Downtown Silver Spring master plan aims to spur development, address climate change

An aerial check out of downtown Silver Spring.

Montgomery County Council users expressed preliminary acceptance Tuesday of a learn approach for downtown Silver Spring and some smaller adjacent places that focuses on matters this kind of as progress, transportation and parks, amongst other people.

The council has held multiple perform classes on the Silver Spring Downtown and Adjacent Communities Strategy, which covers downtown Silver Spring and eastward, in particular towards the northern part of downtown. 

Council users agreed to get rid of references to Prosper Montgomery 2050 — the council’s proposed update to its general grasp approach — as the council has not voted on that however.

The Silver Spring prepare aims to support spur growth in the area’s central enterprise district and contains objectives addressing weather alter and improving nearby transportation networks. Some of all those include things like:

• Inspire a minimum amount of 35% of green go over (Trees, green roofs, and so on.) on decide on improvement places in the plan
• Minimizing stormwater runoff as a result of new development
• Incentivizing redevelopment and new progress around transit, including the reuse of some parking garages
• Letting for extra density on downtown plenty in get to add a lot more household and industrial space
• Generating chances and resources for start out-ups or other companies to start off or broaden functions
• Preserving reasonably priced housing by designating certain regions as historic and/or presenting tax incentives

County Council Vice President Evan Glass, whose political career stems back to his time as a member of the South Silver Spring Community Association, stated in an job interview that the strategy will support the downtown spot develop into a extra vivid neighborhood for persons to reside, get the job done and enjoy.

County Council Member Will Jawando, who has normally talked about increasing up in downtown Silver Spring, agrees. He reported in an interview the approach makes it possible for for extra height for buildings and extra options for transit-oriented enhancement. 

“It just reinforces our focus on density in close proximity to transit, complete communities, and also environmentally friendly room and parks,” Jawando reported.

1 of the major plan debates through Tuesday’s assembly was whether or not structured parking should really be viewed as as a “public benefit” in developer projects. This sort of parking can contain underground parking or parking as part of an all round condominium or condominium creating.

County planners may well take into account the range of public rewards that a progress proposal includes when pinpointing no matter whether to approve it. They are selections developed to advantage residents and website visitors and consist of: 

• Significant public amenities
• Affordable housing
• Smaller enterprise chance
• Streetscape improvement
• A wide variety of apartment units, both in measurement and income amount
•  Public open up area
• Tree cover
• Habitat restoration
• Historic preservation

The council’s Planning, Housing and Economic Improvement committee voted 2-1 in a prior worksession to eliminate structured parking from the community positive aspects record. Council Member Hans Riemer, chair of that committee, and Jawando voted in favor even though Council Member Andrew Friedson dissented. 

After debating the issue, the comprehensive council voted 6-3 to reverse the committee’s choice. Friedson, alongside with Council President Gabe Albornoz and Council Associates Nancy Navarro, Craig Rice, Tom Hucker and Sidney Katz voted to depart structured parking as a community benefit. Riemer, Jawando and Council Vice President Evan Glass voted to take away it.

The vast majority opinion claimed that builders need to be offered credit rating for such as structured parking in their proposals. Taking away the general public benefit designation could make it additional tricky for builders to introduce household and professional assignments, mainly because all those developers have claimed that structured parking can make tasks economically achievable, supporters stated. 

Friedson stated that despite the fact that the Pike & Rose community is diverse than downtown Silver Spring, it is a good illustration of how structured parking can be attained successfully. 

All those who disagreed, together with county organizing staff members, mentioned that developers would very likely want to create structured parking in any case, provided the compact sizes of tons in downtown Silver Spring and restricted house. There also are other public positive aspects that developers could go after, they extra.

Glass additional in an job interview that allowing for structured parking would go against a single of the central concepts of the proposed system — incentivizing enhancement near transit and receiving men and women to use methods other than vehicles to transfer all-around. 

“Silver Spring has an amazing prosperity of general public transit possibilities, from the Pink Line to the bus depot to the long run Purple Line, not to point out walkable, bikeable streets,” Glass mentioned. “We want to persuade that … we ought to be building off of our transportation assets, not additional incentivizing garages and cars and trucks.” 

Committee customers also disagreed on the role of specific density cash in the strategy boundaries. The notion at the rear of the fund is that house homeowners perform with the county governing administration or close by house house owners to obtain additional density in order to maximize their setting up heights on selected a lot. 

In some situations, property proprietors spend money to the county in others, they fork out cash to the assets owner from whom they want to acquire density. 

Riemer and Friedson agreed that precise houses in just downtown Silver Spring should be permitted more height in purchase to insert extra commercial or residential room, and in order to supply a lot more amenities for the community superior. Broadly speaking, Jawando disagreed with that strategy, saying residence house owners must be expected to make contributions to the county to establish more density — that dollars could be utilised for economical housing, parks or infrastructure improvements, for occasion. 

Jawando said in an interview that the restrictions and tips all-around setting up height allowances can be improved through future zoning adjustments. Even though his view did not prevail, the total policy selection is a great just one, he added.

A study by preparing officers uncovered that property homeowners could pay up to $10 for every further sq. foot of density and “still have a very sizable financial gain,” Jawando explained. The proposed master prepare sets the rates at $5 per square foot of extra density for household buildings and $3 for commercial houses. “It’s a commence,” he said.

“There’s no silver bullet to supplying the housing and the infrastructure wants in our local community, but this is at least a step in the suitable way,” Jawando additional.   

The council is expected to formally approve the proposed grasp plan in the coming months. 

Steve Bohnel can be attained at [email protected]