The Montgomery County Council will return to session Tuesday after a month-long recess and is scheduled to tackle reproductive health, growth and infrastructure,.

The council will meet at 9 a.m. in the Stella Werner Council Office Building in Rockville for its regular weekly business meeting. Here’s what to expect:

Commitment to reproductive rights

The council will vote on a proposed resolution that would affirm its commitment to reproductive rights by recommending that county agencies pursue opportunities and coordinate with each other to protect people and entities that are providing, assisting, seeking, or obtaining reproductive health services in Montgomery County. The proposed resolution would also support a proposed Maryland constitutional amendment to protect the right to reproductive freedom and encourage residents to vote in favor of the constitutional amendment when it appears on the election ballot this November.

The vote will be followed by a press conference led by council Vice President Kate Stewart (D-Dist. 4) that’s expected to provide more details on actions the council wants the county government to take on the issue.

Growth and Infrastructure Policies

The council will be briefed by planning officials on proposed county Growth and Infrastructure Policies for the years 2024-2028. The policies are adopted by the council periodically to enforce the county’s Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance, which has a goal of “synchronizing development with the availability of public facilities needed to support that development,” according to the council agenda packet.

The policies are 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. The policies are also written to help determine if the county’s public infrastructure is adequate to meet the demands of certain development. The Montgomery County Planning Board produces the policies proposal for council approval.

The 55-page proposal focuses heavily on the goals of the Thrive Montgomery 2050 plan, an update to the county’s general master plan that was adopted in 2022 and is expected to guide development for the next 30 years.

The plan focuses on topics such as where growth should occur in the county, what type of housing is needed, what new communities should look like, how to grow arts and culture countywide, transportation networks, and the future of county parks.

“A growing, diverse community requires a mix of housing that is attainable for different income levels and household sizes. This housing must be accessible to jobs and other amenities through timely public infrastructure that also helps attract economic development and enhances environmental health and sustainability,” the proposal abstract from the Planning Board says.

Following the presentation by planning officials, the council will host a public hearing for residents to share their views on the proposal.

Because of the proposed policies, the council will also introduce a bill at the request of the Planning Board that would update the county’s transportation impact tax districts. It would also modify when development impact tax exemptions are applicable for development in certain locations the policies focus on, including areas such as the Great Seneca communities, White Oak and North Bethesda that the county is working to develop.

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The Gaithersburg High School marching band roared and a crowd cheered as a RideOn bus dotted with lime green stars and filled with public officials pulled into Traville Gateway Transit Center next to The Universities at Shady Grove in Rockville on Monday morning, winning by minutes a race between two buses traveling the new Lime and Pink bus routes in Montgomery County.

The Pink and Lime RideOn bus routes, which opened Sunday, are part of the county’s Great Seneca Transit Network bus service initiative and have endpoints at the Shady Grove Metrorail Station and the Traville Gateway Transit Center/Universities at Shady Grove. The Pink line travels along Shady Grove Road while the Lime line is an express route that goes along I-370 and Medical Center Drive.

The Great Seneca Transit Network is being developed by the county to increase transit options for residents in the Gaithersburg and Rockville areas who are located farther from Metro stations and other public transportation options, according to county officials. At a cost of $26 million, the Pink and Lime lines are considered the first phase of the project. The second phase will include two additional bus routes, Cobalt and Gray.

The new routes provide a high-frequency service with buses arriving every 10 to 15 minutes on weekdays and 30 minutes on weekends. As part of the expansion, MCDOT made pedestrian and bicycle enhancements along the bus route corridors and installed new weather-protected bus stations with real-time route monitoring. Chris Conklin, director of the Montgomery County Department of Transportation, said at Monday’s press conference with public officials that the project cost $26 million.

“It’s a part of the regional transportation system investment that we’re making. We cannot be successful if we cannot build out our transit network. We continue to lag,” County Executive Marc Elrich said at the press conference. “But this is important for us, and I’m really glad that we were able to get this done.”

According to Conklin, the new routes significantly cut down on the travel and wait times experienced with previous routes.

The new routes cut the travel time on buses between the Rio and Crown shopping centers in Gaithersburg and the Shady Grove Metro station by half, according to county officials. They also reduce the travel time between The Universities of Shady Grove and the Shady Grove Metro station by 80%.

“It used to take nearly an hour to get to Crown from here, now it takes 10 minutes. It used to take 41 minutes to get to Shady Grove Adventist Hospital from the Metro station. It now takes 21 minutes on this new service,” Conklin said at Monday’s press conference at Traville Gateway Transit Center at Traville Gateway Drive and Gudelsky Drive following the bus race. 

Conklin said that RideOn bus ridership has returned to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels and noted the system has made a number of improvements over the past nine months to try to improve the rider experience.

Councilmember Evan Glass (D-At-large), who attended the conference and chairs the council’s Transportation and Environment Committee, said he appreciates the “holistic approach” that was taken with the Pink and Lime routes expansion. Montgomery County was one of the first county governments in the United States to initiate a Vision Zero plan, with the goal of eliminating all traffic-related deaths by 2030.

“We have created 15 new crosswalks. We have brought 10 bus stops closer to those crosswalks. We’ve upgraded five intersections and restriped two roadways to make sure that our buses and bicyclists and pedestrians and cars are safer throughout our community,” Glass said. “So this might seem like it is a bus network, but it is a safe public transportation, pedestrian-friendly transit network.”

The post Two new RideOn bus routes speed transit between Rockville and Gaithersburg appeared first on MoCo360.

