Issues
State Transportation Priorities
1/25/2007 Letter to County Council
Support for Addition to Sherwood Elementary
11/7/2006: Letter to Board of Education
Sewer Category Change for Hyde Property
7/24/2006: Additional Emails Posted
7/19/2006: Emails to County Council and Planning Board
7/18/2006: Written version of testimony
Sand Mounds in the Ag Reserve
Letters regarding the use of sand mound technology for sewage disposal in the Agricultural Reserve.
4/10/2006: Reply from County Council
3/15/2006: Letter to Transportation & Environment Committee re: Bill 38-05 (Sand Mounds)
PIFS in the Ag Reserve
Letters regarding Private Institutional Facilities (PIFs) in the Agricultural Reserve.
1/19/2006: GOCA Testimony (Council) on PIFs in Ag Reserve (PDF)
11/8/2005: GOCA Testimony on PIF Policies (PDF)
The Olney Master Plan
On March 15, the Montgomery County Council by a 7-2 vote approved a new development Master Plan for the Olney area. It replaces one that went into effect in 1980.
The Master Plan is a guide to the zoning of property, and, as such, sets the general outline for how an area will be developed, including the type of property (residential, commercial, school, for example) and the density (number of units allowed). The Master Plan is not an absolute plan – it can still be changed through the planning process.
GOCA was an active participant in the planning process. Many members of GOCA were part of the Master Plan Advisory Group, which began discussions with the Planning Board staff in April 2002, continuing through the staff drafts of the plan, to consideration of the plan by the Planning Board itself, and finally to the County Council, leading to the final vote.
Throughout the discussions, GOCA’s objective was to make certain that the quality of life we all value in Olney was preserved. The process at times was contentious, as we generally favored less development than proposed. At times the process was contentious as the County threw in new issues that we had not considered early in the process, such as the uses for a 32-acre site on Bowie Mill Road that everyone thought belonged to the school system, but which had been transferred to the county and which the county now wanted to use for some sort of subsidized housing.
By the time the process was complete, the key issues were the density in Town Center, the 32-acre site, and the degree of development on the Silo Inn property. The Council, for example, added 500 new units to the ceiling for the Town Center, and approved a 3-acre site at Silo Inn. We opposed the new units and wanted residential construction on the Silo Inn site, as the Planning Board had approved.
Rather than go into all the details we are giving you a list of resources, including some letters and position papers GOCA sent to the Council that will outline our positions as well as some web sites for background. The Olney Coalition has a fairly comprehensive discussion of the Master Plan.
Other references:
County Council Documents (PDF)
Gazette Newspaper article (3/16/05), and another Gazette article (3/23/05)
GOCA Letters and Testimony:
- 1/19/2006 GOCA Testimony (Planning Board) on Planning Process (PDF)
- 10/19/05 GOCA Objections to Proposed Town Center Advisory Committee (PDF)
- 3/7/05 Letter to Council (PDF)
- 1/27/05 Summary of Silo Inn History and Issues (PDF)
- 11/18/04 Comments on Master Plan ( PDF)
- 9/23/04 Letter to Council (PDF)
Most documents are in PDF format. You can get the free Adobe Acrobat PDF reader program by clicking on the Adobe link below.
