Public spaces are an important part of what makes Takoma Park so great! It’s in the City’s parks, playgrounds, sidewalks, roadways, streeteries, trails and plazas that residents travel, recreate, and connect with one another.

This fall, the City Council will consider the adoption of a new Public Space Management Plan. The purpose of this plan is to take the patchwork of policies and practices that govern how the City manages its public spaces, and create a comprehensive framework. How do we prioritize our limited financial and staffing resources? Where are there policy gaps that leave uncertainty? Where is there overlap or redundancy that creates inefficiency? How do we make sure that our public spaces center the City’s goals of racial equity and environmental sustainability? How can we improve the use of data in our decision-making?

View the plan here.

This plan was crafted with input from hundreds of community members, and we are excited to share it with you! The draft plan proposes 37 recommendations to improve the way that the City manages its public spaces. These include recommendations relating to:

• Revising the resident traffic calming and new sidewalk request processes to be more equitable;
• Improvements to the way that public space data is tracked and visualized for the public;
• Create a new system to prioritize playground updates;
• re-examine public parking policies;
• And more!

It also offers an evaluation tool to help City staff, City Council members, and the public apply a standardized set of criteria to new projects. The tool sets out criteria in different categories that each new project would be measured against. The goal is to create a more standardized and data-driven decision-making framework. .

Over the next couple months, City staff invite the public to take a close look at the Public Space Management Plan. The full draft plan is posted to the City’s project web page. Keep an eye out for an awareness-raising yard sign campaign in public spaces around the City. There will also be a series of blog posts released by the City that explore more summarized details about the project.

How to Get Involved:

Share your thoughts on which recommendations to prioritize in one of a few different ways:

• Complete this brief 5-question survey: https://bit.ly/publicspacemanagementplan
• Send comments or questions to Alex Freedman, Planner, by email (alexanderf@takomaparkmd.gov);
• Send comments or questions to your City Council member;
• Give public comment at the City Council meetings; check the City Council schedule to see when the dates are finalized.

Since 2018, there have been six crashes on Maple Avenue that involved pedestrians or bike riders, and over twenty crashes involving vehicles alone. One resulted in severe injury and hospitalization of a bike rider. Active crashes aren’t the only thing that impacts an individual’s sense of safety: how long it takes to cross in a crosswalk (if there even is a crosswalk), how fast cars are driving by, the experience of “close calls”, the lighting of the sidewalk at night or the maintenance of the sidewalk’s surface, and even the number of other people around can impact how safe someone feels.

Every day, people use Maple Avenue for a multitude of reasons, from walking kids to school, to commuting to work, to getting some fresh air on a bike ride to the park. City staff also regularly hear about how unsafe walkers, bikers, riders, and drivers feel on Maple Avenue. And it’s no wonder! The southern section of Maple Ave is narrow and steep, while the northern section has lanes that are wider than on a freeway and gaping intersections designed for moving cars through the area as quickly as possible, at the expense of everyone else. These were design decisions made at some point in the past, and new design choices can work to counteract those aspects that do not work. We don’t need to wait until another serious crash happens before we do something about it.

The Maple Avenue Connectivity Project aims to increase the sense of safety and comfort for all road users, with special priority for pedestrians and bike riders. After all, even drivers and especially transit users are at least part-time pedestrians on their way to and from their rides. The project will explore different design options that use different strategies to achieve this goal:

• Increase Visibility: design elements like high-visibility crosswalks, curb extensions, and restricted parking close to crosswalks help increase how visible pedestrians are, either by putting them in brighter contrast to their surroundings, elevating them, or removing visual obstacles, like parked cars.
• Reduce Subconscious Incentives to Speed: painted lane striping doesn’t sound like much, but studies show that when drivers feel like the road is narrow or has more obstacles to consider, they subconsciously slow down substantially. Narrowing vehicle lanes, adding elevated crosswalks or flashing beacons as crossings, and even planting street trees that take up space in a driver’s line of sight all have subtle, subconscious effects on how comfortable a driver feels going fast.
• Add Physical Deterrents to Speed: sometimes subconscious strategies aren’t enough. Adding features to the road such as speed humps, posts or bollards, or even strategically arranging on-street parking can be effective tools (and leave some overly reckless drivers with a lasting reminder of their transgression.)
• Reduce Mixing Zones: the places where different modes of transportation cross one another can be some of the most dangerous, in part because there isn’t always a clear understanding of who should be where and how each should behave with each other. This becomes apparent with bike riders who feel uncomfortable sharing an unmarked driving lane, or seniors crossing private driveways on their stroll to the bus stop. Mixing zones can never fully be erased, but they can be minimized by the use of dedicated bike lanes, reduction in unnecessary driveways, and leading pedestrian intervals at intersections (as a few examples).

