Land Use Committee

The Land Use Committee guides building and redevelopment through the use of available planning tools.  Mayor Linna Barnes serves as liasion to this committee.

 

The Town’s Land Use Committee, in consultation with the Town’s land use consultant, has recommended a new building regulations ordinance, available below, as another means to control the height, bulk and mass of new construction and to ensure that such construction is compatible with the Town’s distinctive neighborhood character.  The ordinance proposes both mandatory building requirements and discretionary building standards.  The mandatory requirements include limits to both building height and exterior wall height, changes to accessory buildings (garages) and driveways, as well as a number (a FAR) that relates the square footage of a house to the square footage of its lot.  As currently written, the ordinance makes 0.3 the base FAR for new construction and 0.35 the base FAR for an addition.  The base FAR may be increased by as much as 0.15 (which would increase the amount of possible buildable space) by the use of voluntary standards.  These standards include limits to impervious surface coverage, requirements for shade trees, and the use of building elements that minimize the appearance of size.  An owner, who uses the standards when building a new house or adds elements from the list to those already present when building an addition, would be entitled to more square footage.  Because there are more available standards than the 15 possible points to  increase a property’s FAR, a property owner may choose which standards to use.  The Land Use Committee report, available below, details the provisions of the proposed ordinance. 

 

The Council encourages all residents to review the building regulations ordinance and to attend the January 31 town meeting to better understand the ordinance.  Residents will then be able to provide their comments and opinions on the ordinance at the February 13 public hearing.  If you are unable to attend the public hearing, you may submit comments by e-mail to townoffice@townofchevychase.org or in writing to Town Office, 4301 Willow Lane, Chevy Chase, MD 20815. 

 Committee Members

The mission of the Land Use Committee is to consider and recommend solutions to issues and concerns relating to land use and new construction in the Town of Chevy Chase that may be identified by the Town Council, Town residents, or the Committee itself, and to advise the Council on the use of its new authority over building requirements under Article 28, § 8.115.1 of the Maryland Code. Recommendations must be made in view of the Town’s Strategic Plan and the public health, safety and general welfare of Town residents.

 

For the year September 2006 to September 2007, the Committee will, among other things: (1) consider and recommend solutions relating to the issuance of variances for front-yard walls and permits to construct second-story additions within the established footprint of an existing structure; (2) consider and advise the Council on proposed measures relating to use of the Town’s authority over building requirements; and (3) address concerns raised by residents relating to front-yard driveways.