The county council has officially ditched a moratorium on new construction projects. Instead, developers will be allowed to continue their work–with contingencies.In a unanimous decision, the council voted this morning to toss the proposed moratorium. The proposal would have put a seven-month lid on new development while the county’s planning board reviewed growth policies.
Today’s decision allows the planning board to continue its review and approval of new projects. However, project plans submitted after Jan 1, 2007, will be subject to any changes resulting from the planning board’s policy review.
Plans submitted to the planning board before Jan 1, 2007, will not be affected by any new rules. Other projects, like those in Metro station policy areas and enterprise zones, also get a pass.
Councilmember Valerie Ervin (D-District 5) gave the council’s decision kudos. Development provides the county with a solid tax base and jobs, she said, and a moratorium would have punished approved projects.
“Growth is not a problem,” Ervin told the council. “It’s how growth develops in the future.”
Before this morning’s vote, council president Marilyn Praisner (D-District 4) said the moratorium “was never intended to shut down development in Montgomery County.”
Praisner proposed the freeze in December.
Read 
What the hell are they building now? Learn more from 
Boxed wines and rosés are back in vogue. Just ask The Penguin's sommeliers.
Yeah!???
Borinquen
Is that a good “Yeah” or a bad “Yeah”?
yeah! more apartment buildings, more people, more jobs, more taxes, more cars, more traffic, more road rage….wait a minute
An undecided yeah. I like where Silver Spring appears to be headed, but I get the feeling SS is going to be a construction hellhole for the next 3 years…