Master Plan Review

Approved and Adopted

December 2012
BURTONSVILLE
CROSSROADS
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Public Listening Session 9/2009
ONING CODE REWRITE
In 2007, the Montgomery County Council directed the Planning Department to undertake a
comprehensive zoning ordinance rewrite. Last rewritten in 1977, the current 1,200
+
page code is
viewed as antiquated and hard to use with standards that have failed to keep pace with modern
development practices.
With only about four percent of land in the County available for greenfield development, the new
zoning code can play a crucial role in guiding redevelopment to areas like surface parking lots and
strip shopping centers. An updated zoning code is important for achieving the kind of growth
Montgomery County policymakers and residents want.
Initial sections of the new code were drafted by Code
Studio, a zoning consultant. These drafts were
subsequently analyzed and edited by planners based
on feedback from the Zoning Advisory Panel (a citizen
panel appointed by the Planning Board to weigh in on
the projects direction), county agency representatives,
residents and other stakeholders. In September 2012,
planning staff began the release of a draft code in
sections accompanied by a report highlighting changes
from the current code. The staff drafts were reviewed
at length by the Planning Board.
The Planning Board held worksessions and public hearings between September of 2012 and May of
2013. On May 2, they transmitted their draft to the County Council. The Council adopted the text of
the new code in March and adopted the new zoning map in July 2014.
The new code and map will go into effect on October 30, 2014.
ZONE IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS
An important aspect of the Zoning Rewrite process is the potential simplification of 123 existing
zones into about 30 proposed zones. While some of the proposed zones are a direct one-to-one
translation of existing zones, others are the result of combining existing zones with similar
standards. Additionally, existing zones that are not currently mapped or are no longer used in the
County have been eliminated from the proposed code. Through the implementation process,
Montgomery County aims to simplify the number of zones, eliminate redundancy, and clarify
development standards. A full translation table for all zones can be found in the documents section
of our website: www.zoningmontgomery.org.
BACKGROUND
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Agricultural, Residential, and Industrial Zone Implementation:
For agricultural and rural zones, the existing zones will be translated to proposed zones on a one-to-
one basis, with the exception of the Low Density Rural Cluster zone which is not currently used in
the County and will be eliminated.
Many of the existing residential zones will remain the same. Other residential zones will be
combined with existing zones that have similar development standards. The R-4Plex zone, which is
not currently mapped anywhere in the county, will be removed from the proposed code.
Implementation of Industrial zones will combine similar zones (Rural Service, I-1, and R+D) into the
proposed Industrial Moderate (IM) zone. The existing heavy industrial zone (I-2) will be renamed as
the Industrial Heavy (IH) zone.


Examples:
Agricultural
and Rural
Rural Density
Transfer (RDT)
Agricultural
Reserve (AR)
R-60
(detached residential)
R-60
(detached residential)
R-60/TDR
(detached residential)


Residential
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Commercial and Mixed-Use Zone Implementation:
Parcels located in the existing Commercial, Mixed-use, Central Business District (CBD), and Transit
Station zones will be translated into one of the proposed Commercial/Residential (CR) or
Employment (E) Zones using a two-tiered process.
First, decisions about specific parcels in these zones were based on recommendations within the
Master Plan. Planning staff reviewed each Master Plan in the County. When the Master Plan
provided specific recommendations about allowed density, height, or mix of uses for individual
commercial or mixed-use parcels, those recommendations were used to build the formula of the
proposed zone. This ensures consistency with currently allowed density and height, and helps
codify Master Plan recommendations in a parcel-specific manner.
Second, if the Master Plan did not make specific recommendations, the current zone changed to a
proposed zone on a one-to-one basis or the proposed zone was determined using a specific
standardized decision tree (see example below). The standardized decision tree translates existing
zones by considering each specific parcels proximity to single-family neighborhoods or other
factors. The goal of the implementation decision tree is to retain currently allowed heights and
densities and maintain context sensitivity.

