Montgomery County hears community feedback on plan to diversify housing options

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — On Wednesday, the Montgomery County Council gathered on Zoom for one final listening session on ways to create more attainable housing. 

Traditionally, the county would tear down older homes and rebuild them for new homebuyers.

During the session, experts laid out just how much Montgomery County’s housing market has changed over the years due to this practice.

According to the County’s planning department, single family homes in the county have almost tripled in size since 1950, but that expansion came at a cost.

For example, new homes in Silver Spring have nearly doubled in value since 2000, becoming unattainable for the majority of Montgomery County.

Montgomery County Planning Director Jason Sartori says this trend has been seen across the county.

“Sometimes it varies, sometimes it’s a little larger, sometimes it’s not as big of a change, but we are seeing that every single neighborhood is becoming more and more difficult for 

Back in 2021, Montgomery County launched an initiative that suggests modifying zoning laws to allow a wider range of housing options for residents, which would bring duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes or flats to neighborhoods.

Residents weighed on the plan, which received mixed reactions.

“When I first gave feedback on this in 2021, I explained that I think the county should move urgently on this,” say Joe Gilseppe. “Every day old, relatively affordable housing is torn down and rebuilt as more single family housing, every day the County waits opportunities to build more housing are missed.”

“My house was built in 1908, and it still has the same infrastructure supporting it,” said R. McKay. “So when I sell and you put a quad in here, you’re gonna be hooking up to 80, 90 year old infrastructure? I don’t think so. You really need to address that.”

Currently, there isn’t any legislation about these new housing strategies for the County Council to look at. Right now, the goal is to review the community feedback before the Council takes any action.