The former Saks Fifth Avenue parcel at the north end of Wisconsin Avenue East has the same zoning as the single-family homes across Belmont Avenue and Oliver Street. Chevy Chase Village's Board of Managers notes in its testimony that the current Sector Plan kept the property in R-60, the same residential zone, with a 35-foot maximum height. Saks closed in May, Bethesda Magazine reported, and left a vacant store and a parking lot. The 35-foot limit still applies on paper. On Thursday, October 29, the Montgomery County Planning Board is scheduled to hold Work Session 4 on the Friendship Heights Sector Plan. This session covers Chapter 4, the site-specific recommendations that will set what can replace it.
If you are comparing a house on Belmont Avenue or Oliver Street with one a few blocks into the Village, today's zoning map will not tell you much. Three height proposals are now on the record for the same three properties. For the houses across the street, the most important difference among them is not the height on Wisconsin Avenue. It is where and how the building has to step down along the edge of the site.
Three proposals for one strip of land
Wisconsin Avenue East covers three properties between Western Avenue and Oliver Street: the Saks site, The Collection and 2 Wisconsin Circle. The Village Board's testimony calls them "the only separation between existing residential neighborhoods and Wisconsin Avenue" and describes the parcels as "quite narrow." The Village says CCLC, formerly the Chevy Chase Land Company, owns all of them, from 2 Wisconsin Circle to the former Saks site.
| Public Hearing Draft (July 2026) | Chevy Chase Village Board | CCLC | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saks site, maximum height | 100 ft on the northern two-thirds, 150 ft on the southern third | 85 ft across the site | 150 ft across the site |
| Edge facing Belmont Ave. and Oliver St. | 45 ft at the building edge, then a 1:1 step-back | 45 ft starting 30 ft behind the property line for a depth of 75 ft, then 1:1 | Remove the 45 ft limit and rely on the standard 45-degree angular plane |
| Edge facing Belmont Buffer Park | 60 ft, then 1:1; 20 ft minimum setback | Village figures add deeper 60 ft edges on The Collection | Remove the 60 ft limit; reduce the setback to 15 ft |
| The Collection | 200 ft | 170 ft north of the extended Center Street line, 200 ft south of it | Not separately stated |
| 2 Wisconsin Circle | Up to 250 ft | Supports the draft for the southwest quadrant | 300 ft |
The Public Hearing Draft recommends CR-3.0 zoning for all three sites. Maximum heights run from 100 feet at the Saks end to 250 feet at the Western Avenue end. The Village Board agrees with several parts of the staff plan for Saks: the CR zoning at 3.0 FAR, the 45-foot limit along both street frontages, double rows of trees, and residential frontage on both sides of the street. The three parties broadly accept that the Saks site will be redeveloped. They disagree about its shape.
The edge rule matters more than the top height
For a house on Belmont Avenue, the 100-foot or 150-foot height on Wisconsin Avenue sits at the far side of a narrow parcel. The nearer wall is set by the transition rule, and the three proposals measure it from different starting points.
Under the staff draft, buildings facing Belmont Avenue and Oliver Street are limited to 45 feet at the building edge. Above that, they step back one foot for every foot of added height. Elsewhere, the transition follows the Zoning Ordinance's 45-degree angular plane up to the mapped height. The Village Board says the 1:1 standard "is inadequate" for these homes. It asks for the 45-foot section to begin 30 feet behind the property line and hold for a depth of 75 feet before any step-back starts. It also asks for a minimum quarter-acre microforest along the Oliver Street frontage. In its written submission to the Planning Board, CCLC asks to drop the 45-foot and 60-foot edge limits and use only the existing 45-degree angular plane, which it says "already addresses height transitions."
CCLC's own figures show the cost of the different methods. In its angular plane study, a 45-degree plane drawn from the property line at 35 feet, the base Zoning Ordinance method, removes about two full floors of residential units, about 10% of developable units. It says an alternate study implies a reduction of about 16%. CCLC's slides also say the staff approach, with the plane drawn from the building facade at 45 feet, "artificially limits heights" and holds Wisconsin Avenue to 100 feet. Each proposal for the edge also sets how many floors fit on the Wisconsin Avenue side.
