President's Message
by Dan Wilhelm, MCCF President
As required by law, a separate group, "Vote YES on C for Better Government", has been formed to educate the public on November's ballot Question C. Question C will change the way our nine council members are elected. Today, five are elected by district and four are elected at-large or county-wide. Because of the outrageously high cost of running a county-wide campaign, the preponderance of money funding the successful at-large races now comes from developers and business interests rather than individual voters. The result is that the at-large councilmembers now pay much more attention to developers than to local citizens. I had one councilmember admit this to me. By changing to nine single member districts (such districts are the norm in most large, high population jurisdictions and our present set-up is the exception) each candidate for the County Council will have to reach a constituency of about 110,000 residents. With small districts, less money will have to be raised to run a successful campaign. Personal contact with voters and strong grassroots work by supporters will count for more. This should both encourage more good citizens to run for office and increase the likelihood that minorities and women will mount successful campaigns. Information about this new group, their activities, and why you should vote for Question C, is available at their web site www.VoteYesonC.org. Two very important public hearings, on MPDUs and on accessory apartments, were held in late September. It is not too late for you to write the council about them. Since the legislation on both issues has the potential to negatively affect almost all residents of the county, I urge you to write the council now.
There are nine pieces of legislation on MPDUs. MCCF supports two major changes being proposed to provide more affordable housing: (1) eliminate theability of developers to avoid building MPDUs (buy out) by paying a nominal fee and (2) extend the control period from 10 to 99 years, The first measure will result in additional MPDUs being built and the second will insure all that MPDUs remain available to whose with moderate income for a long period of time.
MCCF strongly opposes all the MPDU related zoning text amendments (ZTAs) and single subdivision regulation (SRA). ZTA 03-09 will expand the MPDU requirement to the one and two acre zones (RE-1 and RE-2) exacerbating sprawl. The County's General Plan stipulates that "affordable housing" should be close to public transportation. Public transportation in these areas is either not available at all or, if it is available, it runs for only a few hours a day.
The thrust of the other MPDU ZTAs and SRA is to waive master plan or zoning requirements in order to achieve the maximum number of MPDUs, which requires that the maximum building density must also be approved. Today, it is rare for a development to be built to the maximum building density for any number of reasons - including flood plains, streams, and compatibility with existing neighborhoods and adjacent properties. The ZTAs would depend upon the zone waiver requirements to satisfy master plan restrictions in terms of building height; providing green space, open space, or provision of amenities (e.g., play grounds, walkways, benches); or change the type of building. ZTA 04-14 is probably the most damaging since it would allow the developer to build all townhouses in the quarter- and half-acre zones (R-90 and R-200) rather than building primarily detached houses with a few townhouses for the MPDUs. The increased density will also add to school crowding, highway congestion, deteriorating air quality, and more water pollution.
ZTA 04-10 would allow accessory apartments by right rather than requiring the applicant to obtain a special exception. The owner would be required to obtain a permit from the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCA). In terms of protecting existing communities and from a citizen's point of view, this is like asking the fox to watch the hen house. The special exception process is the only effective way for citizens to have a voice in the approval process.
ZTA 04-10 would also allow an accessory apartment to be created as soon as a new owner moves into the house. This will effectively allow developers to build accessory apartments into new homes. But as such accessory apartment would not be counted as part of the density, in the extreme it could double the density, and result in more crowded schools, more congested roads, and further degradation of the environment. The developer would be able to sell each house for a higher price since each unit would effectively be a duplex. This negates the thrust to provide affordable housing. In addition, the same would apply to the reselling of older houses since new owners could create an accessory apartment immediately rather than needing to wait a year.
The MPDU ZTAs are sponsored by the "end gridlock" slate on the council: Mike Knapp and the four at-large councilmembers. If passed, this legislation will enrich the developers who own the land but produce few MPDUs. The General Plan for Development and our Master Plans will have been subverted. In the long run, the result will be higher overall building densities and a lasting negative impact upon the residents, the environment, and our quality of life.
More information about the MPDU and accessory apartment legislation is available on our web site: www.montgomerycivic.org.
I urge you to write the council on both the MPDU and accessory apartment legislation now. It is not too late to stop these potentially destructive measures. These proposals are a primary example of why you should "Vote Yes on C" and work to make sure that all members of your organizations, friends and neighbors do the same. Email would be a good way to do this. Let's create an email "chain letter" to get the word out.
This Page Last Edited: December 24, 2004 .