Council to vote on zoning measure that would allow tasting rooms in residential estate areas on Feb. 12

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Also on Feb. 12: Overview of the MARC Rail Communities Sector Plan and public hearing; scheduled vote on County Spending Affordability Guidelines and a resolution to waive Ride On fares for furloughed federal employees

The Council meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 12 will begin at 1:30 p.m. Individuals interested in attending a Council meeting should confirm the information on the day of the meeting by visiting the Council’s web page or by calling the Council’s Communication Office at 240-777-7832. All meetings are held in the Council Office Building (100 Maryland Ave., Rockville, MD.) in the third-floor hearing room, unless otherwise noted.

At 1:30 p.m. the Council will hold the following public hearings:

• Supplemental appropriation to the County Government’s fiscal year 2019 (FY19) Capital Budget and amendment to the FY19-24 Capital Improvements Program, Department of General Services (DGS) - $1,990,000 for Council Office Building Garage Renovation.
  The council staff report can be viewed here.
• Supplemental appropriation to the County Government’s FY19 Capital Budget and amendment to the FY19-24 Capital Improvements Program, Department of Transportation (DOT) - $1,000,000 for Resurfacing: Residential/Rural Roads.
  The Council staff report can be viewed here.
• Supplemental appropriation to the County Government’s FY19 Capital Budget and amendment to the FY19-24 Capital Improvements Program, Department of Recreation - $17,016,000 for South County Regional Recreation and Aquatic Center.
  The Council staff report can be viewed here.
• Resolution to approve Declaration of No Further Need: Disposition of County Parking Lot 43 located at 8009 Woodmont Avenue, Bethesda.
  The Council staff report can be viewed here.
• Resolution to amend Resolution 18-1162, Setting Transportation Fees, Charges, and Fares. The Council is scheduled to vote on the resolution after the public hearing.
  The Council staff report can be viewed here.

Zoning Text Amendment 18-14, Farm Alcohol Production - Residential Zones
The Council will review Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) 18-14, Farm Alcohol Production – Residential Zones. Councilmembers Hans Riemer and Craig Rice are the lead sponsors. ZTA 18-14 would amend the recently approved provisions for farm alcohol production. ZTA 18-14 would allow tasting rooms in the RE-1 and RE-2 zones (residential estate zones, which consist of large lot residential uses) if: 1) the site is at least 25 acres in size; and 2) the site is in category six of the Ten-Year Water Supply and Comprehensive Sewerage Plan. Category six of the plan requires the use of a septic rather than a sewerage system. These conditions would be in addition to all other conditions applicable to accessory farm alcohol production. The goal of this zoning proposal is to expand opportunities in the agricultural and rural zones to have tasting rooms. The Planning, Housing and Economic Development (PHED) Committee recommends approval.

The Council staff report can be viewed here.

MARC Rail Communities Sector Plan
The Council will receive an overview of the MARC Rail Communities Sector Plan. The plan builds on the recommendations of the previous 1985 Boyds Master Plan, the 1989 Germantown Master Plan and the 2009 Germantown Employment Area Sector Plan, and examines the land uses, zoning, design and multimodal access to the two MARC stations located in Boyds and Germantown. This limited master plan does the following:

• determines the appropriate land uses and densities at sites near each station;
• provides recommendations to improve multimodal access to each station (using information gathered during the Master Plan of Highways and Transitways and the Bicycle Master Plan to help inform the access portion of this plan); and
• considers other concerns raised during the planning process (i.e. parking).

The Council will hold a public hearing on the Marc Rail Communities Sector Plan at 7:30 p.m.

The Council and public hearing staff report can be viewed here.

The Council meeting and public hearings 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 Council meeting also will be available live via streaming through the Council web site at: http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COUNCIL/ondemand/index.html.

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Release ID: 19-055
Media Contact: Sonya Healy 240-777-7926, Juan Jovel 240-777-7931