With a soaring population and a widening web of infrastructure, Montgomery County’s growth has become one of the most talked-about topics in the region.
Montgomery County is expected to experience a 200,000-person surge by 2030 and to add 170,000 jobs to its economy, according to forecasters. It’s like adding the population of the city of Rockville every four years, leaders have said.
And in 2006, discussion about how to control burgeoning that development dominated County Council meetings, the election for county executive, even the appointment of a new planning board chairman.
Perhaps the biggest news came at the end of the year when new Council President Marilyn Praisner proposed stopping subdivision construction for six months while the planning staff rethinks Montgomery’s growth policy. The temporary halt, she said, was critical to planning for the future.
A re-evaluation of the county’s growth policy is long overdue, officials said, because the existing approach does not fully incorporate education and transportation into the big picture. Growth affects every aspect of life, they said, from law enforcement to schools.
With regard to public safety, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue pushed forward with plans to build five more fire stations across the county to improve response time in developing areas. A new emergency medical center also opened in Germantown to better serve the soaring number of upcounty residents who previously had to travel to Rockville for emergency care.
Looking ahead, the new crop of elected officials in Montgomery County want increased oversight of large-scale developments, such as ones progressing in Clarksburg.
County Executive Ike Leggett campaigned on a platform of smart growth, and has said he hopes to strike a balance between housing and jobs.
