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I am writing to our Chapter membership to express my strong support for Casey Anderson’s reappointment as Planning Board Chair. As an Architect living and working in Montgomery County I have admired his passion and smart leadership on the Planning Board. If you support him for reappointment as I do please write the Montgomery County Council at [email protected]. If you aren't aware of his accomplishments on the Planning Board as Chair, please read on.

I have gotten to know Casey over the past 5 years in my role as the Montgomery County Historic Preservation Committee Chair. In that capacity I have witnessed first hand his passion for the County and for what creates strong communities through thoughtful planning and transportation policies. Under his leadership he has overseen the Planning Department’s highly successful initiatives that have and will continue to nurture positive growth for the benefit of all County residents. He has much more to offer the County as Planning Board Chair and I hope we can all benefit from his leadership for the next four years.

Casey has been a leader and a champion for smart growth, affordable housing, and transit. Casey’s achievements on the board are numerous and include:

• Supporting reforms to the MPDU law to create incentives for additional affordable units, especially in more affluent parts of the county;
• Championing the construction of additional market-rate and regulated affordable housing as a central strategy to mitigate rising housing costs;
• Advancing equity as a cornerstone of planning, including advocating for housing policies that create mixed-income, diverse communities and schools as well as transportation infrastructure that connects neighborhoods that have suffered from disinvestment.
• Pressing for liberalization of the requirements for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) to make them less expensive and easier to build;
• Encouraging the Planning Department staff to develop policies designed to encourage "missing middle" housing to create a wider range of more affordable types of new dwellings;
• Proposing an innovative way to allocate development capacity in the Bethesda master plan that creates a new source of funding for urban parks in the downtown together with new incentives for additional affordable housing;
• Suggesting the redevelopment of the Apex Building in order to build a better Purple Line station and below-grade Capital Crescent Trail connection, which led to a Minor Master Plan and mixed-use development project that is currently under construction;
• Helping to draft the County’s BRT task force report and to guide the BRT master plan that followed to approval by the Planning Board and County Council;
• Leading the development and approval of the county’s award-winning new Bicycle Master Plan, which will result in safer and less stressful bicycling infrastructure so that more residents can bike to work and school;
• Insisting that the new Subdivision Staging Policy include transit, walking, and bicycling and create incentives for compact, mixed use development in urban centers;
• Expanding the Parks Department’s mission to include active urban parks, a strong and connected trail network, and high-quality playing fields for a diverse array of users;
• Advocating for a strong Vision Zero policy and supporting its implementation through the Veirs Mill Master Plan, the Aspen Hill Vision Zero Study, the Forest Glen/Montgomery Hills Sector Plan, and the Bicycle Master Plan.
  
  

Casey understands the relationship between land use policy, economic development and the County’s responsibility to provide opportunities and support for all its residents - including its most vulnerable. I have found him to be responsive, open, and willing to engage on policy issues and I appreciate that he’s willing to meet with residents and share his ideas. Casey’s though-provoking blog posts and presentations provide valuable information and data that help interested residents better understand the county’s land use policies and goals. 

Sincerely,

William Kirwan, AIA
Principal
MUSE ARCHITECTS