Since June 2019, Montgomery Planning has engaged the Montgomery County community to imagine what life will be like in 2050 to inform the development of the new General Plan and what is needed to allow our county to thrive in the decades to come.
For Thrive Montgomery 2050 to be a meaningful, impactful plan it must reflect a shared vision of our wonderful, diverse community of residents, community-based organizations, businesses, institutions and government organizations.
That’s where we come in. Together, we can figure out how to position Montgomery County to thrive in changing times. To preserve what’s good about today while planning for what comes tomorrow.
There are still opportunities to comment on the draft Thrive Montgomery 2050 plan. The Planning Board is accepting written comments through spring 2021. Comments should be transmitted via e-mail to MCP-Chair@mncppc-mc.org, faxed to Chair Casey Anderson at 301-495-1320, or addressed to: Casey Anderson, Chair, Montgomery County Planning Board, 2425 Reedie Drive, Wheaton, MD 20902.
What is Thrive Montgomery 2050?
Thrive Montgomery 2050 is the update to Montgomery County’s General Plan, its long-range policy framework for guiding future land use and growth for the next 30 years. Thrive Montgomery 2050 will help guide future land use planning; countywide policies and future initiatives affecting community quality of life; the provision of infrastructure and community amenities; and private development. Montgomery County’s vibrant parks, quality schools, desirable urban, suburban and rural communities and the Agricultural Reserve were shaped by planners and community members decades ago through the 1964 General Plan. For Montgomery County to continue to thrive—and become an even better place and community for all—we must make those big decisions again and take bold steps for the future. Thrive Montgomery 2050 is the long-term vision of where we want to go and it drives every decision we make, including what types of investments the county government makes.
What is a general plan?
A General Plan is a policy document that guides, over multiple decades, how a jurisdiction will develop and change over time; maintain its important assets; and respond to future opportunities and challenges. Unlike a sector plan, master plan or functional plan, a General Plan does not provide specific land use guidance to address short-term issues in targeted geographic areas; it does not change zoning; and it addresses multiple topic areas, rather than just one. A General Plan is a long-term vision with broad policies that will guide future, more detailed land use planning, public investments in infrastructure and communities amenities, and private development.
Thrive Montgomery 2050 will ultimately result in an update to this General Plan, which informs the shape and character of every neighborhood in Montgomery County, the types of community facilities and amenities that serve residents and businesses, and the ways we travel throughout the county. The General Plan guides policy and decisions for the county in the coming decades. It is continually revised with amendments and through local master plans, sector plans and county-wide functional plans.
Thrive Montgomery 2050 is about the policies and ideas needed to carry our community forward to 2050. It’s the long-term vision of where we want to go and it drives every decision we make, including what types of investments the county government makes.
During the Town of Kensington’s January town council meeting, Councilmember Conor Crimmins explained how these updates to the general plan effect municipalities and what they can do to provide input and help shape the future of their community.