Press Releases - County Council

Montgomery County Council Seeks Applicants for the Board of Appeals

For Immediate Release: Thursday, September 4, 2025

The deadline for applying is Monday, Oct. 6, at 5 p.m.

The Montgomery County Council is seeking applicants for the Board of Appeals due to a recent resignation. This term began in Sept. 2023 and expires in Sept. 2027. Applications for the vacancy must be received by 5 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 6, 2025.

By law, no more than three of the five members can be from the same political party. Any person appointed to fill a vacancy created other than by the expiration of a term must be registered to vote in primary elections of the same political party as the member replaced. Applicants must be registered to vote without affiliation with a political party. The Board of Elections will verify voter registration. The selected appointee serves the remainder of the unexpired term.

The current members of the Board include Chair Caryn Hines (Democrat), Richard Melnick (Unaffiliated), Alan Sternstein (Democrat), and Donald Silverstein (Unaffiliated). Members of the Board currently receive an annual salary of $17,135.63, with the Chair receiving $24,217.41. Salaries are adjusted annually in December to reflect 50 percent of the change in the Washington Area Consumer Price Index.

Duties of the Board of Appeals include hearing and deciding requests for variances from development standards contained in the Zoning Ordinance, hearing appeals from certain administrative decisions rendered by County government agencies and hearing oral arguments and deciding appeals from decisions of the Hearing Examiner on conditional uses. The Board also considers and decides requests for modifications of special exceptions.

The Board normally holds weekly hearings every Wednesday and worksessions every other Wednesday. If necessary to accommodate an extended caseload or continued hearings, the Board may schedule hearings for other weekdays. Members are expected to prepare for the hearings by reading the cases to be heard and sharing the workload of drafting and editing. Members work approximately 15-25 hours a week.

The principal jurisdiction of the Board of Appeals does not include the municipalities of Brookeville, Poolesville, Laytonsville, Rockville, Barnesville, Gaithersburg, and Washington Grove. The Council is not precluded from appointing someone who resides in one of these municipalities, although it may choose to avoid doing so.

Cover letter expressing interest and a resume (no more than four pages in length) listing professional and civic experience, home address, political affiliation, telephone number and email address should be sent via email to [email protected] addressed to Council President Stewart, or sent via mail to Council President Stewart, County Council Office, 100 Maryland Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20850. Letters of application must be received no later than 5 p.m. on Oct. 6, 2025. It is the Council’s policy not to consider applications received after the deadline. After the closing date, Councilmembers will review the letters of application and select applicants to interview.

Council staff may request a redacted resume or bio to include as part of the information shared with the public. The interviews and appointment process are open to the public and will be televised, streamed live, and available on YouTube and Facebook. All applicants will be required to provide a financial disclosure statement of assets, debts, income, and family property interests. Only the appointed candidates will be required to make the financial statement available for public review.

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Release ID: 25-286
Media Contact: Helen Xu