Montgomery County’s elected officials will take up a proposal to create a new zoning category that could have enormous effect on the county by making it easier to build high-density, mixed-use developments. The county’s economic development committee will begin weighing on Monday the creation of a special “commercial/residential” designation, under which developers could build high-rise shopping and living complexes without extraordinary legislation. The category is designed to smooth the way for the White Flint development but has big implications for development throughout the county. “In the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, there was this idea that you would put shopping over here and housing over there and have everybody drive everywhere,” said former Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce President Rich Parsons. The proposed category “is part of smart growth and new urbanism.” Real estate experts say consumers are demanding densely packed, “walkable” neighborhoods with close access to shopping and restaurants and are willing to pay serious cash to get them, even in a deep recession. That’s made the area around Metro stations — like the White Flint stop — inviting targets for developers hoping to climb out of the economic pits.

But making the new designation practical and appealing will require far more than updating county forms.