Issues with a direct impact on how we live and work in Montgomery County

Montgomery County, here is where we want to hear from YOU. Keep reading for few ideas about how to protect our environment and quality of life. If you have additional thoughts, drop us a line at ConservationMontgomery@live.com. Think of this list as a starting point for further discussion among residents and county decision-makers:

Effective clean water protection

Our local streams and rivers are Montgomery’s life-blood. Yet, over the years our streams and their surrounding lands have been literally washed away by polluted runoff. This problem has grown as the county has lost forests and trees and added paved surfaces through the years. The resulting erosion and pollution from stormwater runoff threatens our clean drinking water supplies, our infrastructure and past efforts at stream restoration.

Protect our remaining high-quality waters – like Ten Mile Creek – through Master Plan revisions that protect existing rural lands.

Strictly enforce Environmental Site Design requirements for redevelopment and new development as called for in the state Stormwater Management Act of 2007.

Strengthen the existing Water Quality Protection Charge collected by WSSC.

Establish a permanent, dedicated Infrastructure Renewal Fund long requested by the WSSC.

Tree-lined county streets and a healthy tree canopy

Trees provide multiple environmental, aesthetic, economic and psychological benefits in our community. Our tree and forest inventory must be maintained in a way that preserves mature trees and encourages planting or re-planting of deforested areas. The Montgomery County Forest Conservation Law (FCL) was written in the early 1990s to replace some of the massive tree loss that occurred in the 1980s and to protect larger tracts of upland forest. The FCL has made some headway in the Up County over the past 16 years. But development trends have changed. To avoid suburban sprawl and loss of green space in the Up County, we now have a greater emphasis on dense development near urban centers and mass public transportation. Public sentiment calls for continuing to protect the beautiful 93,000-acre Agricultural Reserve from encroaching development.

However, residents in the urbanized sections of the county want trees and green space too. In fact, the more we look at concrete and asphalt, the more important it becomes to see trees and sections of urban forest interspersed with buildings and roads. We must address the conundrum of preserving green space for all citizens in all parts of Montgomery County as we build. Dense building with ample green space as part of the design has been accomplished in other cities and counties throughout the country with stronger ordinances preserving mature trees.

Montgomery County needs an urban tree bill amendments to current law that will help protect individual trees on small lots. Our County Executive promised in 2006 that he would champion an urban tree ordinance and revisions in our FCL. For almost two years, the county Forest Conservation Advisory Committee and others in the community have been told that new legislation is forthcoming. Amendments to the FCL were presented to the Council in 2007 and died in the Council Transportation, Infrastructure and Environment Committee. We need to see less deliberation and a lot more action from our elected officials and county agencies.

Montgomery County is running out of space to replant trees lost to development, disease and storm damage. Until a much-needed urban forestry policy is enacted in Montgomery County, community leaders and civic associations can help identify private and public property where clusters of new trees can be planted. This will help the Maryland-National Capital Parks and Planning Commission and other county agencies develop an inventory of available space for urban tree planting.

We have had some recent victories in enforcement of the FCL. Since January, assessed penalties of more than $200,000 have been collected on FCL violations in Montgomery County. Strong enforcement of the FCL needs to continue.

We need full restoration of our county street tree program budget, and better maintenance of street trees in the county rights of way to extend the life of our existing street trees.

Our county needs to consider moving the street tree program out of the Department of Transportation – where liability issues are the basis for removal of street trees in county neighborhoods and along roadways. This program should be adequately funded and supported.

Workable solutions to climate change

Climate change is a complex global issue but there is no question that local action is key. More than 30 states have drafted climate action plans and a number of counties and municipalities have done the same. Montgomery and adjacent counties can be part of a paradigm shift to mitigate and adapt to the existing impacts of climate change in our region. Our county enacted seven clean energy bills in 2007 and the county’s first carbon tax in 2010. The carbon tax is a direct means of levying a charge on any entity that emits more than 1 million tons of carbon dioxide in a given calendar year. All of this legislation set us on a progressive course in finding workable solutions. The 2007 legislation resulted in a draft Montgomery County Climate Action Plan that, while serving as a worthwhile plan, seems stalled in implementation. A county work group managed by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has struggled with how to jump-start the climate action plan. The county hired a consultant to evaluate the plan and reported that almost 98% of all carbon reductions projected to meet 2020 targets will need to come from residential energy efficiency and more energy efficient commercial buildings in Montgomery County. Our county needs to take the following next steps:

DEP needs to take charge and deliver a detailed action plan to outline how our carbon reduction goals will be met. The agency needs to put the right information and tools in the hands of the work group.

There must be a champion for implementation of the county climate action plan within DEP and the County Executive must address this issue as a priority.

Community education and outreach is essential. The county DEP needs to provide a tool kit for community leaders to use in telling homeowners how they can make improvements in home energy efficiency, remembering that every homeowner cannot afford retrofits to increase home energy efficiency.

Training must be part of the plan. The county needs to have a spate of qualified professionals who can help homeowners conduct energy audits and install energy saving features in homes.

Sustainable transportation

We can all see that our roads are more congested. And with that congestion comes poor air quality and increases in CO2 emissions that contribute to negative impacts of climate change. Our pattern in Montgomery County has been to build more roads and widen existing roads. But isn’t there a better way? Perhaps it’s time to move more people instead of cars and improve our existing modes of public transportation. Our Metro system is aging and cannot fully support the number of daily commuters in the area. There have been promising proposals for transportation infrastructure improvements over the past four years. A Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) recommendation has been explored by the Council and community stakeholders. Light rail approaches to a Purple Line are under discussion but are complicated since light rail is deemed as a detriment to bicycle commuting and other activities along the Capital Crescent Trail.

