Sitting at the crossroads between Montgomery County and Washington, D.C., Friendship Heights is a unique, cross-jurisdictional and transit-oriented urban area. As one of the county’s four downtowns, Friendship Heights has transitioned over the last two decades from a regional retail destination to a mixed-use area with modest retail, limited commercial uses, and a demographic profile that tends to be older than the rest of the county. In fall 2024, Montgomery Planning kicked off the Friendship Heights Sector Plan. This plan will be an update to the 1998 Friendship Heights Sector Plan. Building on the recently completed Friendship Heights Urban Design Study, the sector plan update will consider existing conditions and ultimately make recommendations on zoning, land use, housing, transportation, parks and open space, the environment, schools, economic development, and more.
On May 29, staff briefed the Planning Board on the existing conditions analysis. View the Existing Conditions staff report and watch the May 29 presentation.
Upcoming events
Check out all of our upcoming events below. The events in May are focused on the existing conditions analysis of the Plan area, while the June events are opportunities for community members to provide feedback and ideas about how you envision the future of Friendship Heights.
Visioning events
Visioning is an exciting phase of the process! Planning staff and the community will begin discussing the future of Friendship Heights and working towards preliminary big ideas for the plan. Visioning will take us from June through early fall.
The event below, will focus on parks, pedestrian network issues and more. Over the summer we will have additional visioning engagement opportunities, including some that you can participate in online at your own pace. In the fall, we will reconvene and focus on development and other issues.
June 24 – Friendship Heights Virtual Visioning Workshop (online)
7–8:30 p.m.
This workshop will cover similar topics as the in-person workshop on June 11 but in an online format. Registration is required to receive the link for the workshop.
Focus groups
Over the summer we will be convening separate focus groups for business owners, renters and parents of children 0-18. If you would like to receive information about these opportunities, please fill out this brief focus group interest form.
Frequently asked questions
A sector plan is a type of master plan that covers an area that is: adjacent to transit; or a central business district; or another small defined area. Typical elements of sector plans include land use, zoning, urban design, transportation, parks, trails, and open space, the economy, the environment, historic resources and schools.
The last sector plan for Friendship Heights was adopted in 1998, and the neighborhood has changed a lot since then. The downtown was once a regional retail destination with significant residential and commercial development activity, but recent years have seen rising retail and office vacancies, and new development has slowed to a trickle. Building on last year’s Urban Design Study, the Friendship Heights Sector Plan Update will look closely at current trends and residents’ needs and views to consider what the future holds for Friendship Heights, and how this downtown may better serve its stakeholders.
The plan boundary has not yet been established. Initial plan engagement will be ongoing for several months before Planning staff presents a proposed scope and boundary to the Planning Board for approval in early 2025. Only properties included within the sector plan boundary can be recommended for new zoning.
As with all Montgomery Planning efforts, we welcome public input and will offer multiple opportunities for interested stakeholders to participate in the plan and to communicate with the planning team both in-person and virtually. A stakeholder is anyone who is interested in the future of Friendship Heights, even if you do not live or work in the eventual plan area. Sign up for the e-letter to receive all communications about engagement opportunities for this plan.
A study is a tool used to explore a particular planning issue, rather than propose zoning or other changes; its recommendations do not amend existing master or sector plans. A sector plan or master plan recommends changes to a plan area, which may include zoning or land use policy changes. This plan will build on our momentum and findings from the Urban Design Study to begin meaningfully considering the future of Friendship Heights.
Thrive Montgomery 2050 is a general framework that sets broad policy goals for the county, which sector plans like this use to guide specific practical work in their respective plan areas while actively responding to more concentrated local stakeholder values and concerns.
Both agencies have complementary goals and have identified similar needs and opportunities on each side of the Maryland–DC border. Staff from Montgomery Planning and Washington, DC Office of Planning (DCOP) meet on a regular basis to coordinate planning efforts in neighborhoods that cross jurisdictions, including this one. DCOP recently completed the Wisconsin Avenue Development Framework, focused on opportunities for housing (especially multifamily buildings) and other development along DC side of the Wisconsin Avenue corridor.
Staff contact
Atara Margolies
Planner III
301-495-4558
Email
Timeline
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Fall 2024Pre-scope engagement
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Winter 2025On February 6, 2025, the Planning Board approved the Scope of Work and boundary for the Plan.
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Spring 2025On May 29, 2025 staff will brief the Planning Board on the findings from the existing conditions analysis of the Plan area.
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Spring – Fall 2025Visioning
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Fall 2025Preliminary Recommendations presented to Planning Board
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Winter 2026Working Draft presented to Planning Board, followed by Planning Board public hearing and work sessions.
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Spring 2026Transmit Planning Board Draft to Council