The new face of Damascus could mean good business.
The Montgomery County Council approved a new plan for Damascus on Thursday that will allow more flexibility to develop the downtown while protecting the farmland around the up-county community.
“Damascus has always been a really small town,” said planner Judy Daniel. “There was a lot of commercial zoning, but not very much residential potential.”
This meant as people went home in the evenings, businesses downtown had to close early or lose money. The new master plan — approved unanimously — will more than triple the available housing downtown, adding about 1,000 homes to the 347 currently there.
It also strengthens protection in outlying rural areas.
The spaces in-between would be approved for slightly higher residential development, said council analyst Marlene Michaelson. In order to build higher density downtown or on the outskirts, developers would have to buy development rights in the surrounding countryside.
That area is zoned for 25-acre rural residential lots.
The plan calls for a mixed-use development zone throughout much of downtown Damascus, but would actually reduce the maximum amount of commercial space available.
“What you’ve got left over is far more than anybody’s ever used” in Damascus, Daniel said. “It makes the zoning more realistic.”
