Numerous residents testified Tuesday on a proposed zoning change that would upzone properties along certain corridors in an effort from councilmembers to increase housing and homeownership options for workers.
The Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA), part of the “More Housing N.O.W.” package, would allow duplexes, triplexes, townhouses, and apartment buildings along corridors, with a 15% workforce housing requirement.
“By increasing the density with the Housing N.O.W. package, you are adding hundreds and hundreds more people to our neighborhoods and therefore, our roads, which are already crowded and busy,” said Michelle Penn, a Kemp Mill resident who strongly opposes the plan. She said, “I understand that there is an affordable housing problem, but this package is not the answer.”
Roman Nelson, a Four Corners resident in Silver Spring, has “deep concerns” about the ZTA. He said there has not been comprehensive infrastructure analysis presented to show that schools, roads, and stormwater systems can handle the increased density. He said Blair High School “is already overcrowded, and no data has been provided to show how additional students would be accommodated.”
Debbie Heller, a Town of Somerset councilmember, said the legislation will not meet the goal of creating housing that is affordable for the workforce of nurses, teachers, firefighters and others — “What this legislation will provide for is vastly more market-rate housing that will be a developer’s dream,” she said.
County Planning Board Chair Artie Harris testified in strong support of the package on behalf of the board — “While no single bill is a panacea, the beauty of this package is that it tackles the crisis from numerous perspectives.”
Samantha Damato, President of the Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors, and Jeffrey Dee, President/CEO of Habitat for Humanity Metro Maryland, also expressed support for the package.
County Councilmembers Andrew Friedson and Natali Fani-González are lead sponsors of the package, which was announced in January.
County Executive Marc Elrich has since said that the plan should be pulled — “This is an invitation to probably the most disorganized development that Montgomery County has ever seen,” he said during a media briefing last week.
In response, County Council President Kate Stewart, a co-sponsor of the package, said, “We need to move forward with solutions on how we are going to address our housing crisis.”
“There is not going to be one solution to this housing crisis,” Stewart said during a media briefing Monday. “It is decades in the making, and it is going to be a multi-solution effort. We need to move forward, and have serious conversations on how we can build more housing in our county — and in particular, how we build more housing for our teachers, our firefighters.”
Councilmembers Marilyn Balcombe, Dawn Luedtke, and Laurie-Anne Sayles, are also co-sponsors. When councilmembers announced the package, they were joined in support by advocates like a public school teacher and a firefighters union official.
Another public hearing on the same ZTA will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday. It will be livestreamed on the county council’s YouTube page @MoCoCouncilMD.