Example: C-1 Convenience Commercial









Confronts or abuts
R-150 or less intense
or site is bigger than 5 acres
NR-0.75
H-45
then
Within a Historic
District
NR-0.75
H-45
then
Confronts or abuts
R-90, R-60, R-40, or R-MH
CRT-0.75
C-0.75 R-0.25 H-35
then
Confronts or abuts RT
or more intense
CRT-0.75
C-0.75 R-0.25 H-45
then
C-1

if
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PLAN HIGHLIGHTS
In December 2012 the County Council approved the Burtonsville
Crossroads Sector Plan. The plan updates a portion of the 1997
Fairland Master Plan.
The plan envisions creating a complete community around the
historic Burtonsville crossroads. The plan calls for creating a
walkable main street, a public green, restaurants, stores, and
recreational opportunities.
The plan will focus on 4 themes in order to create a complete
community:
Connectivity
Design
Economy
Environment




BURTONSVILLE CROSSROADS
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The Burtonsville Crossroads Planning Area currently has 5 zones: 2 Residential, 1 Commercial, and 2
Mixed-Use.
Existing Residential:
RC: Rural Cluster
RE-1: Residential Estate


Existing Commercial:
C-2: General Commercial
Existing Mixed-Use:
CRN: C/R-Neighborhood
CRT: C/R-Town

Standard Implementation:
The existing residential zones will be translated to retain their current names and boundaries. RC and
RE-1 will remain.
The CRN and CRT zones will remain exactly as they are today, with the same density and height
designations.
The C-2 zone will be converted to CRT.



ZONE IMPLEMENTATION
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In some cases, properties were not converted using the standard conversions as outlined earlier in the
packet.

Generally, this is because the relevant Master or Sector Plan made recommendations regarding the
appropriate density, height, or mix of uses on a given site.

In other cases, the text of the zoning ordinance or an overlay zone can affect the development potential
of a site, and therefore affect the conversion given as part of the draft proposed DMA.

Additionally, the PHED Committee instructed that, when requested by a property owner, existing site
approvals be reflected in the draft proposed DMA. Non-standard conversions sometimes reflect these
project approvals.

The following pages will give detail on all of the non-standard conversions in this plan area.

NON-STANDARD CONVERSIONS
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MP Number: BURTN-01
Master Plan: Burtonsville Crossroads
Location: Old Columbia Pike
Existing Zone: C-2
Standard Conv: GR-1.5 H-45
Proposed Conv: CRT-1.5 C-1.0 R-1.25 H-70
M
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f
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c
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s

Zone Group: Changed to CRT
Overall FAR: Standard
Comml FAR: n/a
Residl FAR: n/a
Height: Increased to 70
Reason for non-standard conversion:
Burtonsville Crossroads Neighborhood Plan: Page 65
The Plan recommends that the former parcel P645, which is
now the northeast 0.71 acre portion of the Burtonsville
Shopping Center property (Parcel B/N703), be rezoned from
RC to C-2 zoning with a recommendation to change to CRT 1.5
C 1.0 R 1.25 H 70 when the Zoning Ordinance Rewrite zoning is
adopted.

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Burtonsville Crossroads
Existing Proposed
Zone Acres Percent Zone
Acres Percent
RC 106.13 55.50 RC 106.13 55.50
RE-1 19.27 10.08 RE-1 19.27 10.08
CRN-1.5 C-1.0 R-0.5 H-45 13.35 6.98 CRN-1.5 C-1.0 R-0.5 H-45 13.35 6.98
CRT-1.5 C-1.0 R-1.25 H-75 27.10 14.17 CRT-1.5 C-1.0 R-1.25 H-75 27.10 14.17
CRT-1.5 C-1.0 R-1.25 H-70 24.57 12.85
CRT-1.5 C-1.0 R-1.25 H-70 25.33 13.25
C-2 0.76 0.40
Grand Total 191.18 Grand Total 191.18



ZONE IMPLEMENTATION
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Burtonsville Crossroads Page 10 of 13 Updated July 2014 based on Adopted DMA
Rural Residential
RC
RE-1
CRN
CRT
Commercial
C-2
Comm/Res-
Town
Residential
Estate
Existing Zones
Comm/Res-
Town

EXISTING ZONING MAP
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Rural Residential
RC
RE-1
5
CRN
CRT
Comm/Res-
Town
Residential
Estate
Proposed Zones
Comm/Res-
Town

PROPOSED ZONING MAP
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PLANNING AREA CONTEXT
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