Chevy Chase Village wants taller buildings pushed away from its single-family homes and more green space along the border with the planned Friendship Heights redevelopment.

Village Board Vice Chair Lou Morsberger delivered that message Monday, Sept. 14, at the Montgomery County Planning Board's public hearing on the Draft Friendship Heights Sector Plan. The hearing at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center on Edgemoor Lane was the second of two sessions.

The draft plan would add 4,700 housing units to the roughly 113-acre area south of downtown Bethesda, home to about 6,000 people. The last Friendship Heights sector plan was adopted in 1998. The updated version is meant to guide development, transportation and economic growth for the next 20 to 30 years.

The Village Board's formal position calls for a more restrictive Overlay Zone where the sector plan borders Village homes. That means a defined, enforceable buffer of green space, compatible setbacks and lower building heights near residences. Taller structures would be allowed closer to Wisconsin Avenue.

Morsberger's testimony also pushed back against CCLC, formerly The Chevy Chase Land Company, which testified at the Thursday, Sept. 10, hearing. CCLC sought changes to the plan for The Collection Chevy Chase and the vacant former Saks Fifth Avenue site. The Village said CCLC's requests run counter to its own position, though CCLC's specific proposals do not appear in the Village's public summary.

The Village Board adopted its stance at a special meeting Aug. 11. Residents at that session raised concerns about building heights, density and setbacks on the former Saks, Collection and 2 Wisconsin Circle properties.

County Executive Marc Elrich raised concerns of his own. In a Thursday, Sept. 10, letter to Planning Board Chair Artie Harris, Elrich wrote that the plan area lacks sites for parks, tree canopy preservation or transportation improvements to support the proposed 4,700 new units. He called that figure more than double the current housing count.

Lead planner Atara Margolies offered a different framing in a July 16 press release. The plan "builds on Friendship Heights' existing strengths and leverages key opportunity sites to bring new uses and amenities that will attract more people, strengthen local retail, and create a more diverse, vibrant, mixed-use downtown core," Margolies said.

The Village Board said it will file detailed written testimony by the comment deadline and post it on the Village website.

Residents have until 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17, to submit written comments. Testimony can be emailed to [email protected], with a copy to Village Manager Shana Davis-Cook at [email protected].

The Planning Board is scheduled to begin work sessions Sept. 24 to revise the draft before sending it to the County Council, a step projected for late 2026 or early 2027.