 Wednesday, August 14, 2024
Many of you have reached out to me directly to share your questions, concerns, and feedback about the Planning Board's Attainable Housing Strategies recommendations. I appreciate all the emails and phone calls I received about this incredibly important topic, and am pleased to share that the Montgomery County Council, in collaboration with the Planning Department, will be hosting five in-person listening sessions about these recommendations. The dates are below.
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September 11th from 7-9PM: Silver Spring Recreation and Aquatic Center( 1315 Apple Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910)
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September 12th from 7-9PM: Wheaton Community Recreation Center( 11701 Georgia Avenue, Wheaton, MD 20902)
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September 17th from 7-9PM: White Oak Community Recreation Center (1700 April Lane, Silver Spring, MD 20904)
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September 23rd from 7-9PM: Germantown Community Recreation Center (18905 Kingsview Road, Germantown, MD 20874)
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September 25th from 7-9PM: Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center (4805 Edgemoor Lane, Bethesda, MD 20814)
There will be a sixth, virtual listening session on October 2nd from noon to 1:30PM for those who were unable to attend one of the in-person sessions. Login information will be provided before the event.
I encourage you all to attend at least one of these sessions so that you can speak directly with representatives from the Montgomery Planning, who are the experts about this initiative. RSVPs are not required to attend the sessions. If you are unable to attend, please feel free to continue to reach out to me with your feedback.
Since the release of the Attainable Housing Strategies Initiative, Montgomery Planning has been updating a document that answers some of the most asked questions about AHS. Located on the agency's website, the "What We're Hearing" page addresses frequently asked questions and provides clarifying information about the plan. Below is a brief summary of this page; this information is directly from Montgomery Planning's website. You can read the entire document online by clicking the button below.
Increased Demands on Infrastructure
Impacts on infrastructure such as schools, transportation, water, and sewer are likely to be minimal. Any impacts that do arise can be addressed through existing policies including those contained in the Growth and Infrastructure Policy.
Compatibility Concerns
The Planning Board’s recommendations would allow for the creation of duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes by-right only if they follow the contents of a Planning Board-approved pattern book, which when completed, will give guidance for structures with these new housing types that are consistent with the existing standards for single-family detached homes.
Actual Attainability
In every neighborhood, attainable units would be smaller and accordingly less expensive than new replacement single-family detached homes in the same neighborhood. A desired outcome of the AHS effort is that more people of varying income levels have the chance to buy or rent more types of homes in the county, thus making the county’s communities a better reflection of its great diversity.
Parking Concerns
The AHS report recommends reducing parking minimums to increase the feasibility of fitting duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes on small lots. However, it does not mandate that developers do so. The provision of parking will be driven by market demand.
ZTAs Circumvent the Master Plan and Sector Plan Process
Zoning Text Amendments (ZTAs) are often criticized as a “one-size-fits-all” and “blanket approach” to change zoning without going through the master plan and/or sector plan process. However, the AHS process is comprehensive – and builds upon years of work regarding Missing Middle housing, and now attainable housing.
Gentrification and Displacement
The recommendations in the AHS report will not force anyone to sell their house. Planning found that only about 10 percent of homes out of 20,000 sold were within a price range that would support redevelopment of any type. The portion that would potentially result in attainable housing typologies is even smaller.
Affordable Housing vs. Attainable Housing
Attainable housing should be affordable to households at a range of income levels and suitable for their needs. Implicit in the concept of attainable housing is the idea that a range of housing options (type, size, tenure, cost) exists in the local market. Affordable housing is either built under government regulation or a binding agreement that requires the unit to be affordable to households at or below specified income levels or is available at market prices that achieve the same result.
Stormwater Management
Stormwater management provisions exist for small lots (under 15,000 square feet) that address lot-to-lot drainage for residential lots for one-family and two-family properties. The current code is silent on protections for three- and four-unit multiplex buildings. Therefore, Planning staff recommends updating the code to require control of water runoff from small building sites including detached, duplex, and multiplex building types.
Street Trees and Tree Canopy
In the public right-of-way, major species tree standards require a 50-foot center placement to maximize soil volume. However, these rules can greatly reduce the number of trees along a street and decrease the likelihood that trees will create a continuous canopy. Efforts should be undertaken to explore ways to reduce tree spacing in the right-of-way and to reduce the open area requirements on private lots to lessen the canopy loss resulting from all new development, including attainable housing.
Buffer Distances
The Planning Board recommended a one-mile straight-line buffer to be consistent with existing county law reducing parking requirements for Accessory Dwelling Units. Similarly, using a pedestrian network buffer would require frequent updates to the Priority Housing District, as the pedestrian network changes often.
Property Assessment
In a letter to the Planning Department, Maryland’s State Department of Assessment and Taxation writes: “If a property were to be redeveloped to create a multi-family unit on the parcel, the immediate change would only directly impact that particular parcel. However, if properties are acquired at lower or higher purchase prices over time and the comparable sales warrant a decrease or increase in the assessed value of those similar properties upon the next reassessment cycle, it may indirectly impact the assessments for similar properties in that market rate area.”
Role of HOAs
Many HOAs have restrictions against renting property or having more than one unit on a property. These covenants are private binding documents. Just as with other private contracts, the courts enforce the contracts when asked to do so by one of the parties involved. The county does not enforce private covenants. While HOAs cannot override zoning, they can generally have more restrictive conditions subject to constitutional limitations.
Locally Designated Historic Sites and Districts
The Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) would review proposals for construction, additions, and modifications, grading, and tree removal, using existing adopted design guidelines for the properties within the districts. A review of the proposed construction is conducted in public at HPC meetings and affords Local Advisory Panels and the general public the opportunity to participate in consideration of the new construction/development in the historic districts. The HPC does not regulate properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Role of Municipalities
Municipalities with their own zoning authority (Brookeville, Poolesville, Laytonsville, Rockville, Barnesville, Gaithersburg, and Washington Grove) are not affected by any changes to county zoning.
The 75th annual Montgomery County Agricultural Fair is in full swing until August 17th! Celebrate the best days of summer and buy your tickets online before getting to the Montgomery County Fairgrounds to breeze through the line. I had a great time during my visit to the fair yesterday! Thanks to the City of Gaithersburg for letting us hop on your trolley!
Parking at the fair is limited, so make sure you plan ahead. Free shuttles are running from Montgomery College's Rockville campus and Lakeforest Mall, or you can take the Ride On bus to the fairground!
If you would like to get in touch with me regarding anything mentioned in this newsletter or any other concerns you may have, please email me at Councilmember.Balcombe@montgomerycountymd.gov or call my office at 240-777-7960.
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