1. Required Meeting with the Community. The applicant must hold at least one pre-submittal community meeting before submitting a project plan, sketch plan, preliminary plan, or site plan.
(a) Requirements of the meeting.
i. The applicant must schedule the meeting no more than 90 calendar days before the initial application date, on an evening or weekend, at a location that is convenient to the proposed project site.
ii. The purpose of the meeting is to present information about the proposed project and allow members of the community and the larger public to ask questions.
iii. The applicant must provide a sign-in sheet at the meeting so that attendees can identify themselves, provide a mailing or email address, and indicate whether they want to be added to the Notice List.
iv. The applicant must take meeting minutes that include a summary of any issues or concerns raised by attendees.
2. Optional Meeting(s) with Staff. If site constraints or other issues related to the proposed development of a property raise questions about a future development application, an applicant may request one or more pre-submittal meetings with staff.
B. Application. All applications covered by this manual must be filed with the DARC Intake Section staff. The applicant or its representative must fill out and sign the application form and checklist certifying that application and checklist are complete and ready for processing.
1. Applicant’s Responsibility.
(a) Required submittal items. Applications for review and action by either the Board or Director are typically submitted and processed electronically through Montgomery Planning ePlans.6 Filing an application includes submittal of an application form, followed by uploading electronic copies of required drawings and documents. The application must include all information required in the application checklist.
(b) Meeting required before plan amendment application. The required items for a plan amendment vary depending upon the specifics of the case. For each plan amendment, the applicant must contact the appropriate Area Team supervisor to determine the exact submission requirements. The amendment must clearly identify the items or areas of the approved plan proposed for revision.
2. Staff’s Responsibility.
(a) Intake Review. Staff must review the application and within 10 days, either accept the application, or provide initial comments containing all revisions or additional materials required to make the application consistent with the submission requirements. Staff’s review consists of a Pre-screen step to make any necessary corrections on the application form and compute the appropriate application fee, and then Intake Review of the initial application materials to determine if the information submitted is complete and meets the requirements of the application checklist. Intake Review is not a review of the merits of the application. Applicants should strive to ensure that each application is complete and correct at the time of initial submission. Staff must not accept an incomplete application for review.
3. Items Required for all Applications. Applications filed with the Planning Department must contain:
(a) plan drawings, documents, and other items as required by the application checklist;
(b) a certificate of compliance;
(c) a statement of justification; and
(d) documentation of notice, including pre-submission meeting and site posting.
The following are also required before an application is accepted:
(e) a paper copy of the application form signed and dated by the property owner or applicant; and
(f) payment of the appropriate fee.7
4. Plan drawings and documents. A digital copy of all submittal items required by the application checklist for each application type must be provided with the application in the appropriate file format, with the appropriate file name, and prepared following the submittal requirements on the Planning Department Webpage. Plan drawings must be legible and include appropriate notes and specifications and proper certification by a licensed professional or other qualified preparer.
5. Certificates of Compliance. The Certificate of Compliance8, signed and dated by the Applicant, attests that, to the best of the applicant’s knowledge, information, and belief after reasonable investigation, the application conforms to all applicable Federal, State, and County laws and regulations, including standards of the applicable zone. The certification also confirms that the plans and documents in the application package provide complete and correct information on boundary, ownership, and other information on properties, topography, historic resources, etc.
6. Statements of Justification. The Statement of Justification is a written statement listing the facts and reasons that the applicant believes would support Board or Director approval of the application. The statement must address each finding that is required in either Chapter 50 or Chapter 59, depending on the type of application.
(a) Waiver requests. If the application includes a request for any waiver of any law or regulation, the statement must specifically identify the applicable code section and provide details of the facts and legal basis that support the granting of the requested waiver. If a waiver is requested for environmental reasons, the applicant should refer to the latest approved Planning Board’s Guidelines for the Environmental Management of Development in Montgomery County, Maryland. If a proposed development application requires approval of a variance of a zoning standard by the County Board of Appeals, M-NCPPC will not process the application until the Board of Appeals acts.