These and other strategies will be explored over the next few months to generate preliminary designs for the project. To weigh in on the safety issues that are important to you and stay up to date on the project’s progress, visit the city’s project web page: https://bit.ly/MapleAvenueConnectivity.

Source: City of Takoma Park

To see a listing of all blog posts for the Minor Master Plan – visit the Minor Master webpage.

• If I live in an area that gets rezoned, will I be forced to change anything about my property?
  • No. The adoption of the Minor Master Plan Amendment will not force anyone to sell, give up, or change a property that they already own. There may be impacts on property value (likely increase), but how an owner chooses to keep, develop, or sell their property will remain up to them.

•  Have Washington Adventist Healthcare and Washington Adventist University been involved in the planning process to date?
  • Yes. The Montgomery Planning team and City staff have been in regular conversation with both Washington Adventist University and Washington Adventist Health through the duration of the process, including monthly coordination meetings. Both organizations are stakeholders in the process, but do not drive the planning process; all stakeholders are taken into account.

•  Will the green space at the corner of Maple Ave and Sligo Creek Pkwy, next to Essex House, be developed?
  • No. The green space being discussed is owned by Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) and is treated as a part of Sligo Creek Stream Valley Park. The Minor Master Plan Amendment treats the green space as a conserved area important for stormwater management. In particular, the space may be impacted by the recommendation to “address failing outfall infrastructure and unstable banks at Brashear’s Run where the stream daylights on parkland.” (p. 87) There are no recommendations for new building structures of any kind to be built on the parcel.

•  What will the influence of the MMPA’s recommendation of a Green Promenade be with the Maple Avenue Connectivity Project?
  • The Maple Avenue Connectivity Project is already in the design stage, ahead of the Minor Master Plan approval. However, the Minor Master Plan was developed with the awareness that the Maple Ave project is underway, and deliberately leaves room and flexibility for the development of the project, without points of conflict.

•  Will the County conduct a Climate Assessment, and when does that happen?
  
  • As required by Bill 3-22, approved by the County Council in July 2022, Montgomery Planning staff will prepare a Climate Assessment for the Planning Board draft of the Takoma Park Minor Master Plan Amendment that will be transmitted to the County Council hopefully later this year. The document will be publicly available at that time.

•  What kind of racial equity considerations or analysis is included in the planning process?
  • The County Racial Equity and Social Justice Act (Bill 27-19) requires the County Office of Legislative Oversight to prepare a Racial Equity and Social Justice Impact Statement for the County Council for bills and Zoning Text Amendments and for the Planning Board to consider racial equity and social justice impacts when preparing a Master Plan, which includes Minor Master Plan Amendments. As part of this “Equity Agenda for Planning”, Montgomery Planning closely considered equity in examining the history and existing conditions of the Plan area and surrounding communities, the community engagement strategy, the plan’s data analysis, and the development of recommendations.During staff work sessions following September 14, 2023, Public Hearing, the Planning Board will consider and discuss the racial equity and social justice impacts of the Minor Master Plan Amendment. Additional information on Montgomery Planning’s Equity in Agenda for Planning can be found online at https://montgomeryplanning.org/planning/equity-agenda-for-planning/. Any new development that advances from this planning process would also be subject to the City’s racial equity initiative mandate to explore the racial justice impacts.

• The next step of this process is for the County Planning Board to set up work sessions; what is the purpose of these, how is a given topic selected and by whom?
  • Maryland law requires the Planning Department to conduct a “comprehensive review” of the numerous aspects related to land development (e.g., land use, environment, transportation, schools, and more) before zoning can be changed for a defined Plan Area. As also required by the law, the Planning Board holds a Public Hearing on the Public Hearing Draft Plan to receive public comment. Oral testimony provided at the Public Hearing and written testimony provided to the Planning Board within the designated timeframe collectively constitute the Public Record for the plan. The purpose of work sessions is for the Planning Board to discuss the comments received on the Public Record and determine if zoning, text, or other changes are needed to the Public Hearing Draft Plan.  After reviewing the Public Record, Montgomery Planning staff will schedule work sessions during the Planning Board’s regular meetings, with recommended topics to discuss at each.  The Planning Board ultimately determines the topics to be addressed at a work session.

