

March 11, 2025
Montgomery County Council
100 Maryland Ave
Rockville, MD 20850
More Housing N.O.W. Package
ZTA 25-02, Workforce Housing – Development Standards
ZTA 25-03, Expedited Approvals – Commercial to Residential Reconstruction
SRA 25-01, Administrative Subdivision – Expedited Approval Plan
Expedited Bill 2-25, Taxation – Payments in Lieu of Taxes – Affordable Housing Amendments
Thank you for the opportunity to share testimony on behalf of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. CSG advocates for building walkable, bikeable, transit-oriented communities with housing all people can afford is the most sustainable and inclusive way for the D.C. metro region to grow.
I am writing to offer our support for the More Housing N.O.W. package, and to thank the sponsors for stepping up and showing Montgomery County is ready to do what is needed to address our housing crisis.
Montgomery County has a strong record of supporting subsidized affordable housing, including making historic commitments to funding for affordable housing these past few years.
We have not been innovators in the same way in making sure our county has homes that are affordable to our middle class, young people, older adults looking to downsize, and others who do not qualify for affordable housing—yet are increasingly unable to find market-rate homes they can afford amongst our limited housing options.
Our current zoning policies have severely restricted the number and variety of homes available near jobs and transit across our county. As a consequence, we are losing people who would like to live and work in this county yet must turn to other places where they can find housing they can afford.
The proposals in the More Housing N.O.W. package will help expand the supply and variety of housing types available near jobs and transit—giving more people with a wider range of household sizes and needs the opportunity to live in Montgomery County.
CSG strongly supports the approach of building a wider variety of housing types in sustainable locations with access to transit and jobs, as proposed by ZTA 25-02.
We also support efforts to facilitate office-to-residential conversions when feasible, as provided for by ZTA 25-03, SRA 25-01, and Expedited Bill 2-25.
CSG supports the measures in the More Housing N.O.W. package, and thank its sponsors for standing with a broad and diverse coalition of Montgomery County organizations and individuals who recognize that we need bold action and new approaches to create the housing our county needs.
We also offer the following recommendations to even better achieve our shared goal of creating more affordable homes for all people in sustainable locations in Montgomery County.
We raise the following as potential areas for additional analysis to make sure the policies in this package achieve their intended goals as effectively as possible. We strongly encourage the Council to turn to affordable housing organizations and the Montgomery Housing Alliance as a resource in considering these matters.
Sincerely,
Carrie Kisicki
Montgomery County Advocacy Manager
Photo: Montgomery County Council
Maryland has a housing shortage that is making it harder for people to afford to live here and is holding back our economy per this state report. And even when people have managed to find a more affordable home, it’s often been in outer areas far from jobs and services, meaning more sprawl, more driving, higher transportation costs, and more climate pollution.
The Housing for Jobs Act (HB 503/SB 430) would set regional housing targets based on the number of jobs in a given set of counties grouped by their area of the state. It would set clear standards for approving and denying new housing when counties haven’t met their housing to jobs ration, giving extra credit to localities who create housing near transit and to those who create affordable housing.
Click here to read CSG’s testimony, and use the buttons above to contact your state representatives to ask them to support the Housing for Jobs Act!
Photo credit: Carrie Kisicki
March 11, 2025 | Ginny Bixby | Bethesda Magazine
Supporters who spoke at the hearing in general praised the legislative package’s aim to increase the county’s housing supply and create realistic homeownership opportunities for more county residents.
“It’s a plain and simple fact that our county needs more housing,” said Carrie Kisicki, Montgomery advocacy manager for the Coalition for Smarter Growth, a Washington, D.C. metro region nonprofit focused on housing affordability and transit access. “People want housing that they can afford, and they do not want to have to spend their lives sitting in traffic just to get to work.”
March 10, 2025
Mr. Peter Shapiro, Chair
Prince George’s County Planning Board, M-NCPPC
1616 McCormick Drive, Largo MD
Via: pgcpb@mncppc.org
RE: Support for the Flats at Glenridge Station, DSP-23008 & DDS-24002
Dear Chair Shapiro and members of the Board:
Please accept this testimony on behalf of the Coalition for Smarter Growth (CSG). CSG advocates for walkable, bikeable, inclusive, transit-oriented communities as the most sustainable and equitable way for the Washington, DC region to grow and provide opportunities for all. We work extensively in suburban Maryland, focused on Prince George’s and Montgomery counties.
We would like to express our support for the Flats at Glenridge, DSP-23008 & DDS-24002. The proposed 245-apartment building, with a small amount of office space, offers families affordable homes right next to the Glenridge Purple Line station, along with close proximity to retail, including a supermarket. The site is less than a quarter mile from the station and MD 450, and by direct connection would be about 300 feet from the station.
This proposal is the first major step towards implementing the vision for a walkable Glenridge Transit Village outlined in the Annapolis Road Sector Plan. The apartment building offers amenities like a playground and a plaza with landscaping. Most importantly, these 245 homes give moderate and low income families the opportunity to live next to a rail transit station, and local-serving retail.
