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Residents urge rejection or redrafting of University Boulevard overlay during packed hearing
Summary
At a public hearing on ZTA 25-12, dozens of residents and civic groups urged the council to remove proposed CRN upzoning, citing displacement risk, loss of tree canopy, stormwater and traffic impacts and insufficient community outreach; Planning Board staff stressed pedestrian funding priorities.
The Montgomery County Council heard hours of public testimony Oct. 28 on Zoning Text Amendment 25-12, which would create a University Boulevard overlay zone to implement the University Boulevard Corridor (UBC) plan.
Benjamin Burbert, representing the Montgomery County Planning Board, presented the board's technical comments, clarifying duplex and site-coverage standards and saying the planning board's climate assessment found no countywide change in greenhouse-gas metrics because the overlay implements master-plan recommendations. Burbert emphasized that "getting funding implemented for pedestrian and transportation improvements along this corridor" is the planning board's top implementation priority.
Nearly every in-person and virtual public speaker urged the council to reject or substantially revise the ZTA. John Holden said the CTA "upzones entire neighborhood blocks" and removes workforce-housing requirements; Jan Shirey and others asked for more crosswalks, speed cameras and resident-centered planning. Civic Federation president Cheryl Gannon told the council that the upzoning "invites higher prices and investors making homeownership out of reach for more people" and pointed to the Office of Legislative Oversight's racial-equity review predicting negative impacts for Black and Latinx homeowners in the plan area.
Speakers from community organizations and neighborhood coalitions emphasized risks of displacement, increased impervious surface and stormwater damage, and loss of tree canopy. Several called for the council to defer action until the PHP committee finishes revising the corridor plan or to remove the CRN zoning category entirely. Kevin Bromberg urged transparency around the planning-board outreach data and said residents are entitled to see the full underlying public-input database.
Chair Friedson noted that the PHP committee is continuing work on the UBC plan and that additional hearings or changes could follow after the final corridor plan vote.
Ending: The public hearing closed after extensive testimony; the council indicated the PHP committee will continue work and may revisit the ZTA to align it with the final plan before any action.
