatives. The project developers received some alternative designs to consider as they moved closer to a final decision about how they might develop that site. I have also participated in design charettes for the Silver Spring Library and the Silver Place Project.

2) How can we better regulate the pace of growth to assure infrastructure is in place to accommodate it?

Montgomery County already has several measures in place to better regulate the pace of growth to assure infrastructure is in place to accommodate it, namely the Annual Growth Policy and the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance.

I will work to ensure that the Council has the best possible advice to support its decisions about Annual Growth rates. We should continue to refine our modeling to ensure that we have the best possible information about water and sewerage capacity, traffic capacity, adequate schools, and adequate public safety. The Board can be even more vigilant as it monitors the responsibilities of developers to timely bring on line the critical infrastructure in support of their projects.

3) What steps could the Planning Board take to correct the geographical imbalance of jobs and housing in the county?

There is broad consensus that there is a geographic imbalance of jobs and housing in the county and similar consensus that achieving balance will be difficult. The County is currently generating more jobs than housing opportunities and the economics of rental housing and home ownership suggest that the stress between housing and jobs will become more acute in the future. The Planning Board can assist this process by working to see that new planning frameworks have provisions for affordable housing, located near transit and job centers. The Board can also advocate for increased federal, state and local funding for transit alternatives. The Commission’s research can continue to identify national and global best practices for affordable housing and possible partnerships between the private and public sector to increase housing stock.

4) What tools could the Planning Board employ to assure more affordably priced housing in the county?

The Planning Board and the Commission staff have already given considerable attention to the affordable housing crisis in Montgomery County, and I support continuing this emphasis. These policy measures include the Special Ceiling Allocation to the Annual Growth Policy, the expedited Green Tape Approvals for development projects that include substantial housing components, use of the Transferable Development Rights process to increase housing density where appropriate, the inclusion of an affordable housing chapter in every master plan, and consideration of affordable housing in subdivision plans. I believe that the Commission should continue its research on best practices to increase the affordable house stock for County employees, including teachers and fire and police personnel, and senior citizens. I recognize that the provision of more affordable housing in Montgomery County is a daunting challenge, but I believe it is one to which we must devote a very significant amount of creative energy and resources.

5) What do you see as the Planning Board's role in preservation of the environment--water quality, forest conservation and tree canopy, parks, agricultural and rural open space, etc.?

The Planning Board has a critical and essential role in ensuring that the overall environmental quality is protected. It performs this role through a broad range of regulatory practices that ensure the new development does not, to the maximum extent possible, adversely affect establish forests and water resources. The Commission must be properly staffed to ensure that there are adequate resources to conduct timely and effective inspections, so that development is in compliance with County rules and regulations. I strongly affirm the need for Commission staff to give close scrutiny and priority attention to those aspects of the Commission’s work that impact environmental protection, including water quality, forest conservation, and Legacy Open Space. I believe that environmental protection and conservation should be viewed as critical investments in the County’s future

6) Please describe your knowledge of the Montgomery County zoning ordinance.

I am familiar with the County’s Zoning Ordinance and its organization, i.e., Chapter 59 “Zoning” of the Montgomery County Code. I have been paying particular attention to the ongoing effort to revise the Zoning Ordinance to make it more streamlined and more comprehensible to all of the development stakeholders. I am particularly interested in the prospective design of a new “CR” zone (commercial/residential) which would consolidate some existing zoning categories and would be used in many new master plans in Montgomery County.