Final comments by reviewing agencies have been filed in the Montgomery County Development Review Committee online tracking process for the most recently submitted Takoma Junction Redevelopment Project plans. The City’s development partner, Neighborhood Development Company (NDC), will take those comments and work to revise its plans into the proposed Site Plan and proposed Preliminary Plan that will eventually be considered by the Takoma Park City Council and the Montgomery County Planning Board.

Because the process of getting comments and revising plans goes back and forth and is complicated, it is easy to be confused about the next steps and when and where it is most effective for public comments to be made. Here are the steps ahead:

1. As noted above, the Development Review Committee reviewing agencies submitted comments in response to NDC’s July resubmission in Montgomery County’s development review tracking software. Note that City of Takoma Park’s professional staff is one of the reviewing agencies and their comments cite City Council Resolution 2018-41 and other City standards and requirements. It should also be noted that the Maryland State Highway Administration did not provide substantive comments as a reviewing agency, which is highly unusual for the Montgomery County Development Review process.
2. Neighborhood Development Company staff will work on refining their plans given the comments provided. There will likely be some back and forth discussions between NDC and the various reviewing agencies if clarifications are needed.
3. Besides revising the plans, NDC has other elements to prepare or update before submitting their full plans to the City Council and the Planning Board. Most notable among them is a new or revised traffic impact study. They will also be submitting preliminary tree plans (identifying planned removals and new plantings) and revised stormwater plans.
4. Over a number of weeks, City staff will be working to review the evolving plans in light of City Council Resolution 2018-41, City Council Priorities, City regulations regarding stormwater and tree removal and protection, as well as noting how the revised plans incorporate the comments of the various reviewing agencies. There will be some back and forth with staff of NDC in the same manner as the other reviewing agencies while the proposed Site Plan and Preliminary Plan are finalized for consideration. City staff will prepare a document of findings that will assess how the revised plans meet the City’s requirements, including the City Council requirements enumerated in Resolution 2018-41. The findings can be the basis of a City Council resolution making recommendations to the Planning Board.
5. The revised plans and the document of findings prepared by City staff will be transmitted to Council and made available to the public for review. This is the best time for members of the public to pay attention to the plans because the plans will not be changing as much and the technical analyses of the various reviewing agencies and professionals will be available to consider. The Council then has several options, as shown below. Note that at a minimum a public hearing is required for any of the following actions.

• The Council could choose to vote on a resolution making recommendations to the Planning Board to approve, approve with conditions, or disapprove the proposed Site Plan and Preliminary Plan. As will be seen below, the Planning Board would need a supermajority vote to act contrary to a recommendation of the City Council.

• The Council could choose to vote to terminate the project, consistent with the terms of the Development Agreement with Neighborhood Development Company, in which case the application would not proceed to the Planning Board for consideration. (For that reason, the Council would not likely make a recommendation to the Planning Board to disapprove the application.)

• The City Council could adopt a resolution that says it is not taking a position on the proposed Site Plan or Preliminary Plan; in this case the application would proceed to the Planning Board for consideration without a City Council recommendation. Note that this is contrary to a resolved clause (lines 502-508) of City Council Resolution 2018-41, but is possible to do.

6. The Montgomery County Planning Department needs at least a week to review the new City Council resolution and address the Council’s recommendations in its staff report. The Planning Department must then post its staff report to the Planning Board at least 10 days before the Planning Board considers the plans. The County Planning staff report will recommend approval, approval with conditions, or disapproval of the Site Plan and Preliminary Plan, based on the findings of the Development Review Committee agencies, the City Council recommendation, and other input that had been received to date.
7. The Planning Board will hold a public hearing and consider the Site Plan and Preliminary Plan. They may choose to approve, approve with conditions, or disapprove the plans. Note that the Planning Board would need a super-majority to take a position that conflicts with the recommendation of the City Council.
8. If the Planning Board approves the plans or approves with conditions, the applicant must then go back to the Historic Preservation Commission for a Historic Area Work Permit and must get a final stormwater permit and tree removal and tree protection permits from the City of Takoma Park. Then they will need to go through the building permit process.
9. Please note that if significant changes to the plans are made during this process, the plans may need to go back to the Development Review Committee reviewing agencies for additional review before being considered by the Planning Board.