In Montgomery County, the government annually commemorates LGBTQ+ Pride Month in June with a flag-raising and support for community events. A County Councilmember is openly gay, and so is the county’s chief administrative officer. Earlier this year, the council issued a referendum acknowledging the struggles that transgender people face and affirming its commitment to trans rights.

But the county hasn’t always been as welcoming and the local history of LGBTQ+ residents has often been hidden or eclipsed by Washington, D.C.’s legacy of queer activism. Now, as part of Montgomery Planning’s efforts to highlight the county’s diverse history, the county government has embarked on a project to map and recognize local sites that are significant to the LGBTQ+ community.

But what comes next remains a question.

“This is a regular part of the dialogue in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco,” said Rebeccah Ballo, the county’s historic preservation supervisor and leader of the project. “But [LGBTQ+] history is here as well. And it’s been really meaningful to work on it and to promote what’s already here that people have forgotten.”

The project started in 2018 as a partnership with the state. In 2016, the National Park Service authored the LGBTQ America theme study and- convened historians in the Washington metropolitan region to discuss the effort. In 2018, Preservation Maryland led a collaborative team of academic, municipal and community stakeholders to document the contributions of the LGBTQ+ community throughout the state.

Montgomery Planning’s Historic Preservation Office supported the effort by providing comments on the state’s LGBTQ Historic Context Study. But the planners didn’t stop there. In 2020, Montgomery Planning partnered with Preservation Maryland on an effort funded by the National Park Service and administered by the Maryland Historical Trust to list at least two LGBTQ-significant sites in the county with the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties.

Ballo and her team designated several people and sites in the county as significant to LGBTQ+ history, but chose to focus on three: Robert Coggin, a pioneer activist for LGBTQ+ rights in the county; Bruce Williams, the first openly gay elected official in Maryland; and Sue Silber, a nationally recognized LGBTQ+ civil rights lawyer. Here are their stories:

The activist

The Silver Spring home of LBGTQ+ advocate Robert Coggin was one of the first that Montgomery Planning chose to focus on as a potential historical site in 2021, Ballo said. The house was determined to be eligible for the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places and is the first suburban, 20th century resource to be found eligible for LGBTQ+ history in Maryland, according to Ballo.

Silver Spring residents Tanner Wray and Karl Debus-Lopez met Coggin, who died in 2014, at a local support group for gay and lesbian couples after moving to Montgomery County in 1989. The couple said it was important for them to find a LGBTQ+ community in the area. While Montgomery County felt safer than many parts of the country, particularly due to its proximity to Washington, D.C., acceptance wasn’t universal, they explained.

“People knew about our relationship, but it wasn’t something that people went around and advertised. You had to be a little more discreet,” Debus-Lopez told MoCo360 in an interview.

Debus-Lopez noted Coggin had one conservative family member who changed their surname to “Coggins” to provide distance from Coggin’s work. But for Coggin, his identity was at the forefront of his activism, leading him to become a pioneer in LGBTQ+ rights in the Washington, D.C., metro region.

In 1984, the Montgomery County Council passed a bill making it illegal to discriminate based on “sexual orientation” in housing, employment and public accommodations. Coggin is largely considered to be the backbone of the push for the legislation, according to county officials. Wray and Debus-Lopez say they were grateful to move into the county with the law already on the books.

“He told us it was really hard because there were a lot of hateful people who spoke up, and there were groups that were trying to prevent the policy from going through,” Debus-Lopez said. “It was really significant, you know? It made me feel more comfortable, in a way, living in Montgomery County.”

Coggin, who worked at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda as an administrative assistant for most of his adult life, had founded the Suburban Maryland Lesbian and Gay Alliance in Montgomery County in 1982. He was no stranger to advocating for gay rights–he created the first Gay-Straight Alliance at the University of Virginia as a student in 1972, according to his obituary.

But Debus-Lopez and Wray said Coggin was somewhat modest about his activism–it wasn’t until he died at age 62 from complications of muscular dystrophy and the couple, as executors of his will, received papers he’d saved that they realized the extent of what he’d done.

“He was not somebody to prop himself up and I mean, we knew about it. He told us about it, and, you know, and we could tell,” Debus-Lopez said, recalling that high-profile gay activists would come to get-togethers at Coggin’s house in Silver Spring. “We talked about politics a lot, but he didn’t go on and on about, you know, what he had accomplished back then.”

Coggin frequently wrote opinion columns published in the now-defunct Montgomery Journal newspaper advocating for gay rights and created a scorecard for local politicians based on their support of issues relevant to LGBTQ+ residents, according to Ballo. But community was just as important to Coggin, who frequently hosted gatherings of local LGBTQ+ residents at his home.

Debus-Lopez and Wray said Coggin kept a list of county residents he knew who had died in the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, and it was important to him to honor those lives as others panicked over the disease. Wray said it was “heartbreaking” how many friends Coggin lost, but the couple was grateful for his dedication to keep alive the memory of those who died.

“We knew someone at work [at the county’s public libraries] who passed away. It was horrible … it was kept secret,” Wray said. “The staff were freaking out because they didn’t understand that they couldn’t have gotten [AIDS]. There was a lot of fear among the staff.”

Wray said that later in Coggin’s life, as his disability progressed, Coggin became passionate about accessibility, and making sure NIH was using sign-language interpretation. He lobbied for research into muscular dystrophy and other disabilities.

