Public hearings on a proposed zoning change that would allow houses of worship to build housing on their property and a bill to limit police searches top the Montgomery County Council’s agenda this week.
The council will meet at 1:15 p.m. Tuesday in the Stella Werner Council Office Building in Rockville for its regular weekly business meeting. Here’s what to expect:
The FAITH Zoning Text Amendment
The council will hear from members of the public about a proposed zoning text amendment that would allow houses of worship and other private educational institutions to build apartments and multi-unit housing on their properties. The public hearing will be held at 1:30 p.m.
The bill, ZTA 24-01, is also known as the Facilitating Affordable Inclusive Transformational Housing (FAITH) ZTA is sponsored by council President Andrew Friedson (D-Dist. 1) and Vice President Kate Stewart (D-Dist. 4). The two councilmembers will hold a press conference on the front steps of the council building at 11:30 a.m., prior to the hearing. They’ll be joined by faith leaders and housing affordability advocates.
“We’re facing an affordable housing crisis at the same time houses of worship in our community find themselves with an oversupply of land, and they also face barriers to easily putting this land to use to forward their mission and to help our broader community,” Stewart said during a Jan. 16 council meeting.
Under current county zoning laws, multi-unit living is not permitted in non-residential zones. This bill would change that for qualifying institutions, such as houses of worship. It would enable these institutions to build housing on their properties, though they would still have to follow county affordability guidelines, with at least 30% to 50% of units being designated as “affordable dwelling units” under county government rent standards.
Freedom To Leave Act
The council will host a second public hearing after the meeting at 7 p.m. to hear from constituents on the Freedom To Leave Act.
Councilmember Will Jawando (D-At-large) is trying for a second time with this bill to limit some police searches in an effort to curb racial disparities. Maryland’s attorney general had determined that his previous 2023 effort, the STEP Act, conflicted with state law.
The bill would prohibit consent searches of a motor vehicle or person by a police officer. A consent search is when a law enforcement officer searches an individual’s vehicle or person after obtaining verbal consent from the individual being searched.
“Under the Fourth Amendment, you have the right to say no [to search and seizure],” Jawando said when introducing the bill on Feb. 6. “However, many studies have shown that it is really not able to be exercised in most interactions because of the significant power imbalance that is created.”
The legislation has received support from racial justice activists, who say it will limit targeting of people of color by police, and criticism from the county’s police union, which says it is overstepping law enforcement’s authority.
Applications open for Planning Board seat
The council is expected to announce that applications are open for a four-year seat on the Montgomery County Planning Board. Current commissioner Shawn Bartley’s partial term ends in June. While Bartley is eligible to reapply, the process is open to anyone who lives in and is registered to vote in Montgomery County. Applications must be received by 5 p.m. March 11.
While Bartley is a Republican, the seat is open to voters of any political party as well as unaffiliated voters. However, no more than three members of the Planning Board may be from the same political party. The current board has five members – one Republican, two Democrats and two unaffiliated voters. Annual compensation for the part-time position is $30,000.