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Montgomery Planning outlines reorganization to align with climate, housing and placemaking priorities
Summary
Planning Director Jason Sartore presented a reorganization guided by a strategic plan that created new functional divisions (design & placemaking, historic preservation, transportation, environment & climate) to improve coordination, advance climate resilience and prioritize housing and corridor planning; staff said changes are early but showing positive feedback.
Montgomery Planning’s director told the county committee the department has reorganized to better align staff and functions with priorities such as climate resilience, transportation safety and housing.
"When a department comes under new leadership, it's common for the new director to reprioritize efforts or reorganize the department," Planning Director Jason Sartore said. He described nearly a year-long strategic planning process that produced 149 actions and led to a six-month effort to change the organization’s structure "to increase flexibility, responsiveness, productivity and efficiency."
Sartore said the department introduced four new functional divisions: a Design, Placemaking and Policy division (to implement Thrive recommendations and bring together housing, infrastructure and urban design work), a standalone Historic Preservation Division, a Transportation Planning Division focused on complete-streets priorities, and an Environment and Climate Division that consolidates environmental planners, Reforest Montgomery staff and forest conservation enforcement. He named division leads and noted other changes, including moving the GIS team into Research and Strategic Projects and renaming Communications to Communications and Engagement.
Sartore defended the approach against concerns that consolidating functional teams could create silos. "Tearing down silos in an organization isn't just about better communication, it's about building a culture of shared purpose, transparency, and trust," he said, adding that functional division chiefs will meet regularly to coordinate recommendations and that formal job functions now include cross-division coordination responsibilities.
Committee members asked how stakeholder handoffs would be handled. Sartore said staff tried to keep plan leads with ongoing master plans (for example, a planner leading a Silver Spring plan remained assigned to that work even after boundary changes) and provided council members with an up-to-date contact sheet to ease transitions. He also said the reorganization helped identify staffing gaps that will be reflected in the FY27 budget request; the department is "still down 28 positions from where we were in 2009," he said.
Members praised the thorough process and asked for continued monitoring of the reorganization’s effects on service delivery and community relationships. Sartore said staff will continue training, retreats and coordination meetings and expects the department to settle into new routines over the next 6–12 months.
