InfoShare Newsletter - March 11, 2011

[Howard Hartman]

THE MARYLAND-NATIONAL CAPITAL PARK AND PLANNING COMMISSION PLANNING BOARD | DEPARTMENT OF PARKS | PLANNING DEPARTMENT March 11, 2011
In This Issue Planning Board Schedule Planning Director's Blog Zoning Advisory Panel Kensington Sector Plan Highlights Not your Father's Farm, or maybe it is? Burtonsville Crossroads Community Spring Art Exhibition at Hyattstown Mill Innovative Planning Conference Stay Informed About Plans in Your Area Montgomery County Grows More Diverse New Montgomery Plans Show County Trendsheets Sign up for Info Share Neighborhood Walk-Abouts Find a Conservation Easement Easily Reducing our Footprint Video Get Involved in Planning Quick Links    Planning Board homepage Planning Department homepage Department of Parks homepage Parks Events Calendar Planning Events Calendar NEW! Park Police homepage Job Opportunities Watch us on County Cable Montgomery Channel 6 Parks Show Montgomery Plans Growing Right   Find archives of Info-Share and more at Connected Communities		Greetings! Below is a listing of upcoming events, programs and meetings as well as important announcements from The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission in Montgomery County. Please pass the information along to others who may be interested.  Valerie Berton Communications Manager, Planning Department Planning Board Meetings    Upcoming:   Thursday, March 17    No Planning Board meeting March 24 Visit the Agendas & Staff Reports web page for updates on Planning Board meetings and/or access to our meeting archives. Meetings start at 9 a.m., Park and Planning Headquarters, 8787 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD  20910.    Everyone who speaks at a Planning Board meeting must register with the board assistant unless he or she has signed up in advance. Sign up online (typically available 10 days before a meeting) or register at the meeting by submitting our yellow form or a business card.    We now stream the Planning Board meetings online. Watch live on our website or view later from our archives. Interested in plans for your area? The Planning Board appreciates hearing from you. Browse our testifying tips. Intriguing Trends from the 2010 Census Big changes in Montgomery County's population and diversity offer new opportunities as well as new challenges. Read the Director's Blog.
Zoning Advisory Panel   7 p.m. Wednesday, March 16 Park and Planning Headquarters auditorium 8787 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring   Code Studio, the consultant working with the Planning Department on the Zoning Code Rewrite project, will lead a discussion with the ZAP on the first two discussion drafts -- zoning district regulations and uses for the agricultural and residential zones. The group of community representatives, architects, developers, and other land use specialists review, recommend, and provide feedback on the project. Download drafts and learn more at www.zoningmontgomery.org.   Join Public Forum on Capital Improvements Program (CIP) Budget for Parks and Recreation A chance like this only happens once every two years! The Planning Board and the Montgomery County Recreation & Parks Advisory Boards are accepting public input on future capital improvement projects for parks and recreation facilities for fiscal years 2013-2018. The CIP for the Department of Parks includes proposals for parkland acquisition, renovation of older park facilities and new park development. The Recreation Department's CIP includes proposals for construction and renovation of community/recreation centers and aquatic facilities. Learn more, sign up to speak, or provide written comments for this public forum.  Volunteer in Montgomery Parks? Naturally!   As the days get warmer, lots of volunteer opportunities in our parks are starting to heat up too!  Find nature camps, park and stream cleanups, ice rinks, festivals and other short- or long-term opportunities  at www.ParksVolunteers.org.  Many of our opportunities are Student Service Learning approved, so have your kids check us out - or if you are interested in giving back AND expanding your natural, botanical or cultural resources knowledge, consider volunteering too!  Questions? Ready to volunteer? Contact Lynn.Vismara, or call 301-495-2504.   Not your Father's Farm...or Maybe it is?    Farming is changing in Montgomery County and across the country. Check it out on  The Straight Line blog. Subscribe to the Guide Beginning with the Summer 2011 issue, the Montgomery County Guide to Recreation and Park Programs will be mailed to subscribers only. For just $5, we'll mail all five Guides (Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall and Summer Camps) right to your home. The subscription fee will cover the postage for mailing the guides. If you want to start your subscription with the Summer 2011 Guide, sign up by April 1. Check out the e-Guide or visit recreation centers, park facilities, government buildings and libraries for print copies while quantities last. Burtonsville Crossroads Community Design Workshop 7-9 p.m. Thursday, March 31   East County Service Center 3300 Briggs Chaney Road, Silver Spring   The Burtonsville Crossroads of Routes 29 and 198 provides a hub of valuable services, from car repair to grocery shopping to places to eat or worship. That 78-acre commercial area is the focus of a neighborhood study by county planners, who are analyzing ways to improve upon what's there. Participants will brainstorm improvements for downtown Burtonsville and inform the planning study. Spring Art Exhibition at Hyattstown Mill March 12 - April 24  "3700 Acres: The Art of Little Bennett" will display artworks directly inspired by Little Bennett Regional Park.  