While Coggin’s former home is now designated as a historical site, there’s one catch–the current owners have declined to allow it to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places, Ballo said. That means the house is only symbolically a historical site unless the owners change their minds or the house changes ownership.

“LGBTQ+ history is hidden a lot, and I think it also disappears,” Wray said. “I think the 1984 [legislation] from the county is significant, and the house should be recognized.”

The politician

Bruce Williams became the first openly gay elected official in Maryland when he was elected to the Takoma Park City Council in 1993. He had moved to Takoma Park with his partner, Jeff, in the 1980s as the owner of a home renovation business. He knew the area, having first lived in the county as a child in 1965 when his dad got a job in the District.

He hadn’t planned to get involved with politics when he moved to Takoma Park, but then a woman who had been his house cleaner had a stroke and she was threatened with condemnation of her house when she couldn’t keep up with it.

“I became her advocate, and I worked with the city to resolve the situation, and that got me involved in affordable housing issues,” Williams said in an interview with MoCo360 at his Takoma Park home.

The next issue that Williams worked on was the effort to change the definition of family in Takoma Park to include same-sex domestic partners–which passed. Soon, he became such a fixture in local politics that he says his friends and neighbors urged him to run for city council.

“I said, yeah, I’m not going to challenge the incumbent. And two years later, the incumbent came to me, and he said, ‘If you run, I’ll endorse you on one condition–would you run as openly gay? I said, ‘That’s no problem,’ ” Williams said. “So I did, and that was 1993 and I was elected for 22 years, the last eight as mayor.”

Williams’ house, where he and his husband have lived for more than 40 years, has been designated by Montgomery Planning as an LGBTQ+ historical site. The home, however, does not qualify for the National Register of Historic Places since Williams is alive, according to Ballo.

For Williams, being out continues to be “no problem” for the most part. But he recalled one Fourth of July parade in the city decades ago in which a few attendees threw objects at a Takoma Park-based LGBTQ+ organization, and he said he often struggled to get through to former Montgomery County Councilmember Bill Hanna, who he said sometimes espoused anti-gay views. Hanna died in 2011 at age 89.

Williams knew Hanna from their work together with the Maryland Association of Counties and he wanted to try to get through to him and develop a better relationship.

“When I saw him [at a conference] in Ocean City, I said, ‘Bill, how are you? Come on over and meet my family. This is my husband, my daughter, our grandson.’ You know, I made it personal,” Williams said.

Williams said he consistently met with legislators across the county and in Annapolis to make sure they knew a gay politician and had a personal connection to the issues. 

While LGBTQ+ activism was important to Williams–he pushed to pass Takoma Park’s domestic partner registry in 1993–he cites progress on a broad range of issues, including housing, environmental conservation and economic development, among his proudest work.

“I’m proudest of my time as mayor, not necessarily for any one particular piece of legislation, but my style of operating,” Williams said. “I may not necessarily agree with what somebody wanted to present, but I basically said, ‘Have at it. Convince people, convince me.’ And in many instances, I was convinced and voted for it. It was providing the arena for somebody to make the case.”

For LGBTQ+ county residents, Williams’ historic election was significant.

“Bruce’s visibility helped,” Wray told MoCo360 in an interview. “In 1993, they had the Takoma Park domestic partner registry, and we were among the first registered [when we lived there]. I think we were No. 4.”

As for the county recognizing Williams’ house as a historical site, Williams said he is honored by the designation.

“I think it’s kind of nice,” he said.

The litigator

On an August afternoon in Silver Spring, Sue Silber is sorting through news clippings from the past 40 years. She’s saved everything–from the Takoma Park government announcement that she had been hired as city attorney to national opinion pieces she wrote on LGBTQ+ rights under the law.

“It was wonderful. We got so much done,” she said, reflecting on her career as a lawyer known locally and nationally as an advocate of LGBTQ+ rights as she perused the clippings.

Like Williams’ house, Silber’s former Takoma Park home has been designated by Montgomery Planning as an LGBTQ+ historical site, but does not qualify for the National Register of Historic Places because Silber is still alive.

Silber came out as a lesbian in 1978 and moved to Montgomery County in 1981 after graduating from law school at the University of Buffalo. She became Takoma Park’s city attorney in 1984 and held the job for more than 30 years.

Silber worked closely on union issues as the city was an early adopter of collective bargaining for government employees, as well as sanctuary and refugee issues. She also was involved in legal issues pertaining to Takoma Park’s acknowledgment of the makeup of LGBTQ+ families, including the 1993 domestic partner registry.

“It was a job of a lifetime because everything was so exciting and creative,” Silber said. “Any time we could make things more equal, we did.”

In 1984, when the County Council was deliberating the proposed legislation that would make discrimination based on sexual orientation illegal, Silber used her legal knowledge to advocate for the legislation. It wasn’t easy, Silber said. Much like Williams, she hadn’t faced much pushback from Takoma Park residents or officials for her identity. But advocating at the council level was a different story. A group called the Citizens for a Decent Government, which opposed the anti-discrimination bill, led a petition that amassed nearly 24,000 signatures.

When Hanna made comments suggesting there were no gay people in the county during a council meeting, Silber couldn’t help but push back.

“I said, ‘Well, Mr. Hanna, if you had a gay person in your family, I don’t think they’d tell you,’” Silber recalled, saying the room erupted supportively at her comments.

Due to the efforts of Silber and other advocates such as Coggin, the legislation passed despite the pushback.

