The Commissioner — Summer 2005

Commission Profile

Maximizing the Public Benefit

Montgomery County, Maryland, Planning Board

"Sometimes the planning board's role is dramatic — a significant dedication of green space — and sometimes it's small — a wider sidewalk or a bicycle path," says Derick P. Berlage, chairman of the Montgomery County, Maryland, planning board. "But, no matter what the end result, we're always working to maximize the public benefit of every public or private sector development," he says.

Operating in an often highly charged political environment, the planning board has had several nationally acclaimed successes. Despite triumphs, certain issues — notably affordable housing and transportation — remain challenges.

The planning board is unusual in many respects, notes Charles R. Loehr, director of the Department of Park and Planning. In addition to handling the planning function, Loehr's department and the board have responsibility for 32,200 acres of parkland. While the combination is unusual, "there's a real synergy in having parks and planning under one roof," says Berlage. "When we see new development, one of the first things we ask is, 'Where's the green space?'"

"We also have a full-time chairman," says Loehr. "Most agencies don't do this. ... He meets with us and works with us closely."

The five-member board is part of a larger organization, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC). Established in 1927 by the state legislature, M-NCPPC consists of 10 commissioners, half each from Montgomery and Prince George's counties. The boards meet separately to review and administer planning matters in their respective counties and together once a month to deal with more regional issues.

Board members are limited to two, four-year terms and no more than three members may belong to the same political party. Members are compensated. As a full-time employee, the chair receives just under $130,000 annually. The others receive $25,000 and first-term members receive $18,500.

"We usually have a week to prep for our meetings," says Wendy C. Perdue, vice chair. "I get this big packet with all the reports on the Friday before." The board meets each Thursday, from around 9:30 a.m. to as late as 10 p.m.

Agendas include requests for special exceptions, mandatory referrals from other governments and agencies, preliminary plan reviews, budget discussions, and public testimony on neighborhood, area, or topical plans. Staff reports are essential. "The planners I admire most tell us what we need to hear, not what we want to hear," says Berlage. "We expect them to bring their ideas — no matter how wildly unpopular they may be — to the table," he says. "That's not to say that professional recommendations will always win the day. In the face of intense community opposition, the board may recommend otherwise."

The vast majority of the board's work is done in open session. Perdue, a law professor, says for many members it takes some getting used to. "The concept of deliberating in public is different than the judicial model and is quite challenging," she says. "We have many different audiences that we need to constantly be aware of, and my colleagues and I are trying to inquire, learn, persuade, and negotiate at the same time. It turns out to be quite tricky."

"We frequently attend community meetings — often as observers," says Berlage. "You'll also find us at local festivals, potluck dinners, even black-tie events. It would be suicidal not to remain in close contact with citizens," he says.

This "tremendous knowledge of the community" has made this planning board "particularly outstanding," says Berlage. Among valuable qualities — diligence, hard work, and a lack of predetermined alliances — that sets this board apart from others, the chairman contends that it is the "real sense of collegiality — which does not always mean going along," that allows planning board members to tackle some of the county's most difficult issues.

Website: www.montgomeryplanningboard.org

A Mixed-Use Solution to Complex Problems

"We don't want to become a county of lawyers, stockbrokers, and doctors," says Derick P. Berlage, chairman of the Montgomery County, Maryland, planning board, "but we're at the point where people who earn good, decent salaries can't afford to live here." Berlage notes that 70 percent of the county's firefighters currently live elsewhere. "Housing, particularly affordable housing, ranks highest on our agenda," says Wendy C. Perdue, the board's vice chair.

With an estimated population of 931,000, the county's median household income is $79,115. A survey of 2004 home sales by the county's Department of Park and Planning put the median price of a new, detached, single-family home at $674,376, while the price for existing, detached, single-family homes was $450,000.

Adopted in 1974, the county's Moderately Priced Housing Law requires anywhere from 12.5 percent to 15 percent of the houses in new subdivisions of 20 or more units be moderately priced. The results, however, are less than needed. "We've made a difference at the margins," says Berlage.

As county workers move farther out, they commute greater distances. The result? Intense traffic congestion. "Our response to that is to advocate for mixed-use, transit-oriented, pedestrian-friendly development," says Berlage. "We need to create transportation choices that allow people or companies to choose to locate by transit," he says.

Perdue and Berlage point to the recent Shady Grove Master Plan as a model. Currently, land around the Metro stop is zoned industrial. "A transit-oriented industrial park is not the highest and best use," says Berlage with a smile. "This area should have housing and jobs," says Perdue. "It should be high density by Montgomery County standards." The plan is now before the Montgomery County Council. "We'll see, soon enough, if the political will is there," she says.

Another goal is to protect green space. To date, nearly half of the county's land — about 148,000 acres — is labeled "Forever Green." After parkland, which totals 47,300 acres, the largest amount of open space has been preserved by the county's nationally acclaimed Transfer of Development Rights program, which allows the sale of development rights in rural areas in order to promote denser development in urbanized areas. Another goal? To "safeguard the profitability of farming," says the chairman. Horticultural and equestrian farms are the two largest components of the agricultural community. Still, farming accounts for only 0.1 percent of all jobs in the county. "The best defense against the demise of the family farm," says Berlage, "is to help them adjust — to move away from dairy and crop farming that are no longer profitable."