The exhibition will be held at the Hyattstown Mill Arts Project Gallery, 14920 Hyattstown Mill Road in Clarksburg, starting March 12, with a reception from  5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The show will continue through April 24.  Learn more or call the Hyattstown Mill Arts Project at 301-874-2452. Register for Innovative Planning Conference, April 14-16 Planners and the residents they serve continually confront nagging suburban problems like sprawl and congestion. Learn more about tried-and-true solutions to contemporary planning challenges at Makeover Montgomery: Innovative Strategies for Rethinking America's Suburbs conference. Professional planners, architects, environmental experts, industry and nonprofit reps and  academicians will present successful strategies to improve suburbs throughout North America. Co-hosted by the National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education, the Montgomery County Planning Department and the Urban Studies and Planning Program at the University of Maryland. Continuing education credits (AICP certification maintenance credits) are pending for planning professionals. Learn more and register ($25). Stay Informed About Plans in Your Area The Planning Department's recent reorganization in geographic teams presents an opportunity to capture all of the planning news about an area. View our map of the three Montgomery County planning areas, and check your area page for upcoming events and Planning Board items. View Area 1, Area 2 and Area 3. Montgomery County Grows More Diverse Montgomery County planners specializing in demographic analysis make sense of data recently released from the 2010 Census. The county's population has grown more diverse over the last decade, becoming a majority-minority county for the first time. New Montgomery Plans Cable Show Highlights Current Initiatives The latest episode of Montgomery Plans spotlights how to pay for redevelopment in White Flint, details of a recently approved mixed housing and retail development in Silver Spring, a primer on the Zoning Code Rewrite Project, a glance at the green, recently renovated PeriPoint Building in Bethesda, and an insider's tour of Burtonsville. Montgomery County Trends To inform our planning work, our Research and Technology Center identifies and tracks demographic, household and economic trends. To provide at-a-glance indicators of Montgomery County's changing environment, the Planning Department began producing trendsheets to package our statistics. Knowing the people who live in Montgomery County and how they live helps policy makers be fully informed as they make decisions that shape the future. View the latest on population trends. Was infoShare sent to you by a friend?  Anyone with an email address can sign up to receive our weekly newsletter. Planning Director Rollin Stanley and staff offer neighborhood walkabouts Invite County Planning Director Rollin Stanley and selected staff on a tour of your neighborhood as part of our new walkabouts exploring design, diversity, connections, and the environment in your part of Montgomery County. Here's your opportunity to: Tell us about your community Highlight community strengths and weaknesses Identify issues Learn more about planning initiatives   Request your tour. Find a Forest Conservation Easement Do you have a forest conservation easement on or near your property? Easements protect forests on private land by limiting certain activities, part of the Planning Board's emphasis on forest conservation. Now you can locate easement areas using our online tool. Reducing Our Footprint View the 2009-2011 Montgomery County growth policy video, Reducing our Footprint. The 4½-minute video, which won a platinum Ava award, provides an overview of the concepts presented in the Planning Board draft of the 2009-2011 Growth Policy. Ava awards recognize outstanding work by creative professionals involved in the concept, writing, direction, shooting and editing of audio/visual materials and programs.  Learn How to Get Involved in Montgomery County Planning To increase resident involvement in the planning process, the Planning Board, in concert with County Cable Montgomery, has produced a CD that reviews the many ways county residents can have a voice in planning their communities. The episode won a "gold" Ava award from the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals. Request a free copy of How to get Involved in Montgomery County Planning.

The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission | 8787 Georgia Ave | Silver Spring | MD | 20910