The most important places/times to provide public comments are to the City Council (step 5 above) and the Planning Board (step 7 above). These are the two deciding bodies. At the point the plans come before them, the technical reviews will have been compiled and the plans will have stopped changing. If the City Council and the Planning Board approve the plans, they will likely be approved “with conditions.” This means that there will be some plan or process changes or steps required of the applicant but that the plans will not need to come back for another hearing.

Public comments are most useful when they are specific and when they focus on impacts or on approval criteria:

Impacts: Identifying impacts that are wanted or not wanted are important. As an example, it is very helpful for a resident to say that they want to make sure lighting from the project does not shine in their home window. That may be more helpful than requesting the relocation of a particular light fixture as there may be several ways to ensure that the light does not cause a negative impact. It is also very helpful to identify the aspects of the project that are liked. Changes required in one aspect of the plan may result in tradeoffs and adjustments to other areas. It can be very frustrating for people to see that a change to the plans made by the Planning Board to address one issue removes an aspect of the plan that people liked.

Approval Criteria: Public comments that reference specific criteria that the reviewing body is using are often more helpful than a more general comment.

The City Council will be reviewing the plans in light of the provisions enumerated in Resolution 2018-41 and the City Council’s Priorities. While the Council is not restricted to those documents in making its recommendation, it is likely that those documents will guide the consideration.

The Planning Board will be reviewing the plans in light of the provisions of the Montgomery County Subdivision and Zoning Regulations. Chapter 50 Subdivision regulations relate to the review of the Preliminary Plan and are online at https://montgomeryplanning.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Adopted-Chapter-50.pdf. Section 50.4.2 outlines the approval procedures, while section 50.4.2.D. lays out the required findings.  Section 4.3 identifies the elements of a technical review. Section 59.7.3.4 of the Zoning Code lays out the requirements for review and approval of Site Plans, while section 59.7.3.4.E lays out the required findings for Site Plan approval.  Division 59.4.6 lays out the development standards for the NR and the other Employment Zones. Section 4.9.16 lays out the requirements of the Takoma Park/East Silver Spring Commercial Revitalization (TPESS) Overlay Zone.  Chapter 59 may be found online at:
http://library.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll?f=templates&fn=default.htm&vid=amlegal:montgomeryco_md_mc

Public comments on the plans can be submitted by email at any time to the Montgomery County Planning Department for the lead reviewer’s consideration and public record. The Montgomery County Planning Department’s lead reviewer for this project is Elza Hisel-McCoy, who may be reached at Elza.Hisel-McCoy@montgomeryplanning.org. Comments may also be submitted at any time to the Takoma Park City Manager at SuzanneL@takomaparkmd.gov or the Takoma Park City Council at clerk@takomaparkmd.gov.

Once dates are set for City Council and Planning Board consideration, members of the public are encouraged to submit public comments and/or sign up to testify in the methods identified in the processes for the hearings. Comments to the City Council may be sent to clerk@takomaparkmd.gov.  Comments for the Planning Board may be sent to MCP-Chair@mncppc-mc.org. In general, comments for the Planning Board are sent close to the hearing date.

Timeline

The timeline below is very general and any stage may take longer than is shown here. Major elements that come into play are the time that NDC needs to prepare its plans in response to the agency comments, and City Council and Planning Board agenda scheduling. Nevertheless, here is an idea of how the consideration of the project may move forward:

Now through the fall: NDC works on revising plans based on agency comments and preparing materials required for submission to City Council and Planning Board for consideration. NDC will likely request an extension of the development review timelines, postponing Planning Board consideration until later in the fall or winter, to allow adequate time to complete its submission and have the City Council consider the plans and adopt a resolution regarding them.

