Some Montgomery activists are worried a shift in County Council panel assignments has pro-growth leaders in the majority on a planning committee and could mean development plans will be rushed through.
County Council President Mike Knapp restructured council committees last week, after the death of long-time Councilwoman Marilyn Praisner left a vacancy at the helm of the Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee. Knapp ceded his position as chairman of the Education Committee to former school board member and current Councilwoman Valerie Ervin and made himself chairman of the planning committee, saying he wanted to take advantage of council member strengths.
Knapp joins Councilwoman Nancy Floreen and Councilman Marc Elrich on the committee.
As chairwoman of the planning committee, Praisner guided the council through extensive changes to the county’s growth policy last fall, tweaking it so developers will pay more to build in already crowded areas of the county and be barred from construction in others.
Elrich said having Knapp at the helm of the committee “certainly changes it” because Knapp did not support some early votes to make the growth policy more stringent, although Knapp did eventually support the final version of the new growth policy. Floreen was the lone vote against the ultimate package of revisions.
“We got out of the fantasy world the council was in before where development never had to wait,” Elrich said. “And I am just concerned about going back.”
Knapp acknowledged that he has been tagged with a pro-growth reputation but said he tries to take a balanced approach to issues.
“Everybody tries to define things as pro-growth or no-growth, and I find there are very few issues that fit in those categories,” Knapp said.
Drew Powell, head of Neighbors for a Better Montgomery, said he was worried about the changes.
“I believe a lot of damage could be done to the county in terms of longer commutes, larger classroom sizes and higher-density issues,” Powell said.