Process for Stormwater Permit

Stormwater management is regulated by the City of Takoma Park. The purpose of the stormwater permit process is to ensure the safe conduct of stormwater runoff for certain properties when being developed or expanded. It identifies both quantitative aspects (volume) and qualitative aspects (pollution removal). The permit requirements are identified in City Code, Section 16.04.140 and are based on the Maryland Dept of the Environment Stormwater Management Design Manual. The Maryland Manual defines the scope and extent of Environmental Site Design (ESD) elements and how they can be quantified to achieve ESD to the Maximum Extent Practical (MEP) as defined by law.

All institutional, commercial or industrial construction projects within the City limits require a stormwater permit, regardless of the size of the project. (For residential construction, the project must disturb 5,000 square feet in order to require a permit.)

The process includes three steps:

• Concept Plan Review,
• Site Plan Review,
• Final Permitting.

For residential projects and smaller commercial projects, the concept and site plan review phase can be combined. During the Site Development phase of the permit process, the City will require geotechnical analysis, both for construction and for the stormwater features of the building. The final step concludes with issuance of a stormwater permit, providing the plans have been verified and meet the requirements.

Sediment and erosion control are a process overseen by Montgomery County, through the Department of Permitting Services. An applicant is required to apply for a Sediment and Erosion Control permit, as per the requirements of the County’s construction permitting process. The City does not review or issue approval for sediment and erosion control. However, the City works with the County inspector to ensure that the permit conditions are being followed and reports any perceived violations to the inspector.

The requirements for stormwater management are specified by City Code (Title 16), which references adherence to the Maryland Stormwater Design Manual (MDE Manual), and State of Maryland requirements outlined in Maryland Stormwater Design Manual:
https://mde.maryland.gov/programs/water/StormwaterManagementProgram/Pages/stormwater_design.aspx .

The MDE Stormwater Management Manual and the City’s permitting process and review guidelines are detailed on the City’s website:

• https://takomaparkmd.gov/services/permits/stormwater-permit-application/
• https://takomaparkmd.gov/government/public-works/stormwater-management-program/

The vacant hospital campus is approximately 20 acres, and the proposed Minor Master Plan amendment requires that “Redevelopment on site should be addressed under a single Sketch Plan application to the greatest extent practicable to ensure the site as a whole meets the recommendations of this Plan.”

The site currently has no stormwater management quality controls and all run-off from the site flows to the surrounding area and into Sligo Creek through over land sheet flow or via a limited number of inlets and discharge pipes. The stormwater management requirements for the site will require treatment of 50% of the run-off from the existing impervious area and treatment of 100% of run-off from the new impervious area added over the existing impervious area for the one-year storm.

The proposed stormwater management plans may include a number of different measures:

• green roofs,
• bioretention facilities,
• permeable paving,
• infiltration basin,
• riparian buffer
• and other options.

County requirements include a 100-foot buffer from the stream for any new development.

Process for Tree Removal & Tree Protection Permit

While the County does have tree replanting and protection requirements for development projects, the City maintains separate requirements related to tree removal and protection.

When a final site plan is determined, a developer will formally apply for the tree removal and Tree Protection Plan permits, if necessary. The City’s arborist will review the applications and assess the final number of tree replants as well as the conditions for tree protection. The City’s tree removal permit process requires the planting of replacement trees or payment of fee in lieu.

The details of the tree removal permit process are on the City website:

• https://takomaparkmd.gov/services/permits/tree-permits/tree-removal-permits

The details of the Tree Protection Plan requirements are on the city website:

• https://takomaparkmd.gov/services/permits/tree-permits/tree-impact-assessment-and-tree-protection-plan

The City Council is seeking applicants for the 2023-2024 Takoma  Park Youth Council.

Application Form

Applications have been extended for the Takoma Park Youth Council until Friday, August 25.

The Takoma Park Youth Council was established by the City Council:

1. To provide an opportunity for the youth of Takoma Park to acquire a greater knowledge of and appreciation for local government through active participation in the system.
2. To help the City Council to address problems and accomplish the goals of this community by working directly with the representatives of youth.
3. To serve the youth of Takoma Park by:
   • informing the Takoma Park municipal government of the needs and wishes of youth;
   • planning and implementing social, educational, cultural and recreational activities for the youth;
   • working with the Mayor, City Council, City department heads, schools, civic clubs and service organizations to provide service and leadership opportunities for the youth of the City; and,
   • helping to instill a feeling of positive self-worth and esteem, teaching respect for the rights of others, and promoting community pride.

Youth Council members receive SSL hours for their service!

Youth Council Charter

Youth Council web page

Please contact Jessie Carpenter, City Clerk, with questions or requests for additional information: jessiec@takomaparkmd.gov or 240-723-0437.