CLARKSBURG GATEWAY SECTOR (CGSP) PLAN UPDATE
On January 21, 2026, Friends of Ten Mile Creek and Little Seneca Reservoir (FoTMC) testified before the Montgomery County Council on the Planning Board Draft of The Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan. Over our 2 ½ years of engagement with the Planning staff to help craft the Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan (CGSP), our primary focus has been to protect and restore the health of the streams, conserve the forests, and ensure clean drinking water by protecting Little Seneca Lake Reservoir, the region’s back-up drinking water supply.
Council Committee Ignores Forest and Stream Protection
Following the Jan 21st hearing, the Council’s Planning, Housing, and Parks (PHP) Committee (Andrew Friedson, Natalie Fani-Gonzalez, Will Jawando) and Marilyn Balcombe, the District #2 representative who participated because the proposed development is in her district, held work sessions on the Planning Board’s plan. None of the Council members showed any regard for protecting forests or the water quality of the streams and Reservoir. The PHP committee voted to forward the Planning Board Draft of the CGSP to the full Council for review and final approval. The County Council will hold a work session on March 3 to consider the PHP Committee’s recommended revisions and is expected to vote on the plan’s adoption at the Council meeting on March 24.
Earlier Drafts of the CGSP Included Better Environmental Protections
Prior to the Jan 21 Council hearing, FoTMC had testified before the Planning Board (on September 25, 2025) on the Staff Draft of the Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan, i.e. the Public Hearing Draft. That Draft included Planning staff’s recommendations to not build the I-270 interchange, to protect Priority Urban Forests, and to include a minimum 200-foot building setback from I-270. FoTMC concurred with these staff recommendations. But the Planning Board ignored their own staff’s recommendations. As a result, the Planning Board Draft that went to the Council included the I-270 interchange, weakened the language to protect Priority Urban Forests and drastically reduced the 200-foot setback from I-270.
We are very disappointed that the Planning Board undermined staff’s good environmental recommendations and completely ignored FoTMC’s recommendations to protect the streams flowing to Little Seneca Reservoir.
Also Disregarded: Clarksburg Special Protection Area and COMSAT Building Preservation
Both the Public Hearing Draft and the Planning Board Draft of the CGSP noted that the Plan is located in the Clarksburg Special Protection Area (SPA), whose streams merit “special protection.” But neither draft plan included any recommendations to enhance stream protection, despite the long-term decline in the health of the streams in the SPA. And the plans also chose to ignore the Historic Preservation Commission and Historic Preservation community’s recommendation to preserve the COMSAT building.
Here are the links to FOTMC’s testimonies to the Planning Board, September 25, 2025 and to the County Council, January 21, 2026.
Despite the lack of responsiveness to our concerns for the forests and the waters, we will be sending comments to the County Council in advance of the planned Council vote on March 24th. We invite others to do the same.
You can send your message to all the councilmembers at county.council@montgomerycountymd.gov
Thank you!
John Parrish, President
Friends of Ten Mile Creek and Little Seneca Reservoir
