As the county holds listening sessions and reviews a proposal put forward by the Montgomery County Planning Board, it is important to see how these changes might impact the County Council members.
Shockingly, 45% of the current county council will be excluded from any direct impact from these zoning changes.
The proposal recommends these changes:
- duplexes everywhere in the R-40, R-60, R-90, and R-200 zones;
- triplexes everywhere in the R-40, R-60, and R-90 zones, and in the R-200 zone within a Priority Housing District;
- quadplexes in the R-40, R-60, R-90, and R-200 zones within the Priority Housing District
When looking at the primary residence of the County Council members (not their 2nd homes such as Evan Glass has in MoCo), the following council members would be impacted.
- Natalie Fani-Gonzalez – R90
- Gabe Albornoz – R90
- Marilyn Balcombe – R200
- Kristin Mink – R60
- Kate Stewart – R60
- Evan Glass – R60
The gigantic parcels of land owned by Dawn Luedtke and Will Jawando are excluded as they are in Zone RC and Zone RE-2, respectively. Both Laurie-Anne Sayles and Sidney Katz, residing in Gaithersburg, are also excluded. And Council President Andrew Friedson is excluded as he resides in Zone R10.
It is not unusual for County Council members to vote on policies and regulations that do not directly impact them, but this is a major change in zoning policy and will directly impact families and communities that are subject to these changes. Shouldn’t everyone have skin in this game….?
You can look up which zone your residence falls into using this online map.
