As the Montgomery County Council prepares to hold a work session and probable vote on Tuesday, The Coalition for Smarter Growth is proud to voice our support for Zoning Text Amendment 25-02. By making it easier to build more duplexes, triplexes, and small apartments near transit and jobs, ZTA 25-02 is an important step toward more sustainable housing options in Montgomery County.
Category: Affordable Housing
Letter to Montgomery County Council regarding ZTA 25-02
This ZTA is a straightforward application of the principles identified in the county’s Thrive 2050 general plan. Our county needs more homes that are affordable to more people and located near transit, jobs, and amenities.
CSG in the News: ‘Missing middle’ housing plan in Montgomery County faces backlash
July 21, 2025 | Dana Munro | Washington Post
But that trend of people being priced out of Montgomery County is already happening, said Carrie Kisicki, a 26-year-old Silver Spring resident and Montgomery advocacy manager with the Coalition for Smarter Growth, who is in favor of the change.
More units, and especially units in larger complexes that will have the price restrictions under the zoning change, will help increase inventory and the variety of homes affordable to younger and middle-income residents, she said.
“The zoning status quo isn’t working, either for affordability or for the environment,” Kisicki said. “We need to be looking at both the subsidized affordable housing investments but also thinking more expansively about what affordability means when so many people in our communities are experiencing struggles with housing affordability that don’t always fall into the traditional categories we think about.”
Testimony: Support for Z.C. Case No. 13-14E, modification to Parcels 2 and 4 (Reservoir District formerly known as McMillan) (DC)
We wish to express our support for the proposed modifications to this PUD (13-14E) for the Reservoir District to allow for greater flexibility given changing conditions over the decade that this proposal has been waiting to move forward.
Event Materials: More Housing NOW Presentation to MoCo Young Democrats
View slides from CSG’s presentation to the Montgomery County Young Democrats on May 20, 2025.
Support new Chevy Chase library/community center with affordable housing
Support affordable housing along with a new library and community center in Chevy Chase DC
Check out the 8 new visions for the future of Chevy Chase DC civic core
CSG in the News: Elrich vows to push back on approved More Housing N.O.W. legislation
“Every new home helps, but the Council must also adopt the other tools in the package to meet our county’s great housing need. Most important is the approach reflected by [the ZTA] —making it much easier to build duplexes, triplexes, and small apartments near transit and jobs,” Carrie Kisicki, Montgomery advocacy manager for the Coalition for Smarter Growth, wrote in an email statement to Bethesda Today.
Written Recommendations: MoCo’s More Housing N.O.W. Package
Montgomery County has a strong record of supporting subsidized affordable housing, including making historic commitments to funding for affordable housing these past few years.
We have not been innovators in the same way in making sure our county has homes that are affordable to our middle class, young people, older adults looking to downsize, and others who do not qualify for affordable housing—yet are increasingly unable to find market-rate homes they can afford amongst our limited housing options.