January 24, 2022 

The Honorable Gabe Albornoz 
Stella Werner Council Office Building 
100 Maryland Ave 
Rockville, MD 20850 

Council President Albornoz: 

The undersigned organizations urge you to expeditiously schedule work sessions and a vote on Thrive Montgomery 2050 to follow the regional citizens advisory board listening sessions and conclude prior to the County Council’s work on the operating budget. We believe passage of Thrive is of the utmost prudence, given the upcoming budget season, election, and other important priorities that should be addressed before this County Council ends its term. 

Thrive is a landmark document that will set the county on a new path toward more sustainable, inclusive land use policies that will help to spur our economy, lower our greenhouse gas emissions, and break down the inequities of the county’s east-west divide. The document as it stands is strong and should be considered an achievement — it reaffirms much of the county’s embrace of walkable, mixed-use, transit-oriented development over the past several decades, while calling to do so even more boldly and urgently, with equity and climate placed at the forefront. Adopting Thrive’s framework now is critical to be able to apply to ongoing and future master plans, zoning amendments, capital investments, and other public policies. 

There have now been six formal opportunities for the public to comment on Thrive — at each of which a majority of residents spoke in favor of the plan’s approach to land use and growth. This is in addition to the two years of community outreach and engagement conducted by the Planning Department, which influenced the original direction of the plan and subsequent amendments. With incorporation of this public input, Thrive Montgomery 2050’s positive, sustainable, and equitable vision for planning and community development has remained intact. 

Our organizations have separately submitted comments for additional improvements to Thrive and look forward to the County Council’s work sessions to further strengthen this much needed new general plan. It is a plan we support, and we look forward to its swift approval by the end of February and no later than March 15 so that the hard work of implementation may begin in earnest. 

Sincerely, 

350 MoCo 
Action Committee for Transit 
Action in Montgomery 
Affordable Housing Conference of Montgomery County Co-Chairs Barbara Goldberg Goldman and Ralph Bennett
Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing
Audubon Naturalist Society 
Coalition for Smarter Growth 
Enterprise Community Partners 
The Housing Association of Nonprofit Developers (HAND)
Habitat for Humanity Metro Maryland 
Montgomery Housing Alliance 
Sierra Club Montgomery County 
Washington Area Bicyclist Association 

CC: Council Vice President Evan Glass 
Councilmember Hans Riemer 
Councilmember Will Jawando 
Councilmember Andrew Friedson 
Councilmember Sidney Katz 
Councilmember Craig Rice 
Councilmember Nancy Navarro 
Councilmember Tom Hucker