Montgomery County has ordered a one-year halt on residential construction covering an area equal to about 12% of the county’s land area, while raising transportation and school impact taxes to address infrastructure and school overcrowding.
Beginning July 1, the area surrounding those schools with a projected cumulative utilization of more than 120% will be placed on moratorium following the county Planning Board’s annual school test, a yearly assessment based on estimated upcoming use of school facilities.
The moratorium affects the land surrounding four school clusters — the geographic area around a high school and its feeder middle and elementary schools — affecting almost 30 schools, in addition to the area surrounding eight additional elementary schools. The 60 square miles covered by the moratorium is roughly equal to four cities of Alexandria.
This will not block any preapproved projects in the affected areas.