A recent U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) study of I-95 and I-270 showed that if we took 10% of the cars off those roads every day, we would be within range of sustainability goals. (Find the study at: http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop09017/index.htm) So how do we grapple with the thorny issue of reducing the number of cars on the road?

Montgomery County needs to create a well-connected grid for public transportation that incorporates a variety of ways to move people every day.

We need more public education in terms of practical ways to reduce the number of daily car trips in Montgomery County.

Employers throughout the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area need to implement tele-work policies for employees.

Plans for new highways can threaten our high-quality rural watersheds and farmlands, and divert needed funds away from sustainable transportation solutions. Instead of approving projects that will move more cars, our elected officials need to invest in mass transit.

Land use decisions

Since our last election cycle in Montgomery County, we have a revised Growth Policy and a slew of problematic or unresolved land use issues. Land use is never an easy topic in any community. But Montgomery County -- despite the Clarksburg debacle that caught our attention about five years ago and brought Dr. Royce Hansen back to the Planning Board – remains at an impasse on key land use issues affecting the vitality of our established neighborhoods.

M-NCPPC has launched a project to re-write county zoning code as part of the county’s effort to update existing law on the books. Planning Board Chair Francoise Carrier is known as a good listener and holds great promise for providing the type of leadership needed as she takes the helm of the beleaguered Planning Board and M-NCPPC. County residents need to hold elected officials accountable for:

Montgomery County must have development projects that are compatible with surrounding neighborhoods. Mansionization and the traffic problems presented by the Kensington Safeway redevelopment project are examples of building that is out-of-scale with existing neighborhoods.

Voting in favor in strengthening the definition of “green area” in county zoning law. A bill introduced by Council member Elrich is stalled in the Council Planning, Housing and Economic Development committee.

Supporting a Master Plan Revision in order to protect Ten Mile Creek. This last best stream in the County straddles the Agricultural Reserve and is part of our Little Seneca backup drinking water supply. The newly-released report of the Water Quality Working Group contains two separate recommendations for Ten Mile Creek. The Planning Board and Council need to support the approach that calls for a Master Plan revision to the Clarksburg Stage 4 Master Plan so that this fragile creek will be protected through minimizing the damaging impacts of the development. In addition, the proposed Up County bus depot must be relocated outside of the Ten Mile Creek watershed.

Putting an end to what has been called “the Knapp amendment” once and for all. This is a bill introduced in 2009 by former Council member Knapp that undermines Montgomery County’s historic preservation law. Despite community opposition, the bill is still in play and up for a possible vote.

Restoring the Department of Parks' budget. Cuts in the FY2011 Parks budget will weaken the stewardship, maintenance, acquisition, and restoration of parkland and park facilities. The net effect will be a diminished quality of life for county residents.

Extending the county’s Green Infrastructure Functional Master Plan to define the lands needed to meet our ecological objectives.

Incorporating clear environmental objectives into Master Plans and Sector Plans, and creating economic development goals that are compatible with natural resource conservation.

Green public space and parks

With each passing day, our county parks and open space play a critical role in the health of all who work and live in Montgomery County. Parks are not just places to play and relax, but contribute significantly to better air and water quality. The Maryland-National Capital Parks and Planning Commission Department of Parks maintains approximately 34,000 acres representing nearly 10% of Montgomery County's total land area. In addition to providing facilities, our county parks include some of our significant natural and cultural resources — including environmentally sensitive stream valleys, biodiversity areas, best natural areas, and 110 standing historic structures.

Our award-winning park system is threatened by recent budget cuts that restrict crucial maintenance, programs and policing. Council budget decisions cut the Parks budget this year by 16.5% less than the requested amount. This amounts to $10 million less than the FY2010 budget for our parks. Even without a budget crisis, our open spaces are jeopardized by efforts to turn them over to non-park uses such as housing, cell phone facilities and stormwater mitigation for private development.

Our parks need to be free of political maneuvering with stewardship requirements (maintenance and acquisition) fully funded. The county needs to adopt a policy that the Parks Department will be full partners in decision-making involving our Parks system and use of parklands and facilities. Similarly, the Montgomery County stormwater code amendments, under revision in 2010, require that the Parks Department be a partner in decision-making about any stormwater management facility proposed to be located within a county park.

Use of parkland for stormwater management should be rare, since recent practices have involved cutting down trees in order to build stormwater ponds – a damaging process that is considered outmoded by more effective, on-site green infrastructure techniques.

Responsive government

The views of local residents who live in and near a proposed development or redevelopment project must be weighted more heavily in local decision-making. In the recent past, we’ve experienced far too many development decisions that seem to overlook the expressed needs of the local civic community living adjacent to a development project. When there is a higher premium placed on economic development than on the concerns of existing neighborhoods, we sometimes sacrifice the desirable characteristics that originally brought us to our Montgomery communities.

Our county and state officials must have the commitment to make difficult decisions when it comes to land use and preservation of county programs that contribute to our overall quality of life and natural resource protection. County elected officials must live up to promises made at election time and go an extra mile beyond those promises.

County officials, both elected and in the career work force, must LISTEN to all stakeholders in our communities. Residents of Montgomery County who take the time to attend county hearings on issues that have a direct impact on them should never walk away feeling dismissed by local officials.

A solution to many of concerns expressed by Montgomery County residents is to rework our local economic development strategy, so that the needs of each local community are priorities.