North Four Corners News ♦ June 2025

University Boulevard Corridor Plan Moves Ahead

By Sharon Canavan

The Montgomery County Planning agency staff and Planning Board are finalizing their work on the University Boulevard Corridor Plan (UBCP) Public Hearing Draft to send their proposal to the County Executive and the County Council for review and consideration over the summer.  The County Council will hold a hearing on the UBCP to gather public feedback and input before their own series of work sessions with Council Committees and the full County Council.  Once the County Council makes its changes and votes on the plan, the UBCP will go before the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Full Commission for final consideration as a Master Plan.

Several important changes have been discussed during the Planning Board’s work sessions.  One proposed change discussed in Work Session 4 is to increase the permissible height limit from 60 to 75 feet for the Woodmoor Shopping area, as well as the Four Corners West area (see graphic for areas marked 1, 2, and 3, above), and the Four Corners North area (see graphic for areas fronting University Boulevard or Colesville Road marked 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, below).

The stated objective for increasing permissible height is to make the zoning more consistent among these properties and to facilitate and encourage consolidated redevelopment.  During the work session, several commissioners also suggested more flexibility in the floor area ratios (FAR) to give a developer more optionality in the mix between commercial and residential.  FAR dictates the maximum square footage of a building and the allowable percentage of commercial and/or residential.

During the Planning Board’s work sessions, agency staff also recommended an overlay zone for the areas where the UBCP proposes rezoning homes from R-90 to Commercial Residential Neighborhood, which will allow more diverse housing types, such as duplexes, triplexes, or stacked flats.  The proposed overlay zone is intended to address elements including building placement, site coverage, and design requirements to transition building density and height from the corridor to the neighborhood.

One recommendation for the overlay zone is to require a visual transition from higher buildings to the height of homes in the neighborhood as illustrated in the graphic above.

The transportation elements of the UBCP still recommend reducing the number of traffic lanes on University Boulevard to make room for a bus lane as well as sidepaths for walking and biking, in both directions east and west on University Boulevard.  Also, the plan recommends moving the current FLASH bus stops to the center lanes at the Four Corners intersection of University and Colesville.  Finally, the UBCP makes a number of recommendations for improving pedestrian safety with reduced speed limits, additional traffic lights, and more protected pedestrian crossings at shorter intervals.

At the next NFCCA meeting on Wednesday, 11 June, the presenters from the Montgomery County Planning Agency have been asked to summarize the Planning Board Work Sessions.  This is an opportunity to ask questions about the agency’s UBCP recommendations to be fully informed before the recommendations are sent to the County Executive and the County Council.  Although the public comment period before the Planning Board has passed, at the next stage the public can testify or send comment letters to the County Executive and the County Council to express their issues or concerns.

NFCCA has posted talking points to help residents of our community draft their comments and express their views as well as contact email addresses.  For this information, go to the link marked “MoCo Planning,” below.   ■

MoCo Planning Section