The Montgomery County cartel is ready to move on communities in what it has rebranded "Eastern Silver Spring." This is a triangular area of eastern Montgomery County roughly bordered by the Colesville Road corridor to the east, the Capital Beltway to the north, the Prince George's County line to the east, and the City of Takoma Park to the south. It's quite a large area, as master plans go. The desire to upzone is made clear by the logo used by the Montgomery County Planning Department, which shows a hulking Thrive 2050 apartment building looming over a single family home. And the mega upzoning allowed by the long-delayed Purple Line is the purple elephant in the room.
A public meeting has been scheduled for September 4, 2025 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM, at the Long Branch Community Center at 8700 Piney Branch Road regarding how faith-based institutions "can be part of shaping the [Eastern Silver Spring Communities] plan’s vision for housing, equity, public spaces, sustainability, and neighborhood growth." Yes, having learned nothing from the November 2024 election, the Planning Department is still pushing the equity ......... Pay close attention to the description of this meeting, as it portends much for your future if allowed to advance with no restraints. Using the "Eastern Silver Spring" Anger Translator, we can learn that what this really stands for is developers buying up and demolishing churches, and entering into "partnerships" with other houses of worship to acquire land around their buildings for housing construction.
Many wonderful single-family home residential neighborhoods are contained within the plan area. Whether they stay that way partially depends on the outcome of this master plan. Holding a meeting at 6:00 PM suggests the County does not want many of these hardworking and employed residents to attend - or to attend on an empty stomach at best. Remember, if you're not at the table, you're on the menu. You can RSVP online on the meeting announcement website.
