Evening star., 1952-03-13
Report Assails
Upper County
Subdivisions
Second Study Cites
Tax Delinquency in
Lower Montgomery

Land subdivision In upper
Montgomery County is proceeding
in an "unco-ordinated, piecemeal
and short-sighted manner" the
Upper Montgomery County Plan
ming Commission declared in q
study report released yesterday.
But the commission, bitterly at
tackled by upper county farmers
when it proposed a subdivision
control ordinance last year, said
reasonable controls can avert seri-
Gus economic and health prob
lens.
: A companion study. covering
properties confiscated for nom
payment Of taxes, reveals that, in
the lower county, where subdivi-
sion activity has doomed. tax
delinquency reaches its greatest
peak. A higher incidence Of tax
delinquency, with resulting lag in
county revenues, can result from
premature subdivision" in the
upper county area. the report
states.
Public indignation over controls
proposed last November sent the
commission into a huddle from
which it has not yet emerged.
Weekly closed meetings have been
held by the commission, headed
by Thomas c. Kelley. to revise the
regulations.
Citizens Aid Redrafting.
Ten citizens advisory commit
tees have been appointed from the
election districts in the upper
county to aid in redrafting the
plan.
AS originally proposed, commits
sion approval was required for the
sale Of any piece Of land under
five acres in size. No deed or plat
for such a subdivision could be
recorded without approval Of the
commission.
The commission also would be
empowered to reserve land for
public use in a proposed subdivi-
sion for a period Of three years.
The owner could not use the land
during this time.
The study report on land sub
division shows that considerable
subdivision has taken place in the
upper county. There are more
than 10000 lots Of less than FIVE
acre size in this area. the report
states, but most of these were ac-
complished by deed description
without a land plat. q. d
Health Problem Seen.
It was also found that there are
1850 undeveloped lots Of less than
10000 square feet in the upper
county, where neither public
water or sewers are available. This
presents a health problem. since
the county health department sets
safe minimum lot sizes without
public water or sewer services at
10000 square feet.
There is no real need for i'm
mediate subdivision in the upper
county because undeveloped lots
smaller than five acres now avail
able could permit a IS per cent in
crease in the population of the
area. This would mean an addi-
tional 1000 persons. the report
asserts.
Reports Sent Council.
"The principal reasons why pre-
mature subdivision has not as yet
seriously affected this county's tax
base lie in the facts that the
larger part Of the county has been
maintained in productive rural
uses, and continuing expansion
of Washington has provided a
sustaining demand for lots In the
suburban sections" the commits
sion declared.
Copies of the two reports have
been given to the County Council,
which must adopt any subdivision
controls. before they would be-
come operative. The 10 advisory
committees have also been fur
nished with copies Of the reports.
Subdivision control in the urban
area Of Montgomery County is
exercised by the Maryland-Na-
tional Capital Park and Planning
Commission. This includes the
Silver Spring g-Bethesda area.