Author: Jeff Griffith, PRA Newsletter Editor

On July 8, 2024, the Montgomery County Council’s Planning, Housing and Parks (PHP) Committee held its second Work Session on the Attainable Housing Strategies (AHS) report submitted by the County’s Planning Board on June 14^th.  (See background at the end of this article.) As in the first Work Session, the same three members of the Committee participated: Andrew Friedson, Committee Chair and President of the Council; Will Jawando, At Large Council Member; and Natali Fani-Gonźalez, District 6 Council Member. The PHP Committee has scheduled one more Work Session with the Planning Department on July 22^nd and expects to make final recommendations to the full Council in the fall.

The work session was led by members of the County Council staff, including its Legislative Attorney and three Legislative analysts.  They presented their assessment of certain sections of the PHP’s final report on AHS, either recommending that the Planning Board’s recommendations be accepted or changed.

Most of the presentation was made by the Staff Attorney Livhu Ndou with Senior Legislative Analyst Pamela Dunn answering questions of the PHP committee members and providing them with more details. At least five Planning Board and Department employees were there and were asked to provide clarification and information by Committee Members and Staff.

Major Report Sections Discussed –

• Small Scale attainable housing: duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes all could be approved for Parkwood, which is zoned R-60.
• Priority Housing District: designation, which allows quadplexes to be built within a mile of MARC and metro stations, an area which includes some portions of Parkwood. Committee members asked for a better description of this designation than what is in the current report and want to discuss it again. (Ed. note.  Perhaps this designation is considered one that can be easily challenged by residents.)
• “By Right” term was used often by staff as a means to allow a quicker approval process for AHS structures in areas currently zoned for single-family detached homes.  As I understand the term, it means that no special approval by the Planning Board or Planning Department would be required to build these structures in those areas. CM Friedson and other staff members emphasized that multiplexes would fit on current lot sizes, with the same set-back requirements for frontage and borders. Mr. Friedson said that multidwelling units will probably fit better on single family lots than some of the current “tear downs”.
• Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA): As part of the ZTA process, Staff wants to change definitions of townhouses and apartment buildings to clarify their distinctions from multiplexes.
• Additional Dwelling Units (ADUs): these were discussed in comparison with Attainable Housing multiplexes. One planning employee said he didn’t think ADUs would be needed after this new AHS is in place.
• Medium Scale Atttainable Housing: This would be allowed in R-60 areas under certain circumstances, such as in growth corridors. The Attainable Housing Optional Method (AHOM) would allow townhouses and small apartment buildings to be constructed in R-60 zones
  

Pattern Book

The County Council hasn’t received a draft of a Pattern Book and wants one ASAP.  Planning Department  employees said producing a final PB might take a year.

Planning Department employees described it as “one stop guide”, and a “checklist” to having multiplexes approved by the County.  I think it’s primarily intended for developers as it will include detailed descriptions of structures, licensing and permit procedures. Planning Department staff said it could also be used by homeowners who want to convert their houses to multiplexes.

Pattern Books are being used in other jurisdictions, including DC; Santa Fe, NM; and New Orleans. (Obviously, these more urban jurisdictions have less in common with Montgomery County).

Council Members’ questions and concerns

• CM Jawando reminded everyone that the current Attainable Housing Strategies Report proposes one way to make zoning changes, but there are other ways to accomplish that. (I’m not sure what he meant by that.)
• CM Jawando asked about large investment development companies getting into Attainable Housing development in Montgomery County for profit and without regard for the current community. CM Friedson and Planning Department employees said they didn’t think there was any indication of this happening. One of the Planning staff members said that she had done a little research on developments in Arlington and hadn’t seen any indication of that type of investment. Planning staff and Mr. Friedson think that small, local builders will do the Attainable Housing development in the county, but it’s not clear how they know this since the proposed major changes in zoning have not gone into effect.  (Ed. note: It would be informative to see what has happened in similar communities that have made these kind of changes.  Also some local and regional developers could be considered “big investors”. If developers who care more about profits than the quality of living for residents are allowed to build and own rental properties in R-60 communities, this could have negative impacts on those communities.)  
• CM Fani-Gonzalez said AHS is all about “opportunities for all people who want to live in Montgomery County”.
• Council members asked about outreach to communities, because they’ve been hearing from residents and community groups. The Planning Department is keeping an unofficial record of stakeholders’ correspondence and answering enquiries. Jason Sartori, Director of the Planning Department, said his department will improve this process and keep the Committee in “the loop”.  The Committee Members are going to have public outreach sessions in the fall.  