Now through the fall: Takoma Park City staff will be reviewing the plans and materials and preparing a set of findings and recommendations for use by the City Council as it considers the plans. The findings and recommendations will be available to the public in time for members of the public to review them and prepare testimony to the City Council and the Planning Board.

Fall or winter: City Council consideration of the plans, involving hearing from the applicant, staff and public and then voting on a Resolution transmitting its recommendations to the Planning Board.

Winter: County Planning staff prepares its report, referencing agency comments and the recommendation of the City Council. The report must be submitted to the Planning Board and be available for public review at least 10 days prior to the Planning Board’s consideration of the plans.

Winter: Planning Board holds a public hearing and considers the plans. They will vote to approve, approve with conditions, or disapprove the plans. A supermajority vote is required for the Planning Board to vote in a way that differs from the recommendation of the City Council.

Spring: Assuming the plans are approved or approved with conditions, NDC then goes back to the Historic Preservation Commission for a Historic Area Work Permit and proceeds for a final stormwater permit and tree removal and tree protection permits.

As part of the City’s commitment to climate justice and race equity, City Planning staff undertook a comprehensive study of bus stops to improve the public transit options in the City.

Staff highlighted the bus stop at the intersection of Ethan Allen and New Hampshire Avenues as a high-priority location for a bus shelter, with an average of 91 people a day, predominantly people of color, boarding a bus at this location.

This bus shelter was provided free of charge to the City by Insite, the company that manages the advertising on the bus shelters.

City Planning has inventoried all bus stops within the City for ridership numbers and the presence of amenities and created this interactive map showing this information. More information about Bus Stop Improvements can be found on the project page.

ACTIVIZED Online Film Screening and Discussion 

Thursday, July 30 at 8 pm 

Register on Zoom here 

ACTIVIZED is a compelling and timely documentary that follows the stories of 7 ordinary Americans who, for the first time in their lives, have left their comfort zones to become activists fighting for voting rights, immigrants’ rights, and gun violence prevention.

Interweaving their personal stories against the backdrop of the causes they fight for, we experience their motivations along with their sacrifices and victories. Above all, we celebrate these courageous citizens for embracing one of the most basic of American traditions – dissent.

After the 36-minute film, director Eric Stange, NAACP activist Aylett Colston (who is featured in the film), and Gerald Givens Jr., president of the NAACP chapter in Raleigh, NC, will talk about social justice issues and how we all can make a difference. You can watch the trailer and find more info at www.activizedfilm.org.

This event is organized by the City of Takoma Park’s Takoma Park Arts cultural series. You can learn about all of our upcoming events by signing up for our weekly e-newsletter. The arts bring us together even when we’re apart.

Colorful and quirky hand-painted signs featuring local history, or twists on it, were installed in 2010 on information kiosks and gateway structures across Takoma Park. Roscoe the Rooster, a smiling tree frog, and a red trolley all make appearances.

After a decade of wear and tear from the elements, local artist couple Alison Baker and James Colwell have printed their original designs on durable aluminum panels and installed them over the fading paintings earlier this month. The City of Takoma Park’s Arts and Humanities Division commissioned the installation of 23 new aluminum signs so they would be preserved for many years to come.

“We are thrilled to see the new signs reflect the color and vibrancy of the original designs,” Baker said.

For the original City-funded public art project, Baker and Colwell thought designs resembling vintage fruit crate labels would be a fun way to capture the history of Victorian-age Takoma Park. A sign for “1883 Oranges” notes the year Takoma Park was founded. A sign for “Trolley Cashews” featuring a red trolley was installed on Carroll Avenue across the street from a former trolley stop and a building once used for the Barcelona Nuts roasting facility. A sign for “B.F. Gilbert’s Old Oaks” celebrated the founder of Takoma Park.

