Speakers ask Montgomery County Council to allow sewer-category exceptions to enable homebuilding and church reconstruction

A public hearing at the Montgomery County Council’s June 30 meeting drew testimony from a property owner and a church representative seeking changes to the county’s water and sewer category map.

“I purchased this property in March 2025 with the intention of building a single-family home for my personal residence,” said Yatin Xen, the property owner and applicant. Xen told the council a conventional septic system is not feasible on his parcel because of a high groundwater table and extensive utility easements that cut into the buildable area. He said Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) staff confirmed the public sewer system has capacity to serve the property but that the nearest connection point is unclear in the transcript (speaker said “a,300 700 ft away”). Xen asked the council to consider an exception to the staff recommendation to maintain the current sewer category so the lot would not remain unbuildable.

Elizabeth Rogers, an attorney with Lurley and Brewer, spoke for the Spencerville Seventh-day Adventist Church and said the church is seeking a change from the S6 to the S1 sewer category to connect to an existing sewer main. “The previous church system operated on a septic system,” Rogers said. She told the council that a sewer line was extended near the property in 2018 when a nearby gasoline station was constructed and that connecting to public sewer would provide environmental benefits compared with septic systems. Rogers said the church — founded about 85 years ago and long active at 16325 New Hampshire Avenue — needs the category change to facilitate reconstruction after a 2024 fire that destroyed the building.

Rogers argued the requested change is consistent with the county’s comprehensive water and sewer plan and with recommendations of the Cloverly master plan, which she said supports sewer service in RE1-zoned locations. She asked the council to approve the S6-to-S1 change to allow the church to reconnect to the adjoining sewer main and continue rebuilding efforts.

The hearing produced no formal vote; after both speakers finished the Clerk closed the public hearing and moved on to the next agenda item.

Next steps: the testimony will be part of the record for council consideration of amendments to the comprehensive water and sewer plan and any recommendation coming from staff or committee reports.