For Immediate Release: Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Montgomery County Council Rescinds Expanded Parking Hours Proposal
Measures Addressed on Final Day Before Recess Included Drought Relief for Farmers,
Nutrition Labeling on Menus, Forest Conservation for Religious Institutions, Hospital Study
ROCKVILLE, July 31, 2007—The Montgomery County Council on Tuesday, July 31, unanimously approved a measure that will rescind proposed expanded parking hours for the County’s parking lot districts in Bethesda, Montgomery Hills, Silver Spring and Wheaton. That issue was among many that the Council addressed today before adjourning for its annual summer recess.
Councilmembers Valerie Ervin, Roger Berliner, Marc Elrich and George Leventhal co-sponsored the resolution to amend certain provisions of revised parking regulations adopted this spring by the County Council and approved by County Executive Isiah Leggett. The regulations were scheduled to go in effect on July 1, but were not implemented after hundreds of residents and business operators expressed their concerns.
The new regulations were intended to make public parking regulations throughout the County more uniform, but residents and business operators stressed the need to have regulations appropriate for specific areas. The resolution passed rescinded the adopted new measures that extended the hours drivers would pay to park in certain lots. The Council’s Transportation and Environment Committee will be reviewing the issues in the fall.
The other items addressed today included the introduction of a special appropriation of $1.5 million that will provide economic relief to County farmers if their crops are adversely affected by the ongoing summer drought. Council Vice President Mike Knapp has worked with County Executive Isiah Leggett on the special program.
Councilmember Leventhal, chair of the County’s Health and Human Services Committee, officially introduced a measure he proposed earlier this summer that would require a restaurant that is part of a chain of 10 or more national locations that offer the same type of menu to post the number of calories, grams of fat and grams of sodium on menus for any standardized menu item. Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg is a co-sponsor of the legislation.
The Council unanimously approved a bill that will revise the County’s forest conservation law to treat religious institutions like other institutions in regard to reforestation requirements. A 2001 bill subjected religious institutions to the forest conservation regulations of the base zone where they are located. This provision requires religious institutions to plant or retain more trees if they are located in certain zones than other institutions (such as schools, government offices and fire stations).
The amended bill was sponsored by Council President Marilyn Praisner, at the request of the County Executive, and by Councilmembers Leventhal and Ervin. The Council anticipates receiving a comprehensive review of the Forest Conservation Law in the fall from the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. Councilmembers Berliner and Elrich also have been involved in this effort.
The Council also approved a resolution that requests a benchmark study of Montgomery County’s five hospitals. During a Council discussion in June, Councilmembers raised questions about the availability of independent data sources that could be used in future discussions regarding hospital closures, expansions, moves, identification of underserved areas or other related issued. The Department of Health and Human Services staff believes that the information produced in the study could assist the County in assessing current and future hospital needs.
The Council by a 6-2 vote elected to defer a bill that would extend legislation that allows issuing temporary taxi driver identification cards to applicants without obtaining both a state and federal criminal background check in certain instances. The Coalition for a Competitive Taxicab Industry (CCTI) had requested the extension, citing the difficulty in the past in filling open positions when FBI background checks came back slowly. Councilmembers Nancy Floreen and Ervin proposed extending the legislation, which will expire Aug. 31. Councilmember Phil Andrews advocated against the extension, noting that since April FBI background checks have been coming back in a week or less. He also cited that of the 151 temporary licenses issued since October 2006, five had been revoked due to information revealed when the federal background checks were received.