The White Flint Sector Plan:

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NOTE: The Montgomery County Council unanimously approved the White Flint Sector Plan on March 23, 2010. More information is available here: http://blog.friendsofwhiteflint.org/2010/03/23/montgomery-county-council-passes-white-flint-sector-plan/.

The White Flint Sector Plan can be found here.

Who Decides?

The White Flint Sector Plan is a master plan for development in the White Flint area. In Montgomery County, master plans are developed by the Montgomery County Planning Board, reviewed by the County Executive, and then adopted by the County Council.

Goals:

The Planning Board long ago established its goals for the White Flint Sector Plan:

create thriving, diverse mixed use center with highest intensity closest to Metro and along Rockville Pike
create new parks and open spaces
transform Rockville Pike into a boulevard with a landscape median, street trees and improved crosswalks
develop a transportation network that includes a grid of new public streets
improve the pedestrian and bicycling environment
promote sustainable development
create new public facilities
provide affordable housing
promote innovative ways to finance and manage new infrastructure

The Timetable:

The Montgomery County Planning Board completed its work on the White Flint Sector Plan and sent the Plan to the County Council at the end of July, 2009. The County Executive will have 60 days to review the Plan and comment. Then the County Council will begin consideration of the Plan, probably first by reviewing the Plan in one or more Committees. Final enactment could come as early as November 2009.

The 1992 Master Plan:

The White Flint area is currently under the master plan known as the 1992 North Bethesda/Garrett Park Master Plan. The 92 Plan still governs the White Flint area until the County Council adopts the new White Flint Sector Plan. Anything not within the boundaries of the proposed White Flint Sector Plan would still be governed by the 92 Plan, and any changes outside the boundaries would likely require an amendment to the 92 Plan.

The White Flint Sector Planning Process:

In 2006, the Planning Board recognized the untapped potential of White Flint as a separate area, and began to create a White Flint Sector Plan. Many citizens from a variety of backgrounds have participated in the development of the White Flint Sector Plan. The official White Flint Sector Plan Advisory Committee, established in 2006 by the Montgomery County Planning Board, held seventeen formal meetings, open to the public and including substantial public participation. In addition, members of the Advisory Committee held dozens of informal meetings with residential associations and other neighborhood groups, business organizations and research and development organizations. The Advisory Committee delivered its final report to the Planning Board on October 2, 2008.

Following the Advisory Group’s final report, the Planning Board dissolved the Advisory Group on December 4, 2008. The Planning Board appointed a smaller replacement organization, the White Flint Plan Steering Committee, and charged the Steering Committee with distributing and gathering information from similar sources. The Steering Committee actively participated in many of the Board's initial "worksessions" on the Plan, but ceased operations in the spring of 2009.

The Public Hearing Draft:

The Planning Board released a draft of the White Flint Sector Plan for review prior to the beginning of public hearings. The Public Hearing Draft was the staff's recommendation, and was "prepared for the purpose of receiving public testimony." The Public Hearing Draft is still available on the Planning Board’s White Flint planning page, and can be downloaded in Adobe .pdf format (requires freely-available Adobe Reader) here. (NOTE: the draft plan is 87 pages long, which may require a long download). You may also order a CD-ROM version of the draft plan on the White Flint Planning page.

Earlier versions of the Sector Plan are also still available on the White Flint Planning page.

The first public hearing on the White Flint Sector Plan was held on January 12, 2009, at 7:00 p.m., in the Park and Planning Headquarters Auditorium, 8787 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20912. Video and audio recordings of the public hearing are available here.

Worksessions:

The Montgomery County Planning Board held more than a dozen "worksessions" on various parts of the Public Hearing Draft of the White Flint Sector Plan. Some of the materials from these sessions are still available on the White Flint Planning page. The final worksessions, in June and July 2009, were focussed on the staff's draft of the Plan.