Background:  In March 2021, the Council requested that the Planning Department undertake an effort to consider zoning reforms to allow opportunities for more diverse housing types in the county, to provide opportunities for public input, and to send recommended zoning modifications to the Council.

Subsequently, the Planning Department initiated the Attainable Housing Strategies initiative (AHS) to review, study, and identify various housing policy options. In 2021, a draft report was produced representing the findings of the early analyses and recommendations of the previous Planning Board. Since 2021, Planning staff has undertaken a thorough review of the prior analyses and recommendations with the current Planning Board. The Board sent a revised report containing updated analyses and recommendations to the Council on June 14, 2024. The recommendations contained in the study are intended as a guide for drafting future legislation. They represent a starting point for discussion with the PHP Committee.

On June 24, 2024 the Montgomery County Council’s Planning, Housing, and Parks [PHP] Committee held its first Work Session on the Attainable Housing Strategies [AHS] report submitted to the Council by the Montgomery County Planning Board [PB].  These notes on the meeting were prepared by Clare Murphy, a member of the PRA AHS committee.

The session was directed by Committee Members (CM) Andrew Friedson, Committee Chair and Council President.  Other committee members attending included Will Jawando, At Large Council Member (attended session virtually); and Natali Fani-Gonźalez, who represents District 6. The PHP Committee has scheduled two more Work Sessions, one on July 8^th and one on July 22^nd, and expects to make final recommendations to the full Council in the fall.

The presentation was primarily a review of the Planning Department’s AHS Report to the Council (which was marked as final but referred to as “draft” in the session) but with discussion of a few other topics.  The Planning Board and Department had a large contingent of employees and officials participate in the presentation. The Planning Board Chair, Artie Harris, and the Director of the Planning Department, Jason Sartori, made brief introductions of the Report and AHS program. Both emphasized that people who want to live in Montgomery County should be able to afford to do that.

My major takeaways from the Work Session on the problems that need to be addressed are:

• Missing Middle Housing– I was confused about what types of housing would be approved for areas designated for attainable housing development. Several Planning people and Council Members emphasized that AHS is not just focused on middle income housing but now includes housing for all income levels. However, one Planning Department presenter stressed that the to-be-built duplexes and triplexes in areas like Kensington would be “market priced”.
• Storm Water Management (SWM) – As PRA President Kira Lueders has noted, the Planning Dept agreed that there are problems in targeted areas (such as Kensington) with the current SWM, and that those problems need to be resolved with different County agencies before allowing development projects to proceed.  
• Effects on infrastructure – CM Fani-Gonźalez said infrastructure is a concern that she gets a lot of questions about. A presenter from Planning said that infrastructure would be addressed as it is with all development projects.
• Role of Municipalities – CMs asked about allowing municipalities with some independent zoning authority to exclude themselves from AHS zoning changes. Planning Department presenters said that they were contacting State officials to try to get changes made to the legal status of municipalities in zoning matters.

Problems with Current Zoning in Growth Areas and Single-Family Communities:

• “Tear downs” don’t require any review or approval by the County.
• Replacements of single-family homes are getting bigger.
• Cash purchases are increasing, and less FHA type of loans are being used, indicating that there are increased house sales to developers who renovate and resell them.

Major Features of AHS:

• The Planning Department emphasized the number of outreach programs that have taken place to inform communities and citizens about AHS, such as social media campaigns, meetings with community groups and work sessions conducted by the Planning Department.
• A “Pattern Book” will be developed by Planning to define the new zoning regulations.
• AHS is more than housing. It’s an important equity issue.

Montgomery County  will be “visionary” in fair housing.