For decades, Silber was the go-to lawyer in the area for local LGBTQ+ couples dealing with civil rights and domestic issues, including Debus-Lopez and Wray. She is known nationwide for her legal work representing LGBTQ+ couples and families to secure legal partnerships and parental rights. She also played a key role at the state level in removing sodomy as a criminal statute in Maryland, as well as working to legalize same-sex marriage in the state.

“At times under the law, we were trying to put a square peg in a round hole. How do we make this fit? So you’re coming up with structures that a straight person might take for granted,” Silber said. “There was often a lot of hostility.”

Silber connected with other LGBTQ+ family rights lawyers across the country and strived to understand the law as well as possible in order to protect LGBTQ+ residents. She also was open about her family, appearing in the 1990s on an episode of the TV show 20/20 hosted by Barbara Walters in which her two children were interviewed about their experiences with gay parents.

“Representation, visibility is everything,” Silber said. “We have to be open.”

Silber said she hopes the county’s project will inspire residents to use the past to keep moving forward toward equality for all. She cited her frustration with anti-transgender sentiment across the country.

“I’m not interested in a white, male solution to the problems of this country. I’m interested in how we build a coalition of many groups that advance a culture that will take care of all,” Silber said.

What comes next

Ballo said she continues to work on the project to preserve local LGBTQ+ histories, and a June presentation to the council reignited public officials’ interest in these stories.

“We don’t have these types of discussions very often to uplift and to unveil the folks who have laid the groundwork for the rights and liberties and freedoms that my husband and I have to enjoy,” councilmember Evan Glass (D-At-large), the first openly gay member of the County Council, said after the June 18 presentation.

He said the county needs to continue to make space for staff to work on projects like these.

“I think it also is really meaningful to lift up these individuals while they are still with us in our community,” council Vice President Kate Stewart (D-Dist. 4) noted, saying that she’d worked with Williams and Silber during her tenure with the Takoma Park government.

Ballo has given presentations to Montgomery County Public Schools students and faculty and the county designees are featured in a state history booklet called Planting The Rainbow Flag. An online map maintained by Preservation Maryland includes highlights from the county’s LGBTQ+ history.

“Public history can take many forms, right? Everything from a museum, a walking tour, historical markers, educational curriculum in the schools, digital media,” Ballo said. “We have lots of ideas.”

But there are logistical issues ahead. One step would require the council to amend the county master plan to officially designate the three homes as historic sites. Ballo said she would consider requesting funding from the council “to list more of these sites, to protect them permanently, and to write about and promote that history more broadly.”

Ballo said while she hopes the county will help to continue to fund the project and make it bigger, she would also be happy to partner with outside organizations.

“I see my role as promoting the work that other people have done and that other people continue to do, and to continue to make more spaces for those conversations to happen because it doesn’t have to be our office that’s doing it–and it shouldn’t just be,” Ballo said. “It should be lots of people and all of us working together to promote each other’s work around this history.”

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The food distribution nonprofit, Nourishing Bethesda, celebrated the launch of its latest initiative, Choice Market, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday evening at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad in Bethesda.

The food bank is set up as a miniature grocery store in the rescue squad building at 5020 Battery Lane and focuses on giving people in need a choice in what food they receive rather than receiving groceries primarily through pre-sorted bags.

“It’s really about changing the way that we think about the transaction that is occurring between the two hands, the one who is giving and the one who is receiving,” County Council President Andrew Friedson (D-Dist. 1) said at the event attended by local officials. “Allowing for that choice, allowing for the dignity of making your own decisions about what goes into your body, making your own decisions about what you get to eat, is something that all of us here on a daily basis take for granted.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was about a 50% increase in the number of Montgomery County residents who were experiencing food insecurity, according to Heather Bruskin, director of the county’s Office of Food Systems Resilience. At the same time, there was an estimated 50% increase in the number of organizations that were providing food assistance in the county, Bruskin said last month. Local food pantries continue to struggle to keep up with the demands of a community facing increasing food insecurity.

Combined with decreasing pandemic-related government assistance, the end of a federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit supplement in March 2023 also has resulted in more residents needing help to feed their families, according to Earl Stoddard, the county’s assistant chief administrative officer.

“It is so important for organizations such as Nourishing Bethesda to provide opportunities like this,” Councilmember Gabe Albornoz (D-At-large) said at the event. “This market will ensure dignity, will ensure empowerment, will ensure that we are providing nutrition and food, not just physically, but emotionally as well.”

According to Nourishing Bethesda’s deputy director Tammi Houton, clients are not asked to show proof of need.

“If you come to us and you say you need food, we’re not asking you questions,” Houston said.

However, clients do need to either live in a 47-square-mile area defined by Montgomery County Public Schools boundaries or work within Bethesda. Houton said it is important for the organization to support not only Bethesda residents, but the service workers who make Bethesda’s shopping and restaurant scene successful. Potential clients can find out if they are eligible while making an appointment by texting ‪301-664-4630 or emailing food@nourishingbethesda.org.

Previously, Nourishing Bethesda primarily provided food through pre-filled bags. The Choice Market will allow clients to decide what food is best for their family and to consider dietary restrictions and cultural preferences. Larger families will able to take home more food. The market also offers foods that are traditional to Latino and Asian cultures.

Houton said Nourish Bethesda will continue to use the bag model for some food distribution, but the organization is moving its focus to the market.

The program is part of a growing trend to allow food voucher recipients to make choices about their groceries. The ribbon-cutting ceremony came a week after the county government launched a program in partnership with Instacart called MC Groceries that will allow recipients of food vouchers to choose groceries and have them delivered.