Issues Covered in the White Flint Sector Planning Process:

Mobility (including traffic, Rockville Pike, street design, transit, bicycles, and walkability)

Economics (including property values, economic activity, development bonds, and implementation staging)

Sustainability (including buildings, energy use and generation, greenhouse gases, storm run-off, and trees)

Land Use (including density, building and street design, height, and zoning)

Public Facilities (including schools, parks, library, public safety facilities, and art)

Specific Project Proposals:

Property owners and developers presented proposals to the Planning Board during March and April 2009 to illustrate the projects they would put in a new White Flint.

Community Organizations' Responses:

Community organizations presented the Planning Board with their reactions to the project proposals during April 2009.

The Draft Planning Board Draft White Flint Sector Plan:

(That is not a typo; the document is the staff's draft of the Planning Board's Draft Plan.) The staff released its Draft of the Plan on June 15, 2009. The release included a cover memo and five parts to the draft. The cover memo appears here:

http://www.montgomeryplanningboard.org/agenda/2009/documents/20090618whitememo.pdf

The staff final draft is in several parts (it’s a big file):

Part 1: http://www.montgomeryplanningboard.org/agenda/2009/documents/whitepart1.pdf

Part 2: http://www.montgomeryplanningboard.org/agenda/2009/documents/whitepart2.pdf

Part 3: http://www.montgomeryplanningboard.org/agenda/2009/documents/whitepart3.pdf

Part 4: http://www.montgomeryplanningboard.org/agenda/2009/documents/whitepart4.pdf

Part 5: http://www.montgomeryplanningboard.org/agenda/2009/documents/whitepart5.pdf

Friends of White Flint Recommendations:

On July 1, 2009, Friends of White Flint released a report with 20 recommendations to improve the staff Draft of the White Flint Sector Plan. The report and recommendations is available at: http://blog.friendsofwhiteflint.org/__oneclick_uploads/2009/07/fowf-rpt-on-6-18-09-draft-plan-final.pdf.

The Planning Board Draft White Flint Sector Plan:

The Planning Board began work on the staff's final Draft Plan on June 18, 2009, and completed its work about a month later. On July 16, 2009, the Montgomery County Planning Board voted unanimously to approve the White Flint Sector Plan and transmit the Plan to the County Executive and Council.

County Executive Comment:

The Regional District Act requires the County Executive to prepare a fiscal impact analysis and transmit it to the County Council within sixty days of receipt. The Executive can also comment on the Draft Plan.

The County Executive's staff worked closely with the Montgomery County Planning Board's staff throughout the White Flint Planning Process. There have been clashes between the Board and the Executive over financing mechanisms and scheduling of capital improvements in the Plan.

The County Executive issued his comments on the White Flint Plan on October 5, 2009. The seven-page letter with 34 pages of comments by various county agencies can be found here: http://blog.friendsofwhiteflint.org/__oneclick_uploads/2009/10/exec-comments.pdf.

Friends of White Flint and other organizations criticized the Executive's letter. The FoWF statement can be found here: http://blog.friendsofwhiteflint.org/__oneclick_uploads/2009/10/release-on-mcdot-exec-ltr.pdf.

County Council Consideration

The County Council held a two-day public hearing on the Draft Plan on October 20-22, 2009. The Council's Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee will begin public worksessions in November 2009 to review public comment and may make a recommendation to the whole Council.

The County Council can also hold its own worksessions on the Draft Plan. Several members of the Council have been working closely with the Planning Board and with other organizations on various aspects of the White Flint Plan.

On March 23, 2010, the County Council unanimously adopted a resolution approving the Planning Board Draft Plan, with some changes. The resolution and Plan are now forwarded to the Maryland-National Capital Area Park and Planning Commission.

Commission Adoption:

The Montgomery County Planning Board is made up of the Montgomery County members of the regional planning and park management authority: the Maryland-National Capital Area Park and Planning Commission. The Commission is made up of representatives from both Montgomery and neighboring Prince Georges Counties. The Commission considers the resolution and White Flint Sector Plan recommended by the County Council. Once adopted by the Commission, the Plan amends the master plans, functional plans, and sector plans which govern development in White Flint.