(b) Supporting information. The applicant must attach any diagrammatic or illustrative materials that support the facts asserted in the statement of justification. The Applicant, or the Applicant’s representative, must certify that the information set forth in each statement of justification is true, complete, and correct to the best of their knowledge, information, and belief.
7. Documentation of Notice.
(a) Notice List. The submitted application documents must include a copy of the notice list, satisfying the requirements above. After mailing written notice, the applicant must retain each item of mail returned undelivered and produce any item retained for inspection by the staff or the Board upon request. If DARC Division staff has not received a copy of the required written notice, the Development Review Committee meeting on the application must be postponed until the applicant demonstrates that each required notice was mailed. If an application is pending for more than one year, the applicant must update the notice list and re-send notice (with the latest plan drawings) to each party on the updated list before the plan is scheduled for Board action.
(b) Pre-submittal community meeting. The applicant must provide the following pre-submittal meeting documentation with the application:
i. a signed and notarized affidavit attesting to the date, time, and location of the meeting;
ii. a dated copy of the invitation notice letter;
iii. a copy of the sign-in sheet, and a typed summary list that identifies each attendee, the attendee’s contact information, and identification of each attendee who wants to receive all future notifications concerning the proposed application; and
iv. meeting minutes that include a summary of issues or concerns raised by attendees.
8. Documentation of Site Posting. The applicant must provide the following documentation of site posting:
(a) Initial application. When an application is initially submitted, the applicant must include a template of the proposed sign and a drawing showing the proposed posting locations on the development site.
(b) Before application acceptance. A document file containing the following items must be submitted before application acceptance to demonstrate that site posting requirements have been met:
i. a signed and notarized affidavit attesting to the date and location of the posted signs;
ii. date-stamped photographs of each posted sign;
iii. the staff-approved sign layout plan drawing; and
iv. a photograph of one of the actual signs.
C. Acceptance of an Application.
1. Terms of acceptance. A final application must be complete and comply with all filing procedures to be accepted for review. DARC Intake staff must give the applicant written confirmation when acceptance occurs. The acceptance of a plan means that it is complete and accurate for purposes of filing. Acceptance for filing does not constitute approval of the submitted plan; it allows the application to move forward to evaluation by the participating review agencies and others.
2. Regulatory clocks. After application acceptance, Code-required review clocks for the plan application are started and tentative Board hearing dates are assigned, as applicable. If the application is going to be discussed at a Development Review Committee (DRC) meeting, it is added to the next available meeting agenda.
3. Public record.9 All information contained in the accepted application, or added during application review is part of the public record. In addition, all supporting materials presented to the Board or Director or otherwise incorporated into the plan as part of the action taken on an application, become part of the public record. By submitting a plan application, the applicant agrees to complete the checklist of standard plan requirements included with each application form.
D. Rejection of an Application.
1. Inaccurate, misleading or false certifications. At any point in the review process, if staff finds that information certified by an applicant or a licensed professional10 is materially inaccurate, misleading, or false, staff must report the matter in writing to the Director. The Director must review the report, give the applicant or professional an opportunity to respond in writing, and consider any other relevant information. If the Director finds that the applicant or professional submitted materially inaccurate, false, or misleading information, the Director must reject the application and take appropriate action, which may include reporting the facts to the appropriate licensing board.
2. New application needed. Any plan rejected for these reasons must be returned to the applicant without any refund of the initial application fee. The application must be dropped from the queue of pending plans, and the applicant must submit a new application with associated fees to be considered further.
E. Filing of Concurrent Applications. Many types of land development projects require the filing, review, and Board approval of more than one type of plan. With the agreement of Planning staff, some of these plans may be filed concurrently. Depending upon the application types, concurrent filing may require extensions of the mandatory review timeframes required by law to facilitate concurrent action on the applications.
6 Complete instructions for making an application, including application forms and checklists are available on the Planning Department’s website at http://montgomeryplanning.org/development/.
7 Fees paid by check must be made out to the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (MNCPPC).
8 Standard Certificate of Compliance template available at: http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/development/forms/