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The Maryland Supreme Court has ruled that human remains from a former Black cemetery are likely still interred under a Bethesda apartment complex, but that the property can still be sold, according to the court’s decision filed Friday.

The Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition (BACC) brought the case in 2021 against the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County, which provides housing for low- and moderate-income families in the county. The case centers on whether the commission can sell Westwood Tower Apartments in Bethesda to a private developer even though the remains of 200 Black people from different generations are buried underneath the parking lot.

BACC refers to the property at 5401 Westbard Avenue as Moses Macedonia Cemetery. Over the past couple of years, BACC has argued in court that the commission needs court approval to sell the land because it consists of burial grounds. The case reached the state Supreme Court in January.

In its decision, the court recognized the probable existence of human remains under the apartment complex, but said the property can be sold without judicial approval. However, the court is allowing the case to return to the county’s circuit court so that BACC can make claims and seek relief.

“It appears that the parties have misunderstood the legal framework in Maryland that protects the repose of the deceased and the feelings of the living who remember the deceased,” the decision from the justices says. “That statute imposes no duty on sellers of burial grounds to file an action. However, that does not mean that burial grounds in Maryland are left without protection.”

According to the court, “the descendants of people who were laid to rest in burial grounds where deeds were not executed and certificates were not issued may seek equitable relief under the common law of burial places.”

Friday’s decision affirms an Appellate Court’s judgment in part, reverses it in part and orders that the case be remanded to the circuit court—which allows BACC to revise its complaint.

BACC called the decision a “victory” in a press release Wednesday.

“In light of the Maryland Supreme Court decision, we call on all elected officials to demand an immediate cessation of all desecration and erasure of Black History at the Westwood Towers site,” BACC said in the release. “The question of whether Moses African Cemetery is real and whether those buried in it and their descendants are the current victims of a government sponsored desecration is now forever resolved.”

In a separate press release, BACC attorney Steve Lieberman said the coalition intends to revise its complaint to include claims and seek relief.

A commission spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

In the 1960s, the cemetery site was paved over to be used as the parking lot for Westwood Tower Apartments, according to Lieberman, and the burial ground is located on parcel 175 on Westbard Avenue.

The commission acquired the apartment building in 2018, according to its website. In 2021, the commission planned to sell the property to a developer, Charger Ventures, for $51 million. BACC filed a lawsuit to block the sale in August 2021.

In October 2021, Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Karla Smith granted a preliminary injunction against the sale. In November 2021, Charger pulled out of the sale because of the litigation.

Then, in June 2023, the Appellate Court of Maryland overturned the circuit court’s ruling, saying the commission does not need to seek court approval before selling the Bethesda property.

Throughout court proceedings, the commission has argued that the desecration of Black bodies happened decades ago and the case should have been addressed at that time. The commission also has said it does not want to take away the rights of the bodies buried under the apartment complex.

BACC has argued that the sale must come under judicial review because of the existence of the cemetery.The Maryland Supreme Court has ruled that human remains from a former Black cemetery are likely still interred under a Bethesda apartment complex, but that the property can still be sold, according to the court’s decision filed Friday.

The Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition (BACC) brought the case in 2021 against the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County, which provides housing for low- and moderate-income families in the county. The case centers on whether the commission can sell Westwood Tower Apartments in Bethesda to a private developer even though the remains of 200 Black people from different generations are buried underneath the parking lot.

BACC refers to the property at 5401 Westbard Avenue as Moses Macedonia Cemetery. Over the past couple of years, BACC has argued in court that the commission needs court approval to sell the land because it consists of burial grounds. The case reached the state Supreme Court in January.

In its decision, the court recognized the probable existence of human remains under the apartment complex, but said the property can be sold without judicial approval. However, the court is allowing the case to return to the county’s circuit court so that BACC can make claims and seek relief.

“It appears that the parties have misunderstood the legal framework in Maryland that protects the repose of the deceased and the feelings of the living who remember the deceased,” the decision from the justices says. “That statute imposes no duty on sellers of burial grounds to file an action. However, that does not mean that burial grounds in Maryland are left without protection.”

According to the court, “the descendants of people who were laid to rest in burial grounds where deeds were not executed and certificates were not issued may seek equitable relief under the common law of burial places.”

Friday’s decision affirms an Appellate Court’s judgment in part, reverses it in part and orders that the case be remanded to the circuit court—which allows BACC to revise its complaint.

In a separate press release, BACC attorney Steve Lieberman said the coalition intends to revise its complaint to include claims and seek relief.

A commission spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

In the 1960s, the cemetery site was paved over to be used as the parking lot for Westwood Tower Apartments, according to Lieberman, and the burial ground is located on parcel 175 on Westbard Avenue.

The commission acquired the apartment building in 2018, according to its website. In 2021, the commission planned to sell the property to a developer, Charger Ventures, for $51 million. BACC filed a lawsuit to block the sale in August 2021.

In October 2021, Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Karla Smith granted a preliminary injunction against the sale. In November 2021, Charger pulled out of the sale because of the litigation.

Then, in June 2023, the Appellate Court of Maryland overturned the circuit court’s ruling, saying the commission does not need to seek court approval before selling the Bethesda property.

Throughout court proceedings, the commission has argued that the desecration of Black bodies happened decades ago and the case should have been addressed at that time. The commission also has said it does not want to take away the rights of the bodies buried under the apartment complex.

