Council Passes Bill to Require Police Adopt Use of Force Policy

The County Council yesterday unanimously approved a bill that would require the Montgomery County police chief to adopt a use of force policy. Many of the provisions in the legislation are similar those in a new policy announced in June by County Executive Marc Elrich, Police Chief Marcus Jones and the Fraternal Order of Police.

Planners to Hold Virtual Listening Sessions on Downtown, Adjacent Communities Plan

The county’s Planning Department will hold the first of three virtual “listening sessions” on what’s been rechristened the Silver Spring Downtown and Adjacent Communities Plan on Tuesday, July 21 from noon to 1:15 p.m. The discussion is part of the launch of the sector plan process for the Central Business District and surrounding area.

Vandals Deface Confederate Memorial at Grace Church

Vandals defaced a memorial marking the graves of 17 Confederate soldiers buried in Grace Church Cemetery at the corner of Georgia Avenue and Grace Church Road. The bodies were relocated from their original graves near Fort Stevens in Washington, D.C. to the cemetery in 1874, according to “Silver Spring and the Civil War,” written by Woodside Park resident Robert Oshel.

County Board Approves Expanded Area for Downtown Planning Study

The Montgomery County Planning Board yesterday unanimously approved a Scope of Work for the Silver Spring Downtown Plan that adds portions of adjacent neighborhoods to the study area. The decision at the virtual meeting adopted staff boundary Option D, an expansion within a half-mile/ten-minute pedestrian “walkshed” from the future Silver Spring Library Purple Line Station.

Planning Board to Consider Scope of Silver Spring Downtown Sector Plan Work

The Montgomery Planning Board will consider a proposed scope of work for a Silver Spring Downtown Sector Plan at a virtual meeting Thursday, June 4. The work, the first step in the planning process, is intended as an update to the 2000 Silver Spring Central Business District Plan. It includes consideration of the boundaries of the current CBD and whether expansion of the area into the downtown sector plan would be a part of the process.