Montgomery County Council President Gabe Albornoz sent a letter to County Executive Marc Elrich Friday in response to his continued opposition and concerns with Thrive Montgomery 2050.
“The Council has received your Oct. 20 letter with your continued opposition to moving Montgomery County forward. This time it’s related to your ongoing objections about Thrive Montgomery 2050, which is the first comprehensive rewrite of Montgomery County’s General Plan since 1969,” Albornoz wrote. “The Council must plan for the future of our community, and we cannot do that appropriately or effectively based on principles that are more than a half century old.”
Albornoz added, “This plan gives us a clear path forward to create places where we can increase affordable housing, improve transit and strengthen businesses together in equitable sustainable ways.”
Ahead of the council voting on Thrive 2050 next Tuesday, Elrich expressed his concerns in a letter and said, “Councilmembers have indicated that they intend to approve the plan on the same day they will appoint five new temporary members to the Planning Board. They seem to believe that Thrive was not affected by the pattern of misconduct that led to the wholesale termination of previous Board members. I respectfully disagree.”
The entire Planning Board, who created the draft for Thrive 2050, resigned after weeks of controversy and ongoing investigations.
Elrich urged the council to disapprove Thrive and send it back to the Planning Board for additional review, outreach, and public hearings.
He also criticized the insufficient attention given to equity issues, the platform for a countywide rezoning to allow for a diversity of housing types, building more housing without addressing the need to improve housing affordability, and that the community was not engaged in this process.
“During the last 18 months of Council work and community outreach on Thrive Montgomery 2050, you have had numerous opportunities to engage in a productive dialogue with your Council colleagues and offer proactive solutions that would make progress on housing and transportation challenges,” Albornoz said. “Instead, you choose to focus on obstructing a proactive approach for Montgomery County’s future.”
“Additionally, your letter mistakenly suggests that because the Council lost confidence in the Montgomery County Planning Board members and swiftly took action to address the issue, that all the work of the planning staff, Council staff, the Planning, Housing and Economic Development (PHED) Committee and the Council is meaningless. This is pure political posturing.”
Albornoz emphasized that after 18 months of review and debate at the council, it’s time to lay the foundation for Thrive 2050.
“I look forward to working with you on innovative strategies to generate new housing across our community, promote economic development and create innovative transportation strategies to proactively move Montgomery County forward to serve our residents today and for future generations who will keep our community thriving,” Albornoz concluded.
The council is scheduled to vote to adopt Thrive 2050 on Tuesday at 9:35 a.m.
