Council President Stewart to Hold Media Availability with Special Guest Montgomery County Police Department Commander Jason Cokinos on April 7 at 11 a.m.

Council President Stewart will discuss the Council’s efforts to tackle the persistent issue of vacant commercial buildings. Office vacancy rates in Montgomery County remain an ongoing challenge since the Covid-19 pandemic. On Tuesday, the Council is expected to vote on legislative and zoning measures to promote converting vacant commercial space into productive uses. Stewart will discuss the Street Activation and Vacancy Elimination (S.A.V.E.) Zoning Text Amendment(ZTA), which she is sponsoring to encourage street activation by allowing self-storage in buildings that have been 90 percent vacant for at least two years if a community-service use is on the ground floor.

Additionally, she will highlight ZTA 25-03, Expedited Approvals – Commercial to Residential Reconstruction and Subdivision Regulation Amendment (SRA) 25-02, Administrative Subdivision – Expedited Approval Plan. These measures would expedite approvals for moving from commercial to residential reconstruction and streamline adaptive reuse, so the regulatory process moves swiftly and efficiently.

She will also discuss the upcoming vote on Expedited Bill 2-25, Taxation – Payments in Lieu of Taxes – Affordable Housing, which would establish a minimum payment in lieu of taxes for certain conversions of high-vacancy commercial properties to residential uses to encourage the creation of new housing units. Both zoning measures and Expedited Bill 2-25 are part of the More Housing N.O.W. package led by Planning, Housing and Parks Committe Chair Andrew Friedson and Economic Development Committee Chair Natali Fani-González and are cosponsored by Council President Stewart. 

The Council president’s media availability will be held via Zoom and is for members of the news media. The public can view the media availability on the Council’s Facebook page (@MontgomeryCountyMdCouncil).    

Members of the news media must RSVP before 10 a.m. on April 7 to Lucia Jimenez at [email protected] to receive the Zoom login information.