Burtonsville is the subject of Montgomery County Planning Department's first Neighborhood Plan. According to the department, the idea is to spend a year studying the area and offering infrastructure solutions. 

"We have to be very small in our focus because this is a one-year plan," lead planner Kristin O'Connor told Patch. The neighborhood plan will likely propose one or two changes for the business district of Burtonsville. O'Connor said that specific details about the plan are up in the air since she wants to hear from residents. The first deliverable for the project, a scope of work, is due this December. 

The idea of a neighborhood plan isn't new nationally, but it is a first for Montgomery County, which typically focuses on long-term master plans. The County Council signed off on the idea earlier this year because, as O'Connor stated, "some things aren't working in Burtonsville." The task is for the area's commercial district to become a "safe and sustainable mixed-use area."

The next few months will be spent getting community input. O'Connor visited Burtonsville Day and an East County Citizens Advisory Board meeting. The goal, she said, is to populate email lists and encourage residents to get involved. Once December rolls around, O'Connor's team is "going to take off running," to complete the plan by its due date of November 2011. 

The department might propose a local map amendment, comprehensive re-zoning of the area or a master plan amendment. Areas that might be addressed are the lack of community gathering spaces and the need for pedestrian and cyclist infrastructure.

O'Connor also identified other challenges in the area, including the lack of business frontage and the idea that the town's main road sees a lot of traffic, but motorists do not actually stop in Burtonsville. 

"People are using [MD] 198 as an east-west highway," O'Connor said. "A sort of pre-ICC. That's how they're getting to Rockville."

The department's Burtonsville Community Legacy Plan will also serve as a guide.

"[We're] definitely looking to focus our Burtonsville neighborhood plan on some of the longer term challenges that they identified in this legacy plan," said O'Connor.