Update 1/26/2023:On January 24, 2023, the County Council voted unanimously to withdraw ZTA 22-12.
On January 17, 2023, the Montgomery County Council will hold a hearing on a Zoning Text Amendment, ZTA 22-12, that would exempt the impervious surfaces of master-planned bikeways from being counted toward the impervious limits that protect the Ten Mile Creek watershed. Please email members of the Montgomery County Council and ask them to reject this ZTA, which vio/
lates the Ten Mile Creek Limited Master Plan Amendment and its main enforcement regulation – the limits to imperviousness established in the Clarksburg Environmental Overlay Zones.
It has been another busy year. As we await a day in court which will determine whether the Pulte Plan for development in the Ten Mile Creek watershed will need to adhere to the 2014 Ten Mile Creek Amended Master Plan, we take this opportunity to provide you with a recap of what has been made possible with a little help from many of you, the Creek’s Friends.
The Miles Coppola development plan was revised to comply with the Ten Mile Creek Master Plan recommendation for an alternate alignment of the MD 355 Bypass in order to avoid impacts on a large wetland in the headwaters of Ten Mile Creek, reduce forest loss, grading of steep slopes, and direct impacts of new infrastructure.
While forests in the Ten Mile Creek watershed are designated for protection under the 2014 Ten Mile Creek Amended Master Plan, neighboring watersheds, which also drain to the Little Seneca Reservoir, are hotspots of deforestation in the County and are a source of high sediment pollution to the Little Seneca Reservoir. As a partner in the Montgomery County Forest Coalition, Friends of Ten Mile Creek is also working to strengthen the County Forest Conservation Law. This post has links to an Action Alert you can use to show your support and send a letter to the Montgomery County Council asking them to introduce and support a bill consistent with the Coalition’s principles.
SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND - Friends of Ten Mile Creek will testify before the Montgomery County Planning Board on Thursday June 13, in support of proposed updates to the Guidelines for Environmental Management of Development in Montgomery County.
In November 2014, Pulte Homes, one of the primary developers in the Ten Mile Creek watershed, filed a lawsuit against Montgomery County and the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission over the Ten Mile Creek Limited Master Plan Amendment alleging that the County Council and planners illegally limited construction on its property. Read more in this Washington Post article.