This affordable transit-oriented development helps more people rely on sustainable transportation options and reduce the need to drive or own a car. We appreciate the unit mix offering a variety of unit sizes, including many 3-bedroom apartments.
The project provides important contributions to county and community goals, including:
We recognize that the site is currently wooded, but it is a fragment surrounded by development. Allowing more people to live here, steps away from frequent rail transit at this inside the Beltway location means less driving, traffic and pollution for households who otherwise might have to live elsewhere. Additionally, the project will fund offsite forest conservation to offset trees removed from the site, while providing modern stormwater management onsite to control runoff and water quality.
We have two recommendations for improving this project:
Conclusion
We urge the Planning Board to approve this application as a major step forward for the Glenridge Transit Village and the benefits it will provide to the larger community and county.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Cheryl Cort
Policy Director
Send a message to the Prince George’s Planning board by Tuesday, March 11, 12 noon
We’ve advocated for the Purple Line. We’ve advocated more affordable housing – especially at rail transit. Well, here it is! The first new affordable apartments steps away from the Glenridge Purple Line station. Please join us in voicing our support!
This proposal for 245 affordable apartments, right next to the Purple Line, is the first step towards realizing the planned Glenridge Transit Village. It will provide homes for low and moderate income households in a location that will reduce how much residents have to drive and spend on transportation.
Much more needs to be done by the county and state to transform this very suburban, automobile-dominated area into a walkable community, but this project is a good first step. We’re asking for the amount of parking to be reduced for this project and for a direct walking connection to the transit station. And, we will be pressing the county and state to make it safer to walk and bike to this and every Purple Line station.
We recognize that the site is currently wooded, but it is a fragment surrounded by development. Allowing more people to live here, steps away from frequent rail transit at this inside the Beltway location means less driving, traffic and pollution for households who otherwise might have to live elsewhere. Additionally, the project will fund offsite forest conservation to offset trees removed from the site, while providing modern stormwater management onsite to control runoff and water quality.
Want to know more? Check out the Prince George’s Planning Board March 13, 2025 Agenda Packet on the Flats at Glenridge Station.
Location matters when we build new housing. The Housing for Jobs Act will help to produce more of the homes Maryland needs in strategic locations tied to our transit network, our environmental health, and our economic success.
CSG and allies support transformation of the old AT&T office building and its acres of parking. CSG is joined by the Sierra Club, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling, Fairfax Families for Safe Streets, Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions, Nature Forward, Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance, and YIMBYs of NoVA.
February 25, 2025
Fairfax County Planning Commission
12000 Government Center Parkway
Fairfax, VA 22035
RE: Comments in Support of AT&T Oakton plan amendment – PA 2023-00009 (SSPA 2023-II-1F)
Chairman Niedzielski-Eichner and Commissioners,
The above nine organizations, as part of the Fairfax Healthy Communities Network, are
providing the comments below to express our strong support for the redevelopment of the AT&T Oakton site and ask that you vote in favor of Plan Amendment – PA 2023-00009 (SSPA 2023-II-1F).
Our organizations assess proposed development projects in accordance with our shared principles that they provide more homes for a mix of incomes, are accessible to transit with safe walking and biking options, and provide good environmental sustainability and design.
Providing more housing for a mix of incomes in walkable, high amenity areas near transit and jobs is essential to ensuring an inclusive and economically prosperous Fairfax County where people are able to live near their work, reducing long commutes and our climate impact.
The proposed redevelopment of the AT&T site is a great opportunity to do just that on 33 acres in the heart of Oakton, transforming acres of underutilized office space and parking lots into an inclusive, vibrant community. It offers new homes, including affordable units, with access to transit, improved bike/ped connections, enhanced stormwater management, parks, and tree preservation.The redevelopment provides the opportunity for much-needed placemaking within Oakton that will enhance residents’ sense of community.
The proposed plan amendment is the first step in making way for this redevelopment proposal to become a reality. The plan calls for an appropriate increase in intensity and balanced mix of uses, including grocery and retail, that will support a walkable, vibrant community as the core of the Flint Hill Suburban Center. Appropriate transitions to existing neighborhoods support compatibility and integration with the surrounding area. It includes good urban design with a grid of streets, wide walkways, activated street level activity, parks and open spaces.
Transportation
The AT&T site is in a prime location near transit services, including the Vienna Metro, local bus service, and express buses running in the I-66 High-Occupancy Toll lanes. It is also served by two major regional multi-use trails, the Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail and the 66 Parallel Trail.
While the site benefits from proximity to these sustainable transportation options, the area today is not comfortable or inviting for people trying to get around without driving. The proposed redevelopment is an opportunity to help turn that around, improving safety and accessibility for residents and visitors of the site itself, and catalyzing, through the planned area transportation study, improvements for the surrounding community as well.
