County Council unanimously passes Accelerate MoCo package to boost biohealth, speed mixed-income housing reviews

The Montgomery County Council recently unanimously passed the Accelerate MoCo legislative package aimed at boosting biohealth investments and speeding construction of mixed-income affordable housing, Council member Andrew Friedson said.

The package includes Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) 2603, which Friedson described as expanding the county’s biohealth priority campus framework to make it easier to repurpose underutilized buildings and support new biohealth facilities. It also contains ZTA 2604, co-led by Council member Laurie-Ann Sayles, which expands expedited review for mixed-income housing communities and updates an earlier open ZTA the council considered in 2023.

“We are making it easier to expand and to build new biohealth facilities in Montgomery County,” Friedson said, describing the changes as intended to attract jobs and investment while addressing the county’s housing shortage. He said the measures are designed to cut regulatory review processing times by roughly 75%, citing a reduction “from over 1,500 days to 64 days.” The transcript records that claim but does not include supporting implementation timelines, departmental responsibilities, or verifiable vote tallies beyond saying the council passed the package unanimously.

A press conference highlighting the package’s passage was held where Friedson was joined by local economic development and biohealth leaders as well as affordable housing advocates and builders. The transcript does not specify an implementation schedule, budget allocations, or the vote count; officials did not provide those details in the recorded remarks.

The council characterized the package as a coordinated effort to link job creation and housing production and said it seeks to reduce regulatory barriers for projects that bring both jobs and affordable housing to Montgomery County.