Damascus Master Plan Phases

Updated 12/19/05

PHASE 1 & 2:
Prepare Draft Purpose and Outreach Strategy Report and Community Information Gathering Meetings. (July through November 2002)

PHASE 3:
Present to the Planning Board for approval of the Purpose and Outreach Strategy Report. February 13, 2003

PHASE 4:
Identify alternative actions and Draft Master Plan recommendations. Task Force Meetings. (March through December 2003)

Presentation of Staff Draft Concept to Community; (January 2004)
Adjustments to Staff Draft if Needed. (January-May 2004)

PHASE 5:
Finalize the Staff Draft Master Plan; (January-May 2004)

The M-NCPPC staff presented the recommendations of the Staff Draft to the planning board on Thursday, September 30, 2004. An executive summary of the Staff Draft was presented to the community on Wednesday, September 8, 2004.

PHASE 6:
Planning Board Public Hearing and Worksessions (October 2003 - February 2004) (November 2004 - July 2005)

The Planning Board will review the Staff Draft Master Plan, make any necessary revisions and will then publish the Planning Board's Public Hearing (Preliminary) Draft Plan. Copies of the Planning Board's Public Hearing (Preliminary) Draft Plan document were sent to the County Executive, County Council, municipalities and members of the Master Plan Review Committee. The Plan is available to the public.

After the public hearing, the Board will hold open worksessions to review the testimony and to determine whether to make any revisions to the document.

*PHASE 7, 8, & 9:*
Executive Review, Council Review, Public Hearing, Worksessions and Approval (March - November 2004). (October 2005 - May 2005) (January 2006-August 2006)

Once the Planning Board has revised the Public Hearing Draft Plan, it will be transmitted to the County Council and the County Executive as the Planning Board's (Final) Draft Plan.

During this phase, the County Council will hold a public hearing at which anyone may testify, either orally or in writing. At the close of the public hearing, the County Council will hold open worksessions to determine if amendments to the Plan submitted by the Planning Board are warranted. The plan will then be approved or disapproved by the Council. If and when the Council approves the plan, a Sectional Map Amendment (SMA) will then be prepared to implement the zoning changes recommended in the Plan. The SMA will also involve a formal public review process, including a public hearing by the District Council (Montgomery County Council).

PHASE 10:
Master Plan Monitoring

Once the Master Plan is approved and adopted, Community-Based Planning staff will continue to work in the master plan area, working on the facilitation of master plan recommendations. In addition to monitoring master plan facilitation issues on a regular basis, Community-Based Planning staff will also engage in a variety of implementation-related planning and regulatory activities. Annual Master Plan Status Reports will be prepared by the Community-Based Planning staff to monitor progress in implementing the Plan's recommendations. The ongoing nature of this phase will help to focus the attention and resources needed to achieve the Plan's recommendations for Damascus.

* Current phase*

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