The joint Government Operations and Fiscal Policy (GO) and Public Safety (PS) Committee will meet on Monday, Sept. 23 at 9 a.m. to review Bill 12-24, Police - Police Accountability Board and Administrative Charging Committee – Compensation. 

The members of the GO Committee include Chair Kate Stewart, Council President Andrew Friedson and Councilmember Sidney Katz. 

The members of the PS Committee include Chair Katz and Councilmembers Dawn Luedtke and Kristin Mink. 

The Economic Development (ECON) Committee will meet at 9:30 a.m. to receive an update from the Department of Permitting Services (DPS) on a draft handbook titled, “Recipe for Success.” 

The members of the ECON Committee include Chair Natali Fani-González, Councilmember Marilyn Balcombe, Councilmember Evan Glass and Councilmember Laurie-Anne Sayles. 

The Planning, Housing and Parks (PHP) Committee will meet at 1:30 p.m. to hold a work session on the 2024-2028 Growth and Infrastructure Policy. 

The members of the PHP Committee include Chair Friedson and Councilmembers Fani-González and Will Jawando. 

The Transportation and Environment (TE) Committee will meet at 1:30 p.m. to review Building Energy Performance Standards. 

The members of the TE Committee include Chair Glass and Councilmember Balcombe and Vice President Stewart.

Bill 12-24, Police - Police Accountability Board and Administrative Charging Committee – Compensation 

Review: The joint GO and PS Committee will review Bill 12-24, Police - Police Accountability Board and Administrative Charging Committee – Compensation. The bill would provide compensation for the civilian member of the Police Trial Board and change the compensation for the Police Accountability Board (PAB) and Administrative Charging Committee (ACC) members. The lead sponsor is the Council president, at the request of the County Executive. A public hearing was held on July 9. 

Department of Permitting Services (DPS) Updates: Recipe for Success 

Review: The ECON Committee will receive an update from DPS representatives on a draft version of their handbook to guide restaurants through the permitting process titled, “Recipe for Success.” In March 2023, the ECON Committee requested that DPS produce a user-friendly document to help guide restaurant businesses through the permitting process. During a DPS progress update in Nov. 2023, DPS staff indicated the draft document was in development. DPS staff updated the committee on the progress of the document in March 2024 during a work session on the restaurant sector. Committee members requested DPS complete the document before the end of the calendar year and provide the committee an opportunity to review the final draft. 

DPS engaged a graphic design consultant to develop the final draft, which is printed as a booklet. The document lists seven steps that restaurants should follow and includes contact information for relevant County agencies and divisions of DPS. The document also lists online resources and includes a table of applicable permits and licenses a restaurant may require.

2024-2028 Growth and Infrastructure Policy 

Review: The PHP Committee will hold its second work session on the 2024-2028 Growth and Infrastructure Policy. The Sept. 16 meeting covered the Planning Board’s recommendations for school adequacy and testing and the first seven recommendations related to transportation adequacy. This meeting will cover the 12 remaining recommendations related to transportation adequacy. A third work session is scheduled for Oct. 7 to cover any follow up items. 

The 2024-2028 Growth and Infrastructure Policy is the resolution or guidelines adopted by the County for administering the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance. Although commonly referred to as a separate ordinance, the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance is part of Montgomery County’s subdivision regulations of the County Code. The ordinance was adopted by the Council in 1973 with the goal of synchronizing development with the availability of public facilities needed to support that development. 

The Growth and Infrastructure Policy is updated every four years to ensure that the tools used for evaluating the impacts of development reflect the latest growth patterns and trends in the County. Its purpose is to evaluate individual applications for development to determine if the County’s public infrastructure is adequate to meet the demands of such development. 

The Montgomery County Code requires the Planning Board to approve and send to the Council a recommended Growth and Infrastructure Policy by Aug. 1. The Planning Board submitted their recommended draft policy on July 25, 2024. The Planning Board often recommends other legislative changes concurrent with its recommended changes to the Growth and Infrastructure Policy. Bill 16-24, which was introduced to the Council on Sept. 10, is the Planning Board’s recommended changes to the impact tax law. 

Building Energy Performance Standards 

Review: The TE Committee will hold its sixth meeting to review Executive Regulation 17-23, Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS). The regulation is required by Bill 16-21, which was enacted by the Council on April 19, 2022. This meeting will include a panel consisting of representatives from the faith community. 

The bill expanded the number of buildings covered by existing benchmarking requirements, created a Building Performance Improvement Board, and required energy performance standards to be established by regulation for covered buildings with a gross floor area of 25,000 gross square feet or greater. Executive Regulation 17-23 would set numerical site Energy Use Intensity (EUI) performance standards for each building group, define how renewable energy will be incorporated into the performance metric and define the elements required in Building Performance Improvement Plans (BPIPs). 

The committee first discussed Executive Regulation 17-23 at a meeting held on Jan. 24 and received an overview of the regulation from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) representatives. At a meeting held on Feb. 26, the committee heard from representatives involved in affordable housing development. At a meeting held on March 18, the committee met with representatives from the life sciences and technology industries. At a meeting held on July 15, the committee heard from developers and representatives of multifamily housing, including both rental properties and condominium housing. At the Sept. 16 meeting, the committee focused on financial issues and opportunities associated with BEPS, the potential fiscal impact on property owners of meeting the regulation’s Site EUI targets, how the alternative compliance process will work, how economic feasibility is defined in the regulation and how that determination is to be implemented by DEP.