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Multiplexes Could Be Coming to Montgomery County

  • September 13th 2021

by UrbanTurf Staff

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Conformance to standards in a Pattern Book would help to ensure multiplexes maintain a "house scale." Click to enlarge.

A plan to get new housing types introduced to certain zones in Montgomery County is moving forward. 

In a report from the county Planning Department released last week, a new property type definition -- multiplex -- was proposed for single-family zones in the county. Multiplexes would be buildings with 3-4 units that could be constructed by-right in single-family zones.

"There was a zoning change proposed last December that started the ball rolling and the Council asked us to find ways to allow more diverse types of housing in single-family neighborhoods," Countywide Planning and Policy Chief Jason Sartori told UrbanTurf. 

Currently, when a home is ripe for replacement in one of the single-family zones in Montgomery County the only option is a new single-family home. The multiplex categorization would open up these zones to duplexes, triplexes and, in some places, quadplexes. 

While the multiplexes would be by-right, Sartori said that the new properties would have to "maintain certain single-family standards" when it came to massing, height and lot coverage. The department is working on a pattern book for the new property categorization. 

There are a number of steps before the new categorization is approved including more back and forth between the Council and the Planning Department, but Sartori and other members of the planning department have been meeting with the community since March to hear concerns and receive feedback. 

UrbanTurf will continue to follow news on this topic. 

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/multiplexes-could-be-coming-to-montgomery-county/18691.

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