For Immediate Release: Friday, March 21, 2025
The Education and Culture (EC) Committee will meet on Monday, March 24 at 9:30 a.m. to receive an update on the Montgomery County Arts and Humanities Council’s Cultural Plan and review the FY26 Capital Budget and Amendments to the FY25-30 CIP for Montgomery County Public Libraries (MCPL). The meeting will take place in the Council’s seventh-floor hearing room.
The members of the EC Committee include Chair and Council Vice President Will Jawando and Councilmembers Gabe Albornoz and Kristin Mink.
The Transportation and Environment (TE) Committee will meet at 1:30 p.m. to review Executive Regulation #18-24 - Transportation Services Improvement Fund and the Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan 2025-2034. The meeting will take place in the Davidson Memorial Hearing Room, which is located on the second floor of the Council Office Building.
The members of the TE Committee include Chair Evan Glass, Councilmember Marilyn Balcombe and Council President Kate Stewart.
The Planning, Housing and Parks (PHP) Committee will meet at 1:30 p.m. to review the Bethesda Downtown Minor Master Plan Amendment, Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) 25-01, Self-Storage - Civic and Institutional (Street Activation and Vacancy Elimination (S.A.V.E.)), ZTA 25-03, Expedited Approvals - Commercial to Residential Reconstruction and Subdivision Regulation Amendment (SRA) 25-01, Administrative Subdivision - Expedited Approval Plan. The meeting will take place in the Council’s seventh-floor hearing room.
The members of the PHP Committee include Chair Andrew Friedson, Council Vice President Jawando and Councilmember Natali Fani-González.
More detail on each agenda item is provided below.
Update: The EC Committee will receive an update on the Montgomery County Arts and Humanities Council’s Cultural Plan. The Arts and Humanities Council commissioned their last Cultural Plan in 2001, titled Creative Montgomery – A Vision for Arts and Humanities, and is in the process of updating the plan. Through grants and cultural programming, the Arts and Humanities Council cultivates and supports excellence in the arts and humanities, expands access to cultural expression and contributes to economic vitality in the region. The plan provides recommendations for new and increased funding sources for the arts and proposes new cultural facilities in Montgomery County.
Libraries FY26 Capital Budget and Amendments to the FY25-30 CIP
Review: The EC Committee will review the FY26 Capital Budget and Amendments to the FY25-30 CIP for three projects within the libraries category, including the following:
Executive Regulation #18-24 - Transportation Services Improvement Fund (TSIF)
Review: The TE Committee will review Executive Regulation 18-24, Transportation Services Improvement Fund (TSIF). The regulation amends existing Executive Regulation 10-22, which establishes the rates and procedures for distributing TSIF funds to taxicab operators who provide transportation services to individuals who are disabled, seniors and to those with limited incomes. Executive Regulation 18-24 would reduce the per-trip Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles (WAVs) reimbursement from $25 to $20, pay $0.40 per-mile reimbursement for the miles traveled while providing site to site transportation service with a passenger in the vehicle and limit reimbursement to trips of less than 75 miles from the pickup location, in line with the County’s definition of local travel.
Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan 2025-2034
Review: The TE Committee will review the 2025-2034 Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan, which includes information on the legal and regulatory environment for solid waste management and background on the County’s solid waste programs and facilities. State law requires the governing body of each County to adopt and submit to the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) a ten-year plan dealing with solid waste disposal systems, solid waste acceptance facilities and the systematic collection and disposal of solid waste. In addition, each County must review its solid waste management plan at least every three years.
Bethesda Downtown Plan Minor Master Plan Amendment
Review: The PHP Committee will hold its second meeting to review the Planning Board draft of the Bethesda Downtown Plan Minor Master Plan Amendment. The plan recommends technical updates to the 2017 Bethesda Downtown Plan to improve implementation of recommendations related to new parks, transportation infrastructure, a new recreation center and affordable housing within a plan area of roughly 450 acres. This meeting will focus on the recommendations implemented through the Bethesda Overlay Zone. At the first meeting, held on March 10, the committee reviewed recommendations on the development level, transportation and public facilities, a recreation center, park implementation, the Park Impact Payment and affordable housing.
A minor master plan amendment, like the Bethesda 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 minor master plan is focused on the implementation of the 2017 Bethesda Downtown Plan and doesn't reopen the entire plan. Existing zoning, parks, transportation and other recommendations remain unchanged.
Minor master plans follow the same process as master and sector plans, with community outreach, review and recommendation by the Planning Board, a public hearing, and review by the Council prior to adoption. This minor master plan amendment would update the 2017 Bethesda Downtown Plan and covers the same plan area as the 2017 plan.
A public hearing was held on Feb. 26 at the Bethesda Regional Services Center. More information can be found on the Planning Board resource page.
Review: The PHP Committee will review Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) 25-01, Self-Storage - Civic and Institutional (Street Activation and Vacancy Elimination [S.A.V.E.]), which would encourage street activation by allowing self-storage in buildings that have been 90 percent vacant for at least two years if a community-serving use is on the ground floor. In addition to the vacancy requirement, site plan approval would be required. Further, structural improvements would be limited so that future conversion to a residential or commercial use is not discouraged. In the current zoning ordinance, self-storage is only allowed in the CR zone if it’s in the basement or cellar of a building used for other purposes.
The lead sponsor of ZTA 25-01 is Council President Stewart. Councilmembers Fani-González, Friedson, Mink and Council Vice-President Jawando and Councilmembers Laurie-Anne Sayles, Sidney Katz, Albornoz and Luedtke are cosponsors of ZTA 25-01.
Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) 25-03, Expedited Approvals - Commercial to Residential Reconstruction
Review: The PHP Committee will review ZTA 25-03, Expedited Approvals - Commercial to Residential Reconstruction, which would create a Commercial to Residential Reconstruction Use, provide an expedited approval process for that use, and allow reallocation of the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) in certain employment zones. This zoning measure is part of the More Housing N.O.W. package.
ZTA 25-03 would create the commercial to residential reconstruction use, which will be defined as a building that is converted or demolished from a 50 percent vacant commercial building to a residential building. This new use would be allowed in the Commercial/Residential, Neighborhood Retail (NR), and Employment Office (EOF) Zones. ZTA 25-03 will also remove the residential restriction on FAR in the NR and EOF zones, so that total commercial-residential FAR can be used for residential.
The leads sponsors of ZTA 25-03 are Councilmembers Friedson and Fani-González. Councilmembers Luedtke, Council President Stewart and Councilmembers Balcombe and Sayles are cosponsors of ZTA 25-03.
Subdivision Regulation Amendment (SRA) 25-01, Administrative Subdivision - Expedited Approval Plan
Review: The PHP Committee will review Subdivision Regulation Amendment (SRA) 25-01, Administrative Subdivision - Expedited Approval Plan, which would create an administrative subdivision process for a commercial to residential reconstruction expedited approval plan to ensure that timelines are compatible in the event subdivision is necessary. This SRA is part of the More Housing N.O.W. package. As noted above, ZTA 25-03 would create a commercial to residential reconstruction use and provide an expedited approval process for that use.
The leads sponsors of SRA 25-01 are Councilmembers Friedson and Fani-González. Councilmembers Luedtke, Council President Stewart and Councilmembers Balcombe and Sayles are cosponsors of SRA 25-01.
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: 25-099