Since 2008, the Montgomery County Council has been reviewing the zoning code.  The current zoning code hasn’t comprehensively been rewritten since the late 1970’s.  Of course, Montgomery County has changed a lot since the 70’s.

The Silver Theater in Silver Spring in 1953

picture from The Washington Post, via the Silver Spring Historical Society

The Silver Theater in 2010

photo from Biketripper on Flickr.

Many changes may be made regarding the zoning code which could affect the opportunity for affordable housing in the county. On August 29 I attended a meeting with several other non-profit housing agencies in Montgomery County to discuss the County’s housing Gaps and Goals.    Below are two of the perceived gaps in the housing policy that I feel most affect HFH-MC:

  • A greater push for affordable housing near transit nodes
    photo from greatergreaterwashington.org

     

  • A better utilization of County owned land to fill the affordable housing gap
picture from the Parents’ Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

If you would like to voice your support of preserving the existing affordable housing stock, increasing the number of affordable housing units, and have affordable housing be seriously considered when County-owned land is made available through re-zoning please contact the County Council members that sit on the Planning, Housing, and Economic Development (PHED) Committee.  With your help, we will hopefully be able to persuade the County Council to preserve the existing affordable housing stock and even increase the number of affordable housing units in the County.

Habitat for Humanity defines persons in need of affordable housing are those whose income is less than 60 percent of the area median income.  The median family income for 2013 has been calculated to $107,500.