Montgomery County Council approves Takoma Park Minor Master Plan Amendment

From Montgomery Planning (M-NCPPC)

On April 2, the Montgomery County Council voted to approve the Takoma Park Minor Master Plan Amendment!

The plan preserves and expands affordable housing and advances economic development and employment opportunities in a section of the City of Takoma Park from the Takoma Park Community Center in the west to the Erie Center and Washington Adventist University and the former Washington Adventist Hospital site in the east.

Read Montgomery Planning’s press release about the plan’s approval for more information. Read the Takoma Park City Council’s March 22, 2024, letter of support for the plan.

Watch the Council Vote

Highlights of the plan’s recommendations

Land Use, Zoning and Housing

• For compatible future development flexibility, recommend residential and commercial mixed-use zoning for properties on and around Washington Adventist campus and along Maple Avenue.
• Highlight new and existing strategies for compatibility of new development with the surrounding communities.

Improved Connectivity

• Incorporate a well-lit, walkable Green Promenade from Town Hall to the Washington Adventist campus.
• Seek opportunities for a micro-mobility hub for better multi-modal access.

Environmental Resiliency

• Support the city’s Stormwater Management Program to improve Sligo Creek water quality and reduce untreated runoff and flooding.
• Provide methods to reduce impervious surfaces.
• Minimize urban heat islands by incorporating cooling elements like street trees and shaded seating areas into the streetscape.

Parks and Open Space

• Provide for significant new public open space on the Washington Adventist campus.
• Enhance the ecological health and performance of Sligo Creek Stream Valley Park.

Historic Preservation

• List the Heffner Park Community Center, Sligo Seventh-day Adventist Church, and Krestview sites on the Master Plan for Historic Preservation.
• Study Takoma Park’s historic African American neighborhoods for potential future listing on the Master Plan for Historic Preservation and/or the National Register of Historic Places.

The plan also focuses on racial equity and social justice

Advancing racial equity and social justice is woven into the plan with specific recommendations to:

• Prioritize no net loss of affordable housing by prioritizing existing residents, recommending a diversity of unit type, preserving the number of existing affordable units, and upgrading existing affordable units.
• Propose the development of new housing with inclusive affordability.
• Increase access to parks, open space, community gardens, and local healthy food production.
• Promote cultural heritage and diversity of the community and further explore its past.
• Connect the community through increased mobility options.
• Support the creation of new diverse and welcoming public spaces.
• Provide ways to combat environmental inequities.
• Increase access to the existing transit network to help reduce reliance on single occupancy vehicles and provide all residents, regardless of car ownership, access to employment and other destinations.