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 Montgomery Countryside Alliance

Citizens Coordinating Committee on

Friendship Heights

Montgomery County Coalition for the Control

of Cell Towers

Community Vision For Takoma 

North Potomac Citizens Association

Huntington Terrace Citizens Association 

Parents’ Coalition of Montgomery County

Empowering People in Communities of MoCo 

Jeffrey Slavin – Mayor of Somerset

Friends of the Earth

1 https://montgomeryplanning.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Adopted-and-Approved-Chapter-50-and-59-

Administrative-Procedures-Regulations.pdf

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2022 Open Letter Montgomery County Council Re: Planning Board by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland on Scribd