MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — The Montgomery Planning Board unanimously passed an Attainable Housing Plan that would allow residential land in Montgomery County zoned for single-family homes to be used for duplex, triplex or fourplexes.
The plan heads to the County Council later this month.
"I want to be clear on something. This proposed zoning change is not a mandate for people to turn their properties in to duplexes or townhomes or small apartment buildings," said Planning Board Chair Artie Harris. "This simply allows property owners to have the option to build something else and give more people the chance to call Montgomery County home.”
The Montgomery County Planning Board, who proposed this plan, said the median price of a single-family home in county is now over $1 million.
“We have 1.1 million people in the county, and we're expected to grow by about 200,000 new people over the next 25 years and our housing production is not keeping pace," said Jason Sartori, the director of the Montgomery County Planning Department.
"The idea is to have more of a variety of housing in more places," said Amanda Farber, a Bethesda resident. She said she has mixed feelings about the plan.
"In general, yes, it’s good to build and have growth in places where it can be supported, but we do need to see that supported," said Farber, who has concerns about a one-size-fits-all plan across the entire county.
“The way this is going to play out economically in terms of land value, in terms of lot size, in terms of the amount of density you can fit on it, number of units is going to be really variable across the county," said Farber. "That’s something else that people have had questions about and whether that translates to attainability, affordability, homeownership, or whether it doesn’t.”
The plan concentrates on areas within a mile of public transportation and major thoroughfares like Wisconsin Avenue.
“By allowing a diversity of housing, you offer more people the opportunity to live in those neighborhoods and that in turn makes those neighborhoods even more valuable," said Sartori.
He and others will present this plan to the County Council's Parks, Housing and Planning Committee later this month. A vote by the Montgomery County Council on whether to implement this plan won't take place until the fall.