Affordable housing becomes priority

Issue has drawn much talk; now Montgomery county spurred to action

Leggett, who made affordable housing a key to his 2006 election campaign, will have to weigh the recommendations in the 74-page report from a 40-member task force he appointed against the nearly $300 million budget shortfall projected for fiscal 2009.

‘‘Money is tight,” said Barbara Goldberg-Goldman, a co-chairwoman of the task force and founder of the nonprofit Affordable Housing Conference. ‘‘There’s no question about it. But we cannot afford to do nothing.”

But Lacy I. Rice, of real estate development company Federal Capital Partners, said he does not believe the county’s effort is necessary.

‘‘The housing market correction has done more to reduce housing prices — down 10-25 percent — than any government program could ever hope to accomplish,” Rice said. ‘‘So there is no demonstrable need — other than symbolism — for county officials to implement reactionary legislation that attempts to shuffle housing costs from individuals to businesses, who then just shift it back on to individuals.”

Many of the proposals in the report could be done through regulatory and legislative changes and their impact on the budget would be negligible, Goldberg-Goldman said.

At a press conference last Friday, Leggett said he would review the report and return to the council with legislative recommendations from it.

The recommendations included a property tax break for first-time home buyers, a new impact fee for commercial developers to fund affordable housing projects, and allow accessory apartments attached to homes or garages to be approved without going through a special exemption process.

‘‘I have every confidence that our county executive and the council are not going to let this simply be a study that gathers dust on a shelf,” Goldberg-Goldman said.

Rick Nelson, director of the county Department of Housing and Community Affairs and co-chairman for the task force, said the trick now is putting the words into action.

‘‘We’ve come up with some good ideas to supply affordable housing,” he said. ‘‘But we need to find a way to make them a reality.”

Councilman George L. Leventhal (D-At large) of Takoma Park said he believes Leggett will make a serious effort to follow through even with the county’s tight budget.

But, Leventhal said, he expects there will be ‘‘enormous pushback” on many of the provisions from developers, residents and other council members.

‘‘I’m not signing my name to 100 percent of the proposals, but generally I’m very positive of the report,” Leventhal said. ‘‘Even if we enacted everything here there’d still be a challenge. The lack of affordable housing is a sign of our success because people want to live in Montgomery County.”

Bill Castelli, vice president of government affairs for the Maryland Association of Realtors, said the county has to be careful that in trying to make more affordable housing available, it does not inadvertently do the opposite by driving up impact fees and property tax rates.

‘‘For a lot of buyers, market will play a role in driving down prices,” Castelli said.

Other jurisdictions are seeing the increase in foreclosures as an opportunity to expand affordable housing programs.

Fairfax County is reviewing whether the county could buy foreclosed homes to make them available for an affordable housing program, said Tina Norvell, a spokeswoman for the Fairfax County Department of Housing and Community Development. The staff is still reviewing the proposal from the county’s Board of Supervisors.

The Montgomery County task force report lacked some specifics. It did not suggest an amount for the impact fee, for example. But Leggett said he will outline his plan in four or five pieces of legislation he will present to the County Council. The bills will be introduced in the next few months, said Mary Anderson, a county spokeswoman.

‘‘Our work force lives in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and the outskirts of Maryland,” said Council President Michael J. Knapp (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown, who agrees with Leggett’s proposal. ‘‘Now is the time to take action; all of our work force should live here.”

Of the 8,689 full-time workers employed by the county government, 43 percent live outside the county, said Donna Bigler, a county spokeswoman.

Of the county’s 69,000 apartments and condominiums — in buildings of 12 or more units — Anderson said the county estimates that only about 27,000 are labeled as affordable housing. The county defines affordable as a home available for a household making less than 50 percent of the median household income in the county — $98,000 — and dedicating 30 percent of its income toward housing.

Since 2003, 5,500 affordable units have been built or preserved countywide, collectively falling more than 6,000 units shy of the goals set forth in 2001.

Also tucked in the plan is a measure to allow accessory apartments — small apartments attached to homes or garages — to be approved without a special exception permit, as is currently granted by the county’s hearing examiner.

Jim Humphrey, planning and land use chairman for the Montgomery County Civic Federation, said while the federation supports some of the goals set forth by Leggett, this is not one.

‘‘This is just a dreadful idea,” he said.

Staff Writers Steve Monroe and Bradford Pearson contributed to this report.