Second Round Listening Session: Gaithersburg Community Center - October 24, 2018

The comments below represent the statements or points of view of one or more individuals who participated in the Maryland Department of Planning (MDP) “A Better Maryland” Development Plan Listening Sessions. These comments do not represent any official position or policy of MDP or any other State agency, nor do they represent any official position or policy of any local jurisdiction or local planning agency.

Environment

Selected Topic
Preserving Land

Selected Strategies
Enhance Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation (MALPF) and other conservation programs to meet the State’s goals

Review existing state land preservation programs to identify how to reduce administrative costs

Comments:

• • Having clean water is the most important thing to address in the State Development Plan
    • The area should consider getting clean and drinkable water through the creation of more reservoirs
    • Building reservoirs for water quality is critical
  • Montgomery County’s Agricultural Preservation Program is very good and has preserved a lot of land, but the County should revisit its program to ensure the viability of farming operations for those remaining farmers that have participated in the program
  • Montgomery County’s agricultural preservation program is forcing development to be concentrated too much down county, which is causing more traffic congestion in areas like Bethesda
  • Montgomery County is continuing to grow
    • This is causing traffic to be a concern
    • There needs to be more interconnected, network of roads and bridges in the urban parts of the county, connecting over to Virginia
  • Support reducing the administrative costs of agricultural preservation because those savings can be redirected into preserving more land.
    • The administrative costs are stifling funding opportunities to purchase more development rights and preserve more land

Economic Development

Selected Topic
Addressing Maryland’s Transportation, Infrastructure, and Technology Challenges and Opportunities

Selected Strategy
Ensure a safe, secure, and resilient transportation system that provides better choices and connections for people and goods

Comments

• • Autonomous vehicles need to be part of the State transportation future
  • MARC stations need to be better connected to local bus service and other mode options
    • Provide safe walking to the transit stations
    • There is a need for adequate parking at MARC stations
  • Additional bridge crossings of the Potomac River are needed between Montgomery County and Fairfax
  • More transportation options for the senior population
    • Ride-On Bus provides free service for seniors during off-peak time, which is great, and half-fare during peak times. It would be nice if it was free all times. The cost to the tax payer would be minimal compared to the potential reduction in traffic
  • Look at transit funding solutions to promote more ridership on Metrorail and Metrobus
  • Transit reliability is a real concern, particularly during off-peak times (either late at night or early in the day)
    • Ride schedule options are very limited, creating significantly longer rides during off-peak times
    • East-west transit options don’t exist
    • A reliable network of mode choices doesn’t exist. Limited or no interconnected mode choices
    • Transit projects are not pursued because the projected ridership is not high enough at the beginning to warrant the project. They need to recognize there will be gradual increases in ridership during the first 10 years of the service
  • Peak traffic in Montgomery County starts at 5 and 6 AM in the morning. This is abnormal and not typical with other major urban area in the country.
  • Need to look at the data and figure out why and what can be done
  • There is a need for improved interface between Montgomery County and the State on reviewing transportation projects. Need to improve the coordination and reduce the review time.

Community Development

Selected Topic
Creating Workforce/Affordable Housing

Selected Strategy
Explore innovative housing partnerships and financing mechanisms to increase the stock of affordable and workforce housing (e.g. community land trusts, CDCs)

Comments

• • Explore getting more senior housing built.
    • This will promote turnover housing opportunities for families to move into communities where the seniors used to live
    • Montgomery County is helping seniors “age in place” by funding rehab projects to make their homes more accessible
    • Consider providing tax incentives (transfer tax reduction) for seniors to encourage them to sell their homes
    • Consider expanding the County’s Moderately Price Dwelling Unit (MPDU) Program to accommodate seniors
  • Montgomery County does have zoning provisions that allow accessory apartments
  • Look to ways of reducing the cost of construction through changes to the building codes and reduced inspection fees and better administration
    • Building inspections have been inconsistent depending upon the inspector, causing increased costs from multiple re-inspections
  • Housing for disabled populations also needs to include the associated support services network

Selected Topic
Creating Quality Places

Selected Strategy
Work in partnership with local jurisdictions to revitalize corridors within urban and suburban centers and towns

Comments

• • There is a real challenge to redevelop the MD 355 corridor and make it a more attractive and desirable place
    • Development along MD 355 has evolved over the years.
    • A lot of the commercial lots along the corridor are relatively small and difficult to assemble/redevelop.
    • Property owners have ‘address recognition’ so they can attract tenants and are not motivated to redevelop/consolidate lots.
  • Local governments are not doing enough to keep seniors in the community and in the state, particularly when it comes to taxing pensions.
    • Tax laws discourage seniors from staying here or moving out of their homes into nearby retirement communities
    • Seniors would be willing to stay, if there were less disincentives such as taxes.

Collaboration / Coordination

Selected Topic
Improving the Delivery of Programs and Services to Local Jurisdictions

Selected Strategy
Establish an interagency review process to determine the best and most effective delivery mechanisms for State programs and projects

Comments

• • Be careful on cooperative purchasing agreements.
    • There have been local audits of purchasing agreements regarding ballfields in Montgomery County
  • There needs to be more consistency in school design and building standards to reduce the cost of new schools
  • There is a need for increased accessibility to monitor state and local agency meetings, where decisions are made
    • It would be more efficient and convenient for people that want to monitor Maryland Historic Trust’s meetings to be simply be able to view the meeting online
    • Improve access to local reports and studies via the internet so people can better understand local issues
    • Local government meeting should be online and available for replay via the internet