Rockville Planning Commission to discuss master plan update vision for parks

Orange areas on the map are
homes that are further from
parks and recreation facilities
than planners and residents
would like

The Rockville Planning Commission will be briefed on, and discuss, the section of the 2040 Master Plan update on Parks and Recreation Facilities at their Thursday, November 9 meeting at City Hall at 7:00 PM. A draft of the plan sets out goals based on feedback from community listening sessions and previous discussions.

Among the goals are leveraging private sector capital, property and resources; continuing expansion of well-connected bike facilities; improving cooperation with Montgomery College, Montgomery County and Montgomery County Public Schools, which all have facilities in or near Rockville; ensuring City parks and facilities have distinctive branding; ensuring no net loss of square footage of parkland (something the Montgomery County Council failed to do in recent years); and ensuring that all homes within the City are a quarter-mile walk from at least one park or recreation facility.

Currently, 79% of Rockville homes are within the quarter-mile range. Underserved areas are primarily east of Rockville Pike, west of I-270, and in the town center. The latter could be very effectively addressed by a long-considered plan to bury the Pike in the town center area, and building a major park on top of it.