We are grateful the draft language includes the needed transportation improvements that will help improve mobility in the area. The plan calls for optimizing transit and enhancing bus stop amenities, improving pedestrian and bicycle connections, adding safer crossing options, including a traffic signal for families to safely cross to Oakton Elementary School.
The innovative approach to the Chain Bridge and Jermantown intersection will improve driver travel time and provide better infrastructure and safer crossings for people walking and biking without destructive widening with more lanes.
Housing
More housing in the county is desperately needed. The shortage of homes and high prices mean more and more people cannot afford to live in Fairfax. The proposal to redevelop the AT&T site will deliver 850 new homes in multi-family buildings and townhomes. It includes 18 percent affordable and workplace units, an increase over the policy recommendation of 8 percent. This supports the county’s housing goal of providing 10,000 units by 2034.
Environment & Parks
We are grateful the draft plan calls for open space, a well-designed and connected urban park, and the preservation of established trees along the perimeter of the property and new native plantings. This supports the redevelopment proposal that includes the addition of a 2-acre park complementing the existing Borge Street Park, a central green common, and a 1-mile shared use path that provides a linear park around the perimeter of the site. Redevelopment will provide updated and enhanced stormwater management, green infrastructure, and stream protection.
In Summary
This plan amendment supports redevelopment of the AT&T Oakton site, which will provide much needed housing in a walkable community with access to transit and enhanced environmental design and open space. We ask that you approve the plan amendment.
Thank you for your consideration of our comments.
Ting Waymouth
Chesapeake Climate Action Network NoVA
Sonya Breehey
Coalition for Smarter Growth
Joy Faunce
Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling
Chris Topoleski
Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions
Chris French
Fairfax Families for Safe Streets
Renee Grebe
Nature Forward
Jill Norcross & Anika Rahman
Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance
Kevin O’Brien
Washington Area Bicyclist Association
Naveed Easton, Joshua Booth, Mostafa ElNahass & Evan Ramee
YIMBYs of NOVA
February 25, 2025
Dear Chair Mendelson:
Please accept these comments on behalf of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. CSG advocates for walkable, bikeable, inclusive, transit-oriented communities as the most sustainable and equitable way for the DC region to grow and provide opportunities for all.
We wish to comment on the performance of DC Office of Planning and DC Office of Zoning over the past year. The efforts of these are helping to bring much needed dedicated affordable housing to sought-after locations, and to help make housing in general more available. We commend the Office of Planning, Office of Zoning and the Zoning Commission for their commitment to public engagement, and careful, deliberative process.
Chevy Chase Comp Plan amendments and Small Area Plan implementation
We have engaged in key planning and zoning efforts, including a focus on Ward 3 and the Chevy Chase Small Area Plan, and rezoning process to implement important recommendations and policies from the Small Area Plan (ZC 23-24).
The zoning changes to the Chevy Chase area are modest, but important for opening up this exclusive neighborhood to low income residents, African American families, and other people of color who are greatly underrepresented in the Chevy Chase neighborhood. Discrimination has excluded people of color, both historically and systemically.
The rezoning changes will help to expand housing capacity and diversify Chevy Chase main street, and utilize the public land of the library site. This public site will benefit the community and the city by creating modern public facilities and dedicated affordable homes. Dedicated affordable homes in this neighborhood and Ward 3 are an extreme rarity. Figure 1 (below) illustrates this: at 12% of DC’s affordable housing goal for Ward 3/Rock Creek West we are hardly where we should be. The Chevy Case rezoning, the library mixed use redevelopment and the future rezoning of Wisconsin Avenue, and Connecticut Avenue should accelerate this part of town’s move towards a more inclusive community.
Figure 1
Source: DMPED 36,000 by 2025 Dashboard, emphasis added.
U Street Police & Fire Stations rezoning to implement Comp Plan
We have also engaged in the extensive Zoning Commission review process for the U Street Police Station (ZC 23-02 & ZC 23-25) to align the zoning of this site with the Comprehensive Plan amendments of 2021. This process took dozens of hours of public hearings. The resulting rezoning and future public land disposition offers the chance to build more than 100 dedicated affordable homes, along with market rate apartments, and new police and fire facilities in the highly sought-after U Street neighborhood. U Street has experienced a major decline in low income and African American residents, so this public land redevelopment contributes to reversing this trend.
Looking ahead
This coming year, we look forward to engaging in the follow up zoning changes from the Wisconsin Avenue Development Framework, Connecticut Avenue Development Guidelines, and launching of the Rhode Island Ave. corridor planning study. But the biggest planning activity is the Comp Plan rewrite. We are hopeful that this rewrite will take on the need to make it easier and less costly to build more housing in high demand locations, and fully utilize form based zoning as a critical tool to ensure great public spaces, and buildings scaled for people, and walkable neighborhoods. We ask the administration and Council to provide the resources needed to set up a successful process to address our housing and equitable development goals.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment.
Sincerely,
Cheryl Cort
Policy Director