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Committee questions 50% native-plant rule over recreational green space, inspectors and sod growers
Summary
The Montgomery County Planning, Housing and Parks Committee continued a detailed review of ZTA 25-10, a proposed requirement that 50% of plantings in certain open-space landscaping be native Mid-Atlantic species. Staff and planning board recommended measurement and enforcement approaches; councilmembers pressed for exemptions for recreational turf and raised equity concerns for townhome/multifamily residents.
The Montgomery County Planning, Housing and Parks Committee spent the bulk of its Oct. 6 work session reviewing ZTA 25-10, a zoning-text amendment that would require at least 50% native plant species in specified open-space landscaping for new development applications.
Council staff summarized July public hearing input, noting testimony both supporting greater native-plant use for biodiversity and climate resilience and opposing the change from members of the agricultural and sod-growing community, who warned it could threaten local sod farms. Staff said the planning board recommended placing the native-plant language only in the general landscaping section (6-4.3) to avoid unintended effects in rural-open-space requirements.
"Native plants are essential to sustaining our biodiversity, building climate-resilient landscapes, and also supporting pollinators," the package sponsor said, framing the ZTA as part of a broader Native Plant Protection Act. Staff clarified the proposal uses a Mid-Atlantic regional definition (Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, West Virginia, and D.C.) and would bar…
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