The preservation of the signs and the history which inspired them has been gratifying for the artists. “Over the past decade, many people have told us they like the signs and learning the back story behind them,” Colwell said.

You can see more of our popular public art projects on the City of Takoma Park’s website.

By Sean Gossard

Although smaller stores and shops are beginning to open back up amid the COVID- 19 pandemic, the threat of spreading the virus is still very real, and it will take time for local businesses to fully recover from the months-long shutdown.

That’s why local flower business Indigro Plant Design  is continuing to raise funds for Takoma Park’s Citywide Small Business Mini-Grant Program and the Old Takoma Business Association (OTBA) through sales of specially made arrangements.

Indigro owner Agnes Traynor says she was inspired by No Plan Press founder Jesse Kirsch, who was selling one-of-a-kind prints he designed and made on an antique printing press in Takoma Park to raise funds for small businesses in the area. “When the pandemic started, I was feeling like I needed to help out, and I was brainstorming on how to do that using plants,” Traynor said. “I saw what No Plan Press was doing, so I reached out to Jesse and asked him to connect me with the folks in the city.”

Traynor next came up with a set of four arrangements. From the $30 herb and succulent gardens to $60 packages featuring flowering pink kalanchoe succulents or anthuriums in a gold planter and prints from No Plan Press, these sales are helping to keep Takoma Park businesses that have been affected by COVID-19 afloat as part of the Takoma Park Together campaign.

The Takoma Park Together campaign is helping to support the local community by spreading the word about the city’s many small businesses and raising funds to help keep them running. Traynor said the fundraiser has been going well and that the community’s response has been incredibly positive.

“So far we’ve raised around $1,000 for local businesses,” Traynor said. “That’s a lot of plants!”

The planters are available through Indigro’s website or at Takoma Beverage Company, 6917 Laurel Ave. You can also follow Indigro on Instagram @indigroplants.

This article appeared in the July 2020 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. The Takoma Park Newsletter is available for download here.  

In this difficult time, Takoma Park homeowners may turn to renting out a room in their homes to help make ends meet. If this is an option that you are considering, here are some factors you should consider: The City calls this housing arrangement, where the owner and a renter share common areas of a dwelling (kitchen, living room, bathroom), Owner Occupied Group Housing (“OOGH”). This designation applies to both condominiums and single-family homes.

The City requires registration of OOGH. This is a very simple process of completing a registration form and paying a $50 fee for a three-year registration.

City staff will conduct a code-compliance inspection to ensure the property: 1) has the required smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, 2) has proper locks on bedroom and egress doors (there must be a thumb-turn instead of a key on the interior side of the lock), and 3) meets property maintenance standards. This inspection will be repeated every three years, upon renewal of the OOGH registration. Code-compliance on safety and maintenance issues may prevent situations that lead to injury or loss. Importantly, if you already rent out a room, it is not too late to get registered. OOGHs are not considered “rental properties,” so there is no state-required lead inspection, and the interaction between owner and tenant is not governed by city code.

If you are considering making a room available as a short-term rental via Airbnb or a similar platform, you will also need to register with Montgomery County as those are regulated differently. Search for “Short Term Rental” on montgomerycountymd.gov or call 311 for further instructions.

Alternatively, a completely separate apartment in your home, where there is no shared space between owner and tenant, is an accessory dwelling unit (“ADU”) and is considered a rental property. It must be initially approved by the County, and  then licensed by the City. The County has greatly simplified the process for ADU approval, and obtaining a rental license from the City is straightforward. Operating an unlicensed ADU is unlawful and subject to a municipal citation and fine.

Please contact the City’s Licensing Specialist, Patti Mallin at pattim@takomaparkmd.gov with your questions about Owner Occupied Group Housing, or search “owner occupied group housing” on takomaparkmd.gov for the registration form and additional details.

This article appeared in the July 2020 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. The Takoma Park Newsletter is available for download here.