On October 23, 2018, the Prince George’s County Council adopted a new Zoning Ordinance and new Subdivision Regulations for Prince George’s County. As part of the implementation of these new laws, a new Neighborhood Conservation Overlay Zone (NCOZ) is being prepared for those properties in the City of Mount Rainier currently classified in the R-55 (One-Family Detached Residential), R-35 (One-Family Semidetached, and Two-Family Detached, Residential), and R-20 (One-Family Triple-Attached Residential) Zones.

The purpose of the NCOZ is to protect and preserve the unique development features and character of established neighborhoods throughout the County, and to promote new development that is compatible with the existing neighborhood character. Minimum criteria for the designation of an NCOZ are established in the new Zoning Ordinance; these will be addressed in a Mount Rainier neighborhood study that specifies the development context. The Mount Rainier NCOZ will also include development standards specific to Mount Rainier's single-family residential neighborhoods; should the Mount Rainier NCOZ be approved, the standards will regulate development, redevelopment, and building alterations in the zone.

NEXT STEPS

A community meeting on the potential NCO Zone was held at M-NCPPC's Mount Rainier Nature Center on Monday, December 16, 2019. After an introduction by City Councilmember Bryan Knedler, who outlined the work that has been done since 2006 to make the NCOZ a reality, M-NCPPC staff gave a presentation on how the NCO Zone fits into the new Zoning Ordinance (adopted October 2018). Staff walked the community members through the proposed NCOZ standards (developed with community input by the Design Review Board (DRB) and the city over 2014-2017) and there was a discussion about how each standard would work and how some could be refined to achieve the stated community goals of maintaining neighborhood character. The DRB will further refine the proposed standards in early January and present their recommendations to the Mount Rainier City Council soon after.

It is expected that the District Council will hold a Joint Public Hearing on the Countywide Map Amendment in the spring of 2020.
M-NCPPC staff will continue to work closely with the DRB, members of the community and the city council to ensure that the Mount Rainier NCO Zone and zone standards are part of that public comment and approval process so that the zone can go into effect in fall 2020. The draft standards must be completed in early February to achieve that goal.

IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS AND LINKS:

Draft Mount Rainier NCOZ Standards (December 2019)

November 18 Letter to Property Owners and Occupants in Potential NCO Zone

Section of new Zoning Ordinance establishing the NCO Zone

Map of Mount Rainier showing the Proposed NCO Zone

Zoning Rewrite and Countywide Map Amendment Main Website