preserving the quality of life in Olney, Maryland

A Summary of the Planning Board Recommendations for the Olney Master Plan

The Olney Master Plan Planning Board Draft was approved by the Planning Board on May 27, 2004. The full text of the plan should soon be on the Park & Planning web site. This Planning Board Recommendation for the Olney Master Plan is now being transmitted to the County Executive and the County Council. We anticipate that the County Council will hold its public hearing on the Olney Master Plan in September, followed by PHED committee work sessions. Assuming that this schedule holds, a final Council vote on the Olney Master Plan will likely occur late first or early second quarter 2005.

Build Out

In 2003, Olney had 12,662 dwelling units and a population of 39,260. The plan describes full build out to include between 14,430 and 15,300 dwelling units in the Master Plan area resulting in a total population of 41,000 to 46,600 people. Olney Coalition believes these estimates are low. We believe a more realistic projection of population at full build out is 48,000. Click here for the analysis.

In order to understand what the possible impact will be on quality of life (i.e., the adequacy of schools, roads, emergency services, recreational facilities, etc.) it is important to know what the full build out will be AND how fast it will happen compared to the pace at which improvements to public facilities are funded. If development happens a lot faster, then service levels will fall and quality of life will deteriorate.

Schools

The Planning Board recommendation regarding schools states (pg 127) that “[T]the proposed potential growth is relatively small and spread out over three high school clusters.” The plan mentions that it “is possible that additional school facilities would be needed even if there is no significant increase in the area population” due to education initiatives such as smaller class sizes. If that was to happen, the 18.5 acre Oakdale Junior High School site on Cashell Road and Sherwood Cluster Elementary Site #6 on Wickham Drive (in the Upper Rock Creek Master Plan area) would address such unforeseen needs.

Research done by the Olney Coalition demonstrates Montgomery County as a whole is entering a period of intense growth. For example, county birth rates have risen and are remaining at the elevated levels. Growth proposed in master plan areas surrounding Olney is significant: Shady Grove ~ 8,400 units (including MPDUs), Upper Rock Creek ~ 500 units, Ashton/Sandy Spring ~ 1,000 units. Students in the Olney planning area attend several different high schools (Blake, Magruder, Sherwood, Rockville). These are the same schools that will be affected by growth in surrounding master plans, particularly planning areas that depend on adjacent areas to provide for their school needs. Olney Coalition believes that there are not enough school sites to accommodate the likely growth across the mid-county region. We believe that within the 15-20 year life of the Olney Master Plan it is inevitable that new cluster lines will be drawn and new schools will be built to accommodate a larger student population than MCPS is forecasting.

Transportation

There are recommendations for several roads. Both Cashell Road (between Hines Road and Emory Lane) and Heritage Hills Road will be classified as primary residential roads. This designation allows traffic calming measures to be used. Cherry Valley Drive will not be extended across the North Branch of Rock Creek, but in Town Center, North High Street will be extended to Morningwood Drive as a business district street. Muncaster Mill Road will not be widened and Batchellors Forest Road will be designated as a rustic road. Throughout Northern Olney, a two lane road policy will continue in order to preserve rural character of that area. The Georgia Avenue median will become the Georgia Avenue Busway. A significant traffic issue in Olney is completely ignored by the plan: the intersections of Bowie Mill Road with Rt. 108 and Cashell Road which experience significant backups daily. Identifying the need to improve these intersections should be addressed in the master plan. For additional road information, see the Planning Board Recommendation.

Under the old Annual Growth Policy (AGP), the congestion in Olney triggered a building moratorium. Moratoriums suspend development until infrastructure capacity (in this case, the roads) catches up to demand. None of the recommendations in the Planning Board Draft address how capacity will be expanded to meet current demands let alone the new demands of additional development in Olney. Despite the fact that no capacity improvements are planned or funded, the new Annual Growth Policy that goes into effect this July removes the moratorium and permits development to resume at whatever pace the current hot real estate market will support.

Land Use & Rezoning

The Golden Bear Area (east of 97 and north of 28) is a transit-oriented area and is therefore an appropriate location for high-density R200/TDR-7 zoning and development of a small community. This zoning change means that instead of the 43 dwelling units permitted under the existing zoning, a developer could theoretically build a maximum of 725 units on this land.

The Norbeck Country Club was rezoned from RE-1 (estimated maximum of 198 dwelling units) to RNC 0.33 units per acre on sewer (estimated max of 79 dwelling units with MPDU bonus density) in order to protect the water quality of Rock Creek. The Silo Inn is rezoned R200 (residential uses) in support of the principle that all commercial development belongs in the Town Center. Most of the properties in the Southeast Quadrant (along Batchellors Forest Road) were rezoned to RNC 0.2 units per acre on septic and/or RNC 0.33 units per acre on sewer. The Olney Coalition supported RNC at 0.2 for all properties. See the Planning Board Recommendation for more details.

The new recommendation for the 32 acre site states “The 32 Acre property on Bowie Mill Road, if not needed for educational purposes, should be used for affordable housing designed to be compatible with the surrounding residential neighborhood. The site is currently zoned R-200 and is not recommended for rezoning. This site is to include open space with an active recreational component as part of any future development on this site.” We have more work to do to ensure that the public has a meaningful voice in the eventual disposition of this property. However, this statement represents a significant improvement over the July 2003 Public Hearing draft.

The Olney Coalition played a significant role in bringing about the changes in the Public Hearing Draft regarding the Silo Inn, Norbeck Country Club, and 32 acre property on Bowie Mill Road

Town Center

Redevelopment of the Town Center will dramatically change the way Olney will look and feel. A new Mixed Use Zone will apply to all properties in Town Center. This zone permits five story buildings that house retail uses (offices, stores, restaurants) on the lower floors with residential units on the upper floors. An example of this type of development can be found in Pentagon Row. The new zone permits 3,000,000 additional square feet of commercial and 1,500 additional residential units to be built in Town Center.

Olney Coalition was successful in shifting the passive tone of the Public Hearing draft to the more proactive recommendation that states: ”Explore opportunities for a civic center/town commons with a major public open space of approximately one acre in the Town Center through a variety of public/private partnership mechanisms, including dedication or County acquisition of private property, land exchange, and incentive zoning to create a civic center and other public amenities.”

Environmental Resources

The plan is sensitive in preserving our environment by encouraging wetland restoration, protecting forest areas to prevent fragmentation, and acquiring several properties as parkland. For example, if and when Norbeck Country Club is developed, a portion of it will be dedicated to the North Branch Rock Creek Stream Valley Park. Any development or redevelopment that occurs in areas that drain into the Hawlings watershed requires extraordinary storm water management practices. This helps to protect the water that fills the Howard T. Duckett Reservoir located downstream which is part of the drinking water system maintained by WSSC.

The Special Protection Area (SPA) that the County Council approved for the Upper Rock Creek Master Plan Area is extended into the Olney Master Plan area. However, the recommended extension includes only a small portion of the watershed north of Route 108. In addition, there is no SPA for the Northwest Branch (Southeast Quadrant) that drains into the Anacostia River.

Recreational Facilities

Olney Manor Recreation Park will house a new Skateboard facility. Several properties are recommended to be acquired as parkland. Trails and bike paths are emphasized to allow access to several parks. A site for a public outdoor aquatic facility still has not been located. See the Planning Board Recommendation for more details.