Why a few feet becomes a fight over unit count
The Planning Board's own market study explains why both sides care so much about floors. RCLCO, the consultant behind the plan's market analysis, wrote in a November 5, 2025 memo that multifamily apartments are the clearest near- to mid-term development prospect in Friendship Heights. It found that conventional office is unlikely to be feasible under the conditions at the time, and that ground-floor retail may add modest value at suitable visible locations. The study uses seven-story podium construction as its base case. Buildings of eight or more stories fall into higher-cost concrete and steel construction. Smaller or irregular sites may need taller buildings and more costly parking to make a project feasible.
A narrow parcel that has to step down toward single-family homes is the kind of site that study describes. If apartments are the use most likely to work, the height of each wall decides how many units can be built, and the unit count decides whether redevelopment is worth starting. Bethesda Magazine noted that, according to planners, the last large residential development in Friendship Heights was built in 2009.
A mapped height may not be the final height either. The draft lets qualifying projects earn density above the mapped FAR through additional public benefits, but only up to the mapped height. The Village Board's testimony warns that buildings "may materially exceed this level if MPDU and/or public benefit points are provided at sufficient levels." That is why the Village has tied its support for the plan to an Overlay Zone. The overlay would set the height limits and step-backs, parking requirements based on density and unit count, a ban on ground-floor retail along Oliver Street and Belmont Avenue, and a requirement that buildings facing those streets be residential.
Farther south, the numbers raise a question about density
The same disagreement continues across The Collection. On the area southeast of 2 Wisconsin Circle, the Village Board recommends 85 feet next to the proposed Western Grove Park open space for a depth of 75 feet, then 130 feet after a 78-foot step-back, then 170 feet where it meets 2 Wisconsin Circle. The Board also points out a gap in the draft. It says a 200-foot height on that portion could hold 6.5 to 7 FAR, compared with the recommended 3.0, and asks the Planning Board to explain the difference. On that portion, the mapped height allows roughly twice the density the plan recommends.
At the Western Avenue end, the gap is smaller than the headline numbers suggest. The Village Board supports the draft's height and density for the southwest quadrant of 2 Wisconsin Circle. CCLC asks for 300 feet there instead of 250. The parties disagree most at the Saks end, where the parcel is closest to the homes.
When each piece is decided
The October 29 session will not settle any of this. On Montgomery Planning's schedule, the Board's review continues in this order:
- October 29, Work Session 4: Chapter 4, Site-Specific Recommendations.
- November 5, Work Session 5: Chapter 5, Implementation, plus further revisions to Chapters 1 through 3.
- November 19, Work Session 6: review of revisions to Chapters 4 and 5, then approval of the revised plan as the Planning Board Draft.
- Late 2026 or early 2027: the Planning Board Draft goes to the County Executive and County Council.
- 2027: the County Council starts its own public hearing process and takes final action.
The schedule may be extended at the Board's discretion. The Village's October 9 update says the Village Board may revise its recommendations after the revised draft comes out. It says consultants are preparing compatibility studies for residents to review before the Council hearings. It also notes that some Village residents testified against the Board's recommendations. Because the Village's position may still change and the Council has the final vote, anyone pricing a house on Belmont Avenue or Oliver Street is pricing a range of possible outcomes, not a final envelope.
Questions buyers ask about the plan
Does the sector plan change the zoning of the Village homes themselves? The proposals in this post apply to the Wisconsin Avenue East parcels. The draft uses the homes in Chevy Chase Village as the edge that the new buildings must step down toward.
Where can I watch the decisions? Every work session is livestreamed and recorded on the Planning Board's website, and Montgomery Planning's plan page links to each session.
Is the testimony still open? The Planning Board's record closed on September 17. The County Council's hearings, expected in 2027, are the next formal chance to comment.
This post is general information about a pending plan, not legal or zoning advice. Before relying on how any version would apply to a specific property, confirm the details with a land use attorney or the planning staff.
If you are weighing a home near the Wisconsin Avenue East sites, or deciding when to list one, we follow each work session as it happens and can show you how the competing envelopes line up with a specific lot. Haleh Troy is glad to walk through it with you. Let's Connect.
