Lack of affordable housing leaves workers unable to live in

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Mar 15, 2003 by Robyn Lamb

County Executive Douglas M. Duncan recently announced $16 million in new funding and a pile of initiatives to jumpstart affordable housing in Montgomery County -- a move to stop what some think is becoming a crisis.

"What we are seeing is that people can't afford to live here. If you can't live in the community, you're stuck with a long commute and the fear is that businesses won't be able to attract people," said Duncan.

In his budget recommendations for the fiscal year that starts July 1, Duncan said he would commit $16.1 million to affordable housing initiatives.

Last week, the county council passed a resolution calling for a dedicated fund to provide incentives for developers to build affordable housing. If the legislation passes, the county would place at least 2.5 percent of property tax revenue in the fund each year.

"We really face a crisis -- it's no longer just a question of providing houses for the working poor, it's also a question of providing houses for the working middle class. We don't want to become a community of lawyers and stockbrokers, but a place for people of all income levels," said Montgomery County planning Board Chairman Derick Berlage.

But the county's wealth -- median household income last year was $91,500 -- puts a strain on low-to-medium-income renters and homebuyers.

"It's one of the most difficult, if not the most difficult place to find affordable housing in the state," said Ed McDonough, a spokesperson for the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development.

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a full- time worker in the county would have to earn $19.21 per hour in order to afford a two-bedroom apartment at fair market rent -- an annual salary of almost $40,000 per year.

Only 31 of the 16,030 homes sold last year cost less than $100,000. The average price for a home was $320, 418, according to Rockville-based Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc., which tracks home sales in the mid-Atlantic region.

The lack of affordable housing means many workers live elsewhere, enduring long and arduous commutes to work each day, something that eats into business productivity.

"You have to understand, the county is a net importer of labor," explained Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce Director Richard Parsons.

"Hagerstown is becoming a bedroom community to Montgomery County businesses," said Becky Sherblom, executive director of the Maryland Center for Community Development, a statewide nonprofit housing and community development organization.

It will only get worse from here.

A recent study by George Mason University's Center for Regional Analysis projects that demand for new housing created by jobs in the area will outpace supply by 218,000 homes in the next 25 years.

Based on that study, officials wrote an additional 1,000 affordable homes per year into the county housing policy.

One proposal -- a "green tape" program -- will expedite the land- use review process for affordable housing projects, shaving off anywhere from a few months to a year in some cases.

Eligible projects will include any application for residential or mixed-use development that designates at least 20 percent of the units for people with incomes at or below the level for moderately priced units.

"If you're a developer who is willing to help us address the problem, we'll literally slap a green tape on it and make sure it's at the top of everybody's mailbox," said Berlage.

The expedited process worked well about five years ago when the county targeted Silver Spring as a renewal area, Berlage added.

Montgomery County already requires developers of 35 units or more to set aside 12.5 percent as affordable housing, in exchange for an increase in density and additional units. It is a requirement that housing experts around the state say is both unique and effective.

The county also is drafting a proposal to increase densities at transportation and commercial centers to spur mass transit use and incorporating affordable housing objectives -- with numbers, sites and targets -- into each master plan.

Planners are in the midst of combing through the inventory of county-owned land to determine which sites could be sold off to interested developers at discounted prices. Driving the cost of housing is land, officials say. Donating it to projects geared toward affordable housing is a huge incentive.