BACC has argued that the sale must come under judicial review because of the existence of the cemetery.

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The Montgomery County government wants to hear from the public on proposed attainable housing strategies before taking action and is providing community members with six opportunities in the coming weeks to share their views and ask questions.

The Planning Board’s Attainable Housing Strategies initiative outlines recommendations to the County Council for zoning changes in single-family home zones. The changes, which the council would have to approve, aim to provide more housing options and opportunities, especially for middle-income residents, according to Planning Director Jason Sartori.

The council will soon be faced with a decision on the proposal which, if passed, would allow duplexes, triplexes and smaller apartment buildings to be built in single-family home neighborhoods. However, the council hasn’t set dates for decisions yet.

The listening sessions are intended to gather public feedback on the Planning Board recommendations that will be submitted to the council, according to a Montgomery Planning news release. The meetings will be co-hosted by Sartori and council President Andrew Friedson (D-Dist. 1).

The sessions will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. on:

• Sept. 11 at the Silver Spring Recreation and Aquatic Center, 1319 Apple Ave., Silver Spring;
• Sept. 12 at the Wheaton Community Recreation Center, 11701 Georgia Ave., Wheaton;
• Sept. 17 at the White Oak Community Recreation Center, 1700 April Lane, Silver Spring;
• Sept. 23 at the Germantown Community Center, 18905 Kingsview Road, Germantown; and
• Sept. 25 at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center, 4805 Edgemoor Lane, Bethesda.

A sixth online session will be held via Zoom from 12 to 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 2.

In recent years, the county has seen a decline in its population of middle-income earners and increases in its low- and high-income populations, indicating a lack of suitable housing options that are affordable or attainable, according to Sartori.

According to Montgomery Planning data, the county lost more than 26,000 middle-income residents from 2005 to 2022, while gaining nearly 88,000 low-income residents and 67,000 high-income residents in the same timeframe.

In the county, middle income is defined as a family of four earning an income three to five times the poverty level, according to the planning department. The 2024 poverty level is $31,200 for a family of four, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Low-income families in the county earn less than three times the poverty level and high-income families earn five or more times the poverty level.

Regionally, efforts to create similar “missing middle” housing regulations have been controversial. The board of supervisors in Arlington County, Virginia, voted in March 2023 to end single-family-only zoning, facing both praise and criticism from residents and resulting in a lawsuit.

WAMU reported that trial arguments began in July after nine Arlington homeowners filed a lawsuit against the county over its new zoning policy, arguing the county made the decision without conducting an appropriate study on the potential impacts on communities.

In nearby Alexandria, Virginia, a group of homeowners sued the city over a decision to end single-family zoning. While city officials attempted to have the lawsuit dismissed, a judge ruled last month that it can move forward to trial, The Washington Post reported.

Friedson said he is not worried about such a situation occurring in Montgomery County.

“Lawsuits are not something that I’m thinking about or focused on,” he said during a July press briefing. “Policy is what I’m thinking about and focused on, and a housing crisis that we do have to address.”

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With the nation celebrating Labor Day on Monday, here’s what will be open and closed across Montgomery County, according to local governments, as well as details for local parades.  

Parades

Kensington’s Labor Day Parade and Festival will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday. The parade will step off from Plyers Mill Road and following a route to Noyes Library. The festival will be held along Armory Avenue and feature live music, vendors and bounce houses for kids.

This year’s Gaithersburg’s Labor Day Parade will start at a new time—10 a.m.—and run until noon along East Diamond and Russell avenues.

Montgomery County 

County offices — closed 

MC 311, nonemergency government information and services — closed  

State offices and courts — closed 

State Motor Vehicle Administration offices and Vehicle Emissions Inspection Program stations — closed 

Libraries — closed  Sunday and Monday 

Alcohol Beverage Services (ABS) — all stores open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 

Department of Permitting Services — closed 

Ride OnBus Service —  operating on a Sunday schedule. View route schedules here. 

Ride On extRa and Flex bus services — will not be in service. 

Ride On FlashBus Service — The Orange Route will operate on a weekend/holiday schedule while the Blue Route (typically, weekday only) will not be in service. 

TRiPS Silver Spring commuter store — open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

TRiPS mobile commuter store — closed 

MARC Train — no trains operating. 

Metrorail — operating on a Sunday holiday schedule with trains running from 7 a.m. to midnight. View metro information here.

Metrobus — operating on a Sunday schedule 

Public parking garages, lots, curbside meters — free 

County-provided trash and recycling collections — No collections on Monday. Collections for the remainder of the week will slide one day, with the final collections on Saturday. 

Shady Grove Transfer Station and Recycling Center — closed. 

Department of Recreation Outdoor Pools — open 

Recreation, senior and indoor aquatic centers — closed 

Montgomery Parks — Operating hours and events for county parks can be found here.  

Parades — Kensington and Gaithersburg both have a Labor Day parade in honor of the holiday. Kensington’s Labor Day Parade will be Sept. 2 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. from Plyers Mill Road to Noyes Library. Gaithersburg’s Labor Day Parade will be Sept. 2 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in Olde Town Plaza 1 South Summit Avenue.

