BREAKING: 9 Groups + Mayor Sign Letter to @MoCoCouncilMD Calling for 1- Council to Follow MD Law, 2- Independent Investigation of Planning Board

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 recommendations, how can the Council have confidence in what the fired Commissioners have written and edited, and that proper procedure was and is followed?

We the undersigned urge the Council, in its capacity as County Council and District Council, to suspend any and all further action on any pending zoning amendments or zoning legislation until:

1. A new Planning Board comprised of five permanent members is duly appointed in
accordance with Maryland Land Use Code §15-103; and,

2. The Council publicly releases a full and independent investigation to assure that all Planning Board management policies, procedures and controls were in place and properly followed in the preparation of these seven Planning Board recommendations and plans.[1]

Respectfully,

(In Alphabetical Order)

Biodiversity for a Livable Climate

Citizens Coordinating Committee on Friendship Heights

Community Vision For Takoma

Huntington Terrace Citizens Association

Empowering People in Communities of MoCo

Friends of the Earth

Montgomery Countryside Alliance

Montgomery County Coalition for the Control of Cell Towers

North Potomac Citizens Association

Parents’ Coalition of Montgomery County

Jeffrey Slavin – Mayor of Somerset

[1] https://montgomeryplanning.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Adopted-and-Approved-Chapter-50-and-59-Administrative-Procedures-Regulations.pdf

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