The Montgomery County Council voted unanimously Tuesday to provide discounted public parking permits for child care center employees and social workers in homelessness services in the downtown parking lot districts of Silver Spring, Wheaton and Bethesda.
The legislation was sponsored by council President Kate Stewart (D-Dist. 4) and co-sponsored by councilmembers Sidney Katz (D-Dist. 3), Kristin Mink (D-Dist. 5) and Dawn Luedtke (D-Dist. 7).
The bill will establish a parking permit rate for specialized service providers that is less than the rate currently charged in county garages and on parking meters. County parking rates vary based on the type of parking, but the bill will require the discounted permit cost just 5% of the regular rate for the corresponding regular permit.
It also authorizes the Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) to review the eligibility of service providers and determine whether they qualify for a discounted permit
The program will go into effect after it is signed into law by County Executive Marc Elrich (D).
Expansion of the legislation
Stewart originally introduced the legislation to specifically benefit service providers in downtown Silver Spring affected by ongoing construction of the Purple Line.
The Purple Line, a 16-mile light-rail line that will run from Bethesda to New Carrollton in Prince George’s County under the operation of the Maryland Transit Administration, is slated to be complete in late 2027.
Construction has impacted parts of downtown Silver Spring, including the area near the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center, which will include a Purple Line station. Access to parking and local businesses also has been impacted by the construction.
“We see this as a way that we as a government agency can really step up and support the work of our unhoused [services] providers and our child care providers,” Stewart said when introducing the legislation in January. “We have an incredible need … we need to do everything we can to support our providers, especially those working with our unhoused population.”
Ultimately, the council’s Transportation and Environment Committee recommended the discount program be expanded to include child care center workers and social workers in homelessness services in the downtown areas of Wheaton and Bethesda as well.
“This is an ongoing issue where we have social service providers who we know are not getting compensated at levels that other workers are. They do some of the toughest work, day in and day out throughout our community,” councilmember and Transportation and Environment Committee Chair Evan Glass (D-At-large) said prior to the vote. “Which is ultimately why this legislation was introduced, to alleviate those economic changes so that they could pay for parking.”
According to the legislative report on the bill, the county operates “Parking Lot Districts” in Bethesda, Silver Spring and Wheaton. The purpose of the districts is to construct, maintain, and operate shared public parking facilities with a goal of lowering the cost and land consumption devoted to parking.
“The parking lot districts are enterprise funds and fund their own operation maintenance costs, and we need to continue revenue streams that support that,” MCDOT director Chris Conklin explained of the county’s paid parking lot system at Tuesday’s council meeting.
Councilmembers agreed to maintain the originally proposed sunset date of Dec. 31, 2032, for the discount parking program. That date set to coincide with the five-year mark after expected Purple Line completion date of December 2027. While the discount parking program is no longer focused solely on mitigating Purple Line construction impacts, councilmembers agreed that it would be a good idea to keep the sunset date in order to review the program’s effectiveness and economic impact.
Washington, D.C., offers a similar program for health aide workers, according to the council agenda packet.
