It’s not too late to contribute your feedback for the Montgomery County Council’s consideration of the Planning Board’s Thrive Montgomery 2050 Draft Plan. Although the public hearings have already been held on June 17th and 29th, written testimony is accepted until Friday July 9th.
The Food Council has submitted the attached written testimony, outlining how we are proud that our County has proposed a forward thinking plan designed to address some of the deep racial systemic inequities that have existed, address the housing shortage, and bring us closer to achieving necessary climate goals. However, this plan omits a key element of a thriving and equitable community: food and its interrelation with other systems directly addressed in the plan.
We encourage our community partners to contribute comments before the deadline encouraging the County ‘s long term planning efforts to apply a food system lens throughout, as with other critical priority areas such as housing and transportation, by discussing possibilities for growth, infrastructure, zoning, and design, and incorporating insight from diverse perspectives when considering health equity, food justice, economic opportunity, and environmental resilience.
Testimony Guidance from County Council:
- The Thrive Montgomery 2050 Planning Board Draft Plan is a framework to guide planning for land use, housing, the economy, equity, transportation, parks and open space, the environment, historic resources, urban design and arts and culture over the next three decades.
- The recommendations will provide guidance for future master plans, county and state capital improvement processes and other public and private initiatives that influence land use and planning in Montgomery County. Additional information is available on the Council website and at Montgomery Planning.
- Community members have the option to provide audio, video and written testimony to the Council using the online testimony form on the Council’s web page which can be found at https://www.
montgomerycountymd.gov/ COUNCIL/PHSignUp.html .
- The testimony provided with the online option carries the same weight as testimony given at a public hearing. Councilmembers consider all comments as part of their deliberations.
- Comments and suggestions are also welcome online at http://tinyurl.com/zrbwh5v; via email at county.council@
montgomerycountymd.gov; by sending regular mail to County Council, 100 Maryland Ave., Rockville, MD 20850. For information or to express an opinion call 240-777-7900.