Rockville 

City Hall and government — closed 

Lincoln Park, Thomas Farm and Twinbrook community centers — closed  

Rockville Senior Center — closed 

Croydon Creek Nature Center (typically closed Mondays) — closed 

F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre and box office (typically closed Mondays) — closed 

Glenview Mansion — closed 

Rockville Civic Center business office — closed 

Rockville Skate Park (closed Mondays in the fall) — closed 

Rockville Swim and Fitness Center — open. The outdoor recreation pool is closed for renovations. The outdoor fitness pool will offer recreation swim hours over the holiday weekend. All customers should enter and exit via the indoor complex. For swim and fitness center facility hours and additional information, visit www.rockvillemd.gov/swimcenter. 

Recycling and trash collections — No collections on Monday. Collections will occur one day later than usual throughout the week. For more information on recycling and trash collection, visit www.rockvillemd.gov/recycling-trash or call 240-314-8568. 

City-owned parking meters — free. Learn more at www.rockvillemd.gov or call 240-314-5000. 

Gaithersburg  

Most city facilities and offices are closed Monday with the exception of the following: 

Police department administrative offices — open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

The Community Museum — open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. 

The Water Park — open from 12 to 5 p.m. for city residents and aquatics members only. 

The Miniature Golf Course — open from 12 to 6 p.m. 

The Skate Park — open from 12 to 6 p.m. 

Interactive Water Feature at Olde Towne Plaza — open from 12 to 7 p.m. 

Recycling — to be collected the preceding Saturday. Bulk pick up is unavailable. 

Mayor and City Council to hold regular session on Tuesday 

Takoma Park  

City offices — closed  

City facilities — closed 

Public library — closed   

Yard waste collection — No collections on Monday. Collection will resume Sept. 9. View the Holiday Collection Schedule page for more information. 

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As part of a growing local effort to address food insecurity, the Montgomery County government has launched a new program in partnership with Instacart that will allow recipients of food vouchers to choose their own groceries.

MC Groceries is a partnership between the food delivery service, the county government and local grocery stores. It will provide nearly 600 Montgomery County families living with food insecurity—including more than 1,000 children—monthly stipends for online grocery shopping and delivery.

“I feel pretty strongly that COVID unveiled a hidden problem in this county that existed in a much greater depth,” County Executive Marc Elrich said Thursday at a press conference to announce the program held outside the Sprouts Farmers Market in Burtonsville. “These are working people, and these are people whose wages are not sufficient to pay for food and pay for rent.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was about a 50% increase in the number of Montgomery County residents who were experiencing food insecurity, according to Heather Bruskin, director of the county’s Office of Food Systems Resilience. At the same time, there was an estimated 50% increase in the number of organizations that were providing food assistance in the county, Bruskin said last month. Local food pantries continue to struggle to keep up with the demands of a community facing increasing food insecurity.

Combined with decreasing pandemic-related government assistance, the end of a federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit supplement in March 2023 also has resulted in more residents needing help to feed their families, according to Earl Stoddard, the county’s assistant chief administrative officer.

Eligible families in the MC Groceries program will be able to use their vouchers to shop through the Instacart food delivery service at local grocery stores, choosing the groceries they want to purchase.

Each participating family will receive a monthly stipend to shop for groceries on Instacart. Families can receive $100 each month per child, up to a maximum monthly stipend of $400 for households with four or more children, for a full year.

To qualify for the program, participants must have a household income at or below 400% federal poverty level, cannot receive benefits through the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and must have at least one child under 18 years old in the household.

“It’s an important reminder of the unique needs of every individual household and the power of deciding what food you receive, and where and when and how,” Heather Bruskin, director of the county’s Office of Food Systems Resilience, said at the press conference.

The program is part of a growing trend to allow food voucher recipients to make choices about their groceries. Local food pantry Nourishing Bethesda will open its own Choice Market on Wednesday. The new food pantry will allow qualified individuals to choose their own groceries as opposed to receiving a pre-filled bag.

The pantry’s program “is designed to empower individuals and families in need by allowing them to select the food items that best suit their dietary preferences and cultural needs,” Nourishing Bethesda said in a press release.

Officials at the event said they believe the Instacart partnership program is the first of its kind in the nation.

More than 80 grocery stores in Montgomery County are available via Instacart and are part of the program. A pilot group of participants began using the program this month and have already placed more than 700 grocery orders using their Instacart vouchers, according to Elrich’s office.

According to Bruskin, there are at least 36,000 children in the county who live in households that fall into the “SNAP gap,” meaning that the income level of these households is too high to be eligible for nutrition benefits such as SNAP, but the residents aren’t earning enough to make ends meet. Bruskin said the MC Groceries program is a great option for these families.

“These are exactly the types of creative solutions that we need to see,” County Councilmember Kristin Mink (D-Dist. 5) said at the press conference. “This was a need that existed before the pandemic. It heightened during the pandemic, and it still exists now. We’ve lost a lot of federal funding … this is exactly the type of work that we need, the type of partnerships that we need to see built up. We’re not going to find success in serving these populations if we don’t think outside the box.”

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The almost seven miles of bus-only lanes on Georgia Avenue created for the Metro station closures this summer will stay in place through at least December as part of an extended pilot project agreement, according to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).

The lanes were created to make bus transit more streamlined following the temporary closures of several Metro Red Line stations in Montgomery County, according to WMATA. The Glenmont, Wheaton, Forest Glen and Silver Spring stations closed June 1 and are expected to reopen Sept. 1. The Takoma Metro station closed June 1 and reopened June 30.

WMATA announced Feb. 9 that it would temporarily close the five Metro stations over the summer. The closures were necessary to allow for construction at the stations and the building of the Purple Line, a 16-milie light-rail line that will run from Bethesda to New Carrollton when completed.

