For Immediate Release: Friday, October 13, 2017
Burial Sites and Country Inn Zoning
Are Focus of Committee Meeting
on Monday, Oct. 16 at 2 p.m.
On Wed., Oct. 18: Health and Human Services Committee meets with boards and commissions
ROCKVILLE, Md., October 13, 2017—The Montgomery County Council’s Planning, Housing, and Economic Development (PHED) Committee will meet on Monday, October 16 at 2 p.m. to review Bill 24-17, Land Use Information – Burial Sites, and Subdivision Regulation Amendment (SRA) 17-01, Approval Procedures – Burial Sites. Bill 24-17 would require the County Planning Board to conduct an inventory of burial sites in the County, and revise its inventory annually. SRA 17-01 would require that burial sites identified in the inventory be respected in the process of approving a new subdivision.
The PHED Committee, which is chaired by Councilmember Floreen and includes Councilmember Leventhal and Council Vice President Riemer, will meet in the Seventh Floor Council Hearing Room.
A public hearing on these proposals was held on September 12. In general, testimony supported the approval of SRA 17-01 as the Council's first step in protecting burial sites in the County. The Planning Board and Planning staff have recommended approval of both proposals with amendments, including allowing for more flexibility in determining when it is appropriate to relocate buried remains, and allowing changes to the inventory whenever burial sites are discovered, not just annually.
Although there are state requirements for the removal of human remains and for registered cemeteries, currently there are no specific references in County code dealing with cemeteries or burial sites. There are no obligations for developers to do archaeological research on their sites based on County law. SRA 17-01 would shift the burden to subdivision applicants to identify and delineate the boundaries of burial sites, and the burial site would then be protected from development unless that protection would amount to "taking" the property.
Councilmember Rice, Council President Berliner, and Councilmember Leventhal are lead sponsors of SRA 17-01, and Councilmembers Navarro, Hucker, and Elrich are cosponsors.
Councilmember Rice, Council President Berliner, and Councilmember Leventhal are lead sponsors of Bill 24-17, and Councilmembers Katz, Navarro, and Elrich and Council Vice President Riemer are cosponsors.
The staff report on these interconnected proposals can be viewed at:
http://tinyurl.com/y8gvwrxt
The PHED Committee also will review Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) 17-04, Country Inn – Standards, which would revise the standards for approving the construction of a country inn in a residential neighborhood. Councilmembers Elrich and Hucker are the lead sponsors of ZTA 17-04, Council President Berliner, Council Vice President Riemer, and Councilmembers Katz, Rice, Leventhal, Navarro and Floreen are cosponsors. A public hearing on ZTA 17-04 was held on September 12.
A country inn is defined as “an establishment for dining in a rural area that may include a maximum of 12 overnight guest rooms” and other subordinate uses like antique shops and recreational facilities. The sponsors believe that the ZTA adds an appropriate limitation on what constitutes a “rural area,” a concept applied in this case to country inns to limit their use to locations where it would not be a detriment to (residential) neighbors. As introduced, the ZTA would prohibit a pending application for a country inn abutting Old Angler’s Inn from being approved as well as any similarly situated applications that may be submitted in other locations in the future.
The staff report can be viewed at:
http://tinyurl.com/y9ez8q4x
On Wednesday, October 18, at 8:30 a.m., Councilmember George Leventhal, who chairs the Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee, will meet with representatives from County HHS boards and commissions, to review their operations and receive updates. The meeting will take place in the Third Floor Council Conference Room, and there will be a breakfast prior to the meeting in the Sixth Floor Council Conference Room.
The Committee meetings will be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM). The channel can be viewed on Cable Channels 996 (high definition) and 6 (standard definition) on Comcast; Channels 1056 (HD) and 6 (SD) on RCN; and Channel 30 on Verizon. The meetings also will be available live via streaming through the Council website at http://tinyurl.com/z9982v8 .