Mo-Co Alliance
  • Home
  • About Us
    • What We Do
    • A Brief History
    • Board & AC
    • Staff & Volunteers
    • Contact
    • Buy MCA Gear
  • About Ag Reserve
    • Growing Legacy Film
    • History of the Ag Reserve
    • Benefits of the Ag Reserve
    • Agriculture Education
    • Farm Facts
    • Threats to the Ag Reserve
    • A Place with Purpose
  • News
  • Events
    • Local Events
    • Royce Hanson Award
    • Ride for Reserve
  • Support Local
    • Agricultural Guide
    • Local Food Connection
    • Good Fences Grant
    • Community Supported Agriculture
    • Restaurants & Retail
    • Artists of the Reserve
  • Community Resources
    • Land Link >
      • Labor Link
    • Re-leaf the Reserve
    • PLENTY Magazine
    • Producer's Resources
    • BIPOC Farmer Guide
    • Directory of Local Services
    • Friends of Ten Mile Creek
  • Membership
    • Sponsors and Partners

News

Landscape Contractors Must Remain a Conditional Use in MoCo

11/10/2021

 
Picture
Want to zoom in on this map (see the pdf here)  What zone are you in? Enter your address to the GIS map here and find out. 
Update 11/29: This ZTA was to have a public hearing among a packed agenda on the 30th but the ZTA sponsor Tom Hucker withdrew the ZTA. We want to thank the hundreds of folks who took action and the civic organizations who joined us in calling for a more collaborative process. 

Update: This issue had a hearing on 11/18 at the Planning Board (video is here - skip to 7:02:36). County staff did a good job of laying out the reasons that landscape contractor operations are currently a conditional use in Montgomery County and surrounding jurisdictions. Our own Caroline Taylor testified that a process to address the needs of landscapers with stakeholders would be a better solution than this ZTA which has broad unintended consequences. The Planning Board agreed to send the staff's recommendation for rejection of the ZTA along to the Council. County Executive Marc Elrich also send a letter asking that the ZTA be pulled - the public hearing is November 30th (make sure they hear from you before then - take two minutes to write in here. )
Issue:  Absent stakeholder input, a county council zoning text amendment was introduced by Council President Tom Hucker that will open multiple rural zones to by right commercial landscape contractors with scant conditions. Take Action

Why this matters:  
  • Similar to concerns about siting large scale solar on farmland- the primary use of the Ag Reserve is farming. Landscape companies allowed by right in the Reserve will drive up prices for new farmers to access land in the zone set aside for Agriculture. The proposed ZTA identifies 2 acre parcels for these industrial uses - the same amount of land a new table crop producer is ideally looking for.
  • Keeping this industry type as a conditional use allows a review of how an operation would fit into a specific area. All surrounding jurisdictions have stringent (sometimes more stringent) qualifiers on where landscapers can locate.  Changing to a limited use would allow these intensive uses to be sited much more broadly with few protections. Missing in a limited use approval are considerations for: Impervious surface and water quality, forest destruction, road width and condition and noise.
The Solution: table this zoning text amendment and convene a group of stakeholders to collaborate on an appropriate means of addressing the concerns of the landscaping industry. This solution is supported by the Planning staff recommendation to oppose this change. 
​
"Staff is very concerned about the negative impacts Landscape Contractors often have on neighboring residential uses, which are directly related to their operations and can only be properly mitigated through detailed analysis and regulatory conditions imposed by the Conditional Use process."
Our Ask: please take two minutes to send a quick letter here. 

Also let us know if you are affiliated with a civic organization that would like to sign on to group correspondence. Email us at:
Info@mocoalliance.org
Public hearing on November 30, 2021  has been limited to only 5 speakers and is now full. So the council needs to hear from the public via emails and/or calls in advance of 11/30.
​The details:

Proposed change to zoning code (see the zones impacted on the map above):
Picture
See the full ZTA linked here.  
​Summary here. 
Currently commercial landscape contractors are provided the opportunity to locate their businesses in multiple zones (Ag Reserve, rural, rural residential) through conditional use approval. This process is utilized to ensure that the facilities will not pose undue non-inherent effects on the surrounding community. The conditional use process recognizes that these are not a one size fits all use in these zones and without proper evaluation could undermine master plan 

Comments are closed.
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Action
    Barnesville Oaks/Greentree
    Bike
    Climate Change
    CSA
    Development
    Education
    Energy
    Events
    Fun!
    Growing Legacy
    Land Link
    Local Food
    Master Plan Update
    Mega Church
    Montgomery Council
    News
    Open Space
    Outer Beltway
    Parks
    Planning
    Potomac Bridge
    Racial Justice
    Recent Accomplishments
    Recipes
    Reducing Waste
    Regenerative Ag
    Releaf
    Rocklands
    Rural Schools
    Sewer
    Solar
    Take Action Now
    Ten Mile Creek
    Thrive 2050
    Transporation
    Water

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2012
    September 2012
    November 2010
    October 2010

ABOUT US
What We Do
A Brief History
Board & AC
Staff & Volunteers
Contact
​​Buy MCA Gear
ABOUT Ag RESERVE
History of the Ag
Benefits of the Ag
Farm Facts
Threats to the Ag
​A Place with Purpose
NEWS
EVENTS
Local Events
Ride for the Reserve
Royce Hanson Award
SUPPORT LOCAL
Ag Guide
Local Food Connection
Community Supported Agriculture
Restaurants & Retail
​Artists of the Reserve
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
​Land Link
Producer's Resources
Directory of Services
Picture
Montgomery Countryside Alliance
P.O Box 24, Poolesville, MD  20837
301-461-9831  •  ​info@mocoalliance.org
Picture
Picture
Picture

Picture
MCA is proud to announce that we have been recognized for a third time as one of the best small charities in the D.C. region by Catalogue for Philanthropy: Greater Washington. A panel of 110 expert reviewers from area foundations, corporate giving programs, and peer non-profit organizations evaluated 270 applications.

​MCA is known as an effective and innovative non-profit whose efforts to preserve and promote Montgomery County’s nationally recognized 93,000 acre Ag Reserve have brought increased public and governmental support of local food production and farmland and open space preservation. Most importantly, MCA’s efforts are putting more farmers on the ground and keeping them there.
COPYRIGHT © MONTGOMERY COUNTRYSIDE ALLIANCE 2008