For Immediate Release: Tuesday, March 12, 2019
Also on March 12: Scheduled vote on zoning measure on limited use for medical and dental clinics
The Council meeting on Tuesday, March 12 will begin at 9:30 a.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.
Fiscal Year 2019 (FY19) Capital Budget and Amendments to FY19-24 Capital Improvements Program:
Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC)
The Council will review the WSSC’s Fiscal Years 2020-2025 Capital Improvements Program. WSSC has a proposed six-year CIP of $1.87 billion. WSSC's Proposed FY20-25 CIP is $1.873 billion (a decrease of $146.3 million or -7.2 percent). The largest decreases involve: The Potomac Water Filtration Plant (WFP) Submerged Channel Intake project proposed to be deferred beyond six years (-$78.3 million) and the impact of numerous projects moving through construction and having costs no longer in the six-year program (-$52.9 million). The largest six-year increase is from four new projects (+$36.2 million) as well as an increase in the Large Diameter Water Pipe Rehabilitation Program project (+$10.4 million, although this is only a 2. 7 percent increase).
The Council Staff report can be viewed here.
Transportation
The Council will review amendments by the County Executive to the FY19-24 CIP for transportation projects. Overall, the County Executive is recommending CIP spending (excluding WSSC) to decline by $93,291,000 (-2.1 percent) in FY19-24, from $4,424,260,000 to $4,330,969,000. The largest reduction is due to the County Executive's proposal to delete the Montrose Parkway East project (about $86.7 million in the six-year period, about $133.9 overall). Other reductions are due to the deferral of the Dorsey Mill Road Bridge. Bradley Boulevard Improvements, Forest Glen Passageway. White Flint Metro Station North Entrance, and Seven Locks Bikeway and Safety Improvements projects, and scope and cost reductions in the Bicycle-Pedestrian Priority Area Improvements and Sidewalk and Curb Replacement projects.
The Council staff report can be viewed here.
Parks
The Council will review proposed amendments to the FY19-24 for the Maryland-National Capital Parks and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC). Last year, the Council approved an FY19-24 CIP of approximately $220 million for M-NCPPC. In this off-year of the CIP, the Commission has requested four amendments to the approved CIP. The Executive recommends an Affordability Reconciliation Project Description Form that reduces Government Obligation (GO) Bond expenditures by $1.45 million starting in FY21 and spread over the last four years of the CIP.
The Council staff report can be viewed here.
ZTA 19-02, Clinics – Limited Use
The Council is scheduled to vote on ZTA 19-02, Clinics – Limited Use. Council President Nancy Navarro is the lead sponsor. The goal of this zoning change is to streamline the process for having medical and dental clinics as an accessory use in certain zones. ZTA 19-02 would allow medical and dental clinics as an accessory to certain large institutional uses. Under the current zoning code, any permitted or limited use in a zone may be an accessory use to any other use in the same zone. Before 2014, an accessory use could be any use that was incidental and subordinate to the principal use. Under this older provision, the Department of Permitting Services allowed medical and dental clinics as accessory uses to some institutional uses. That is no longer the case because those uses are not listed as permitted or limited uses in many residential zones. ZTA 19- 02 would allow accessory use clinics in all residential zones with limitations on their size. Council staff recommends approval with amendments.
The Council staff report can be viewed here.
Key search terms for ZTA 19-02 on the Council’s website include: accessory use, clinics, medical clinic and dental clinic. #MoCoMedical&DentalClinics is being used for this item on social media.
The Council meeting 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 .