Restore full funding to the statutorily mandated Office of the People’s Counsel (OPC) Testimony of W. E. “Rick” Meyer Public Hearing Bill 18-23, Structure of County Government – Community Zoning and Land Use Resource Officer April 18, 2023 I appear this afternoon in steadfast opposition to Bill 18-23. This Council needs to end more than a decade of shameless efforts to lock residents out of zoning processes. The first step the Council can take towards rebuilding resident trust and repairing the engagement process 1 is to vote against 18-23 and to restore full funding to the statutorily mandated People’s Counsel (OPC). If I might be allowed to present an example of the bewildering hyper complexity of zoning issues – an example that dramatically illustrates why residents desperately need the fully funded legal resources of a People’s Counsel. That example is the debacle of ZTA 19-07. That wireless zoning ZTA was the cumulative effort of a powerful and persistent PHED Chair. It took him
Open Letter to County Council of Montgomery County, MD October 21, 2022 Dear Council President Albornoz and Members of the County Council, We are writing in light of the recent resignation of all five Montgomery County M-NCPPC (Planning Board) Commissioners. According to an October 12 press release, the Council President stated: “The Council has lost confidence in the Montgomery County Planning Board and accepted these resignations to reset operations.” On October 11, the day the Council decided to seek these resignations, seven various land use changes were under consideration – some of which will impact the County for a generation and beyond, including six zoning text amendments (ZTA) and Thrive 2050 – prior to October 31, after which time by State Law these decisions must be left to the incoming members of the new Council. Since October 11, the Council has adopted four of these ZTAs. If the Council “lost confidence” in the fired Commissioners who authored these land-use plans and r
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ( Download the PDF Version ) October 3rd, 2022 The Montgomery County Coalition to Protect Neighborhoods Contact: Eric Meyer 301-237-9825 protectmoco@gmail.com Rockville, MD — With the lame-duck Montgomery County Council poised to ignore resident opposition and approve cell towers on poles just 30 feet from homes, a coalition of grassroots groups will rally against this major proposed zoning change at the County Council building Tuesday, Oct. 11th, at 11:30 AM. And these groups invite the Council to come out and talk about it . When: Oct. 11th, at 11:30 am Where: Steps of the County Council Building 100 Maryland Ave., Rockville, MD 20850 Why a Rally? – With just days remaining before the general election, the outgoing Council is continuing to pursue this zoning change despite intense resident opposition — including a flood of letters and phone calls and unanimously negative testimony from residents at a public hearing on Sept. 13th. Of the residents who signed up
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