Committee backs edits to Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan, sets 8‑acre goal for new 'Constellation Park'

The Montgomery County Planning, Housing and Parks Committee on Feb. 11 advanced staff edits to the Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan, endorsing environmental protections for streams and forests, a flexible approach to setbacks and a goal of eight acres of new parkland delivered as a ‘Constellation Park’ across the plan area.

Miss Dunn, council staff leading the work session, told the committee the plan area is largely within a Special Protection Area and falls inside the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ priority urban forest boundary, and that the sector plan seeks to extend the Little Seneca Creek Greenway and protect smaller tributaries such as the Koulbrook tributary through parkland expansion or private conservation easements.

“Most of the plan area is in the Clarksburg SPA,” Miss Dunn said, adding that SPA status imposes monitoring, conservation planning and development review responsibilities on both developers and the county.

Why it matters: the plan sets environmental expectations—protecting streams and forest canopy, requiring sustainable site and building design—and establishes how green cover and dedication areas will be measured. Those rules will guide how future development near sensitive habitats and I‑270 proceeds.

The committee debated wording around mitigation for development near I‑270. Staff recommended retaining a requirement for a noise study and for mitigation measures such as a sound wall or raised berm plus a 50‑foot native tree buffer, and proposed that where exceptions are granted the residential use be set back at least 125 feet from the I‑270 right‑of‑way (about 200 feet from the nearest travel lane). Planning board chair Arty Harris urged flexibility for the planning board, arguing the board must consider application‑specific conditions in review.

“Flexibility matters depending on whatever plan comes before the board,” Arty Harris said, supporting staff language that the board “should consider” a 125‑foot setback rather than making it an absolute requirement.

Parks and green cover: the plan recommends a 35% green‑cover target; committee members and staff discussed how to measure the base area (impervious area, developable area, net tract) and whether newly dedicated rights‑of‑way and parkland should count toward the green‑cover total. Miss Dunn said staff’s edit aims to remove confusing distinctions and to allow counting of green cover on newly dedicated rights‑of‑way and parkland in this largely greenfield context.

“Allowing them to count as green cover where there’s value to having really great street trees and new parkland is great for this location,” said Midi Figerto, Director of Montgomery Parks, who asked the committee to retain a firm list of amenities so the parks department can secure activated park features during development review.

Parks configuration and amenities: the Planning Board proposed replacing a single 8‑ to 10‑acre local park with a distributed ‘Constellation Park’—a network of smaller parks and activated open spaces near the planned Observation Drive. Parks staff said county experience shows dedicated parkland is sometimes delivered without capital to activate it; staff recommended an ultimate goal of eight acres of new, amenitized parkland delivered across the plan area and a clear amenities list developers should provide.

“Where there is a number as to acreage for a park, we might very well get that parkland delivered to us in dedication during the site plan process, but that’s all we get,” Figerto said. “We are trying to recalibrate that and create in the master plan the ability for the parks department to during development review actually get amenities.”

Historic preservation and cultural resources: the committee reviewed proposed designations, including protections for two burial sites (Community of Faith United Methodist Church Cemetery and the approximate Lithicum Family Burial Ground) and evaluated three proposed designations identified by the Historic Preservation Commission and planning staff. For the Constat Laboratories building, planning staff had recommended not listing it in the master plan for historic preservation but included mitigation measures—documentation, interpretation and possible contributions to a preservation grant program—if the property is not preserved.

What’s next: council staff and the committee accepted the discussed edits and recommendations and will include them when the sector plan moves forward to the full council. The committee will reconvene on Feb. 23 to consider neighborhood recommendations and the implementation chapter.

Sources: Committee work session presentation and staff report to the Planning, Housing and Parks Committee; statements by Miss Dunn (council staff), Arty Harris (Planning Board chair) and Midi Figerto (Montgomery Parks).