In light of the closures, free shuttle buses have been provided between open and closed stations in partnership with the state and county transportation departments and the Washington, D.C., transportation department.

Through collaboration with the state and county transportation departments, seven miles of bus-exclusive lanes were created along Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring. Drivers are prohibited from using these lanes and are subject to ticketing and fines. The temporary lanes are in effect daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

According to a WMATA release, local bus service moved faster than it ever has this summer–despite additional rider volume with the shuttle buses between Metro stations–while travel times for drivers remained constant.

Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul J. Wiedefeld said in a news release that the temporary bus lanes “highlight a low-cost project that has a high impact on the communities it serves. Extending the pilot through the end of the year will allow us to evaluate the project’s effectiveness and examine opportunities to speed up buses through additional targeted bus lane improvements in Maryland.”

More than 15,000 daily riders use the Metrobus and Ride On routes on Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road on average, according to the WMATA release. Metro and the county and state transportation departments will continue to evaluate the success of the bus-only lanes to determine whether they help alleviate traffic congestion and speed up buses. In the fall, the agencies will analyze data and make changes to the lanes to make them more efficient, according to the release.

“Bus lanes across the region have increased reliability and decreased travel time for bus passengers,” County Executive Marc Elrich said in a news release. “We want to improve the service for our existing riders–many of whom are low income, low English proficiency, or have disabilities–and demonstrate to potential new riders that the bus can be an attractive transportation option.”

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After Cesar Diaz’s daughter Melanie died in a fire at the Arrive Silver Spring apartment complex in February 2023, he made a promise to her that he would do everything in his power to prevent any other lives from being taken in fires.

That’s why he made sure to be present Thursday as County Executive Marc Elrich signed legislation relating to fire safety protections for renters.

“Yesterday, it was my daughter. Today, it could be anybody,” he told the crowd through tears at a press conference for the signing at the County Executive Office Building in Rockville. “Hug your family, because you never know when it could be the last time you see them.”

The legislation, sponsored by County Council Vice President Kate Stewart (D-Dist. 4) and adopted by the council on July 16, will require residential leases to include information related to renter’s insurance, automatic sprinkler systems and emergency evacuation and safety plans.

Stewart was inspired to draft the legislation after speaking with Melanie Diaz’s parents and residents who survived the 2023 fire at the Arrive Silver Spring apartment complex at 8750 Georgia Avenue. The law will require multiunit apartment complex owners to notify residents and prospective renters about whether their buildings have sprinklers and to provide information about the risks of living in a building without sprinklers.

“Not a day has gone by that we worked on this bill that we did not hold Melanie in our hearts because we know that even though we’ve lost her, that we need to do better, and she is pushing us to do better,” Stewart said.

Melanie Diaz, 25, died following a three-alarm fire at the apartment complex on Feb. 18, 2023. She was a graduate of Georgetown University and worked in Washington, D.C., at the Aspen Institute, focusing on climate change research and policy.

At least 17 other residents and three firefighters were hospitalized in the fire, and nearly 400 residents were displaced after their units were condemned. The complex’s lack of sprinklers, which weren’t required under state law, came under scrutiny by public officials.

According to state law and county regulations, sprinklers are not required in every unit of buildings built prior to 1974. More than 70 apartment complexes countywide don’t have sprinklers in every unit, according to multiple news reports.

Local fire officials have said that sprinklers would have made a difference in the Arrive fire and potentially saved Diaz’s life.

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service Chief Corey Smedley praised the legislation at the bill signing, and said the new protocols are important in reaching the department’s goal of risk reduction.

“My goal with our team is to put ourselves out of business,” Smedley said. “We’re going to reduce vulnerabilities every day, everywhere.”

The legislation also requires complexes that sell their own insurance to explain the policies in greater detail. Stewart said many of her constituents who were displaced from the building as well as those affected by massive power outage at The Grand, a North Bethesda apartment complex, last summer, thought that renter’s insurance purchased through the property management company would insure their belongings, but it actually insured the management company.

Stewart said Thursday county officials were only alerted to the emergency at The Grand because a police officer who happened to be in the area thought something about the building looked off, but the building management had not reached out.

“We need someone who is available to answer questions when something doesn’t go right,” Stewart said. “I was contacted by residents, the families of residents … some of them had to be on medical devices and had absolutely no power, and the temperatures were rising in their apartments and they didn’t know what to do. No one in Montgomery County should ever experience something like that.”

Elrich said the county will be working on outreach efforts to make sure renters in the county understand their rights under the new law.

“It’s one thing to pass a law, but if nobody realizes they have the law, they don’t advocate for their rights,” Elrich said.

The passage of the legislation follows the Maryland General Assembly’s adoption during its 2024 session of a bill sponsored by Silver Spring-based Del. Lorig Charkoudian (D-Dist. 20). That bill requires apartment complexes to take stronger fire safety measures, including installing fire alarms and emergency lights in common areas and requiring fire safety education and evacuation information to be provided to tenants.

While Cesar Diaz lives in Florida, he said it’s not the end of his advocacy for tenants in Montgomery County and the greater Washington, D.C., area. He said that his high-profile position as Melanie’s father has led many renters across the region to reach out to him to advocate for tenant safety.

“What I hear from those people is … ‘please keep talking because we’re scared to talk and we don’t want to talk because we’re afraid our contracts will be terminated,’ ” Diaz said. “It’s given me more power to fight for people … one simple person is gonna change a life.”

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