Category: Affordable Housing

CSG in the News: D.C. wants more accessory dwelling units

Posted on by Cheryl Cort

From the Washington Business Journal:

D.C. wants more accessory dwelling units. But financing and permitting remain key roadblocks, advocates say.

By Alex Koma  – Staff Reporter, Washington Business Journal

Aug 6, 2019

The District changed its zoning laws three years ago to allow the construction of more accessory dwelling units in the city than ever before — but can homeowners actually secure the permits and financing they need to take advantage of that change?

In too many cases, housing developers and advocates say the answer is a clear “no.”

Accordingly, they’re turning to the public and private sectors alike for help in breaking down barriers across each one of those twin issue areas: finding financing for homeowners looking to build ADUs and helping them navigate the District’s permit process….

“Anyone trying to do this, they’re becoming an amateur developer going through the permitting process,” said Cheryl Cort, policy director at the Coalition for Smarter Growth. “How can we make it understandable so they know what to expect, and it’s predictable?”

See full Washington Business Journal story here.

RELEASE: CSG joins with United Planning Organization to Announce Launch of ADU DC, an Accessory Dwelling Unit Initiative in Washington, DC

Posted on by Cheryl Cort

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | Aug 6, 2019

United Planning Organization Announces Launch of ADU DC, an Accessory Dwelling Unit Initiative in Washington, DC

Initiative will catalyze affordable rental housing and increase financial stability for lower-income homeowners in Washington, DC

WASHINGTON, DC: Today, the United Planning Organization announced the launch of ADU DC, a pilot initiative to make accessory dwelling units (ADUs) more accessible to lower-income homeowners in Washington, DC. The initiative is presented by United Planning Organization in collaboration with Coalition for Smarter Growth and founding corporate supporter Citi Community Development.

An ADU is a secondary dwelling unit on a single family home lot, such as a basement or garage apartment or a free-standing structure. A 2016 change to DC’s zoning regulations allows for ADUs to be built as a matter of right in certain low-density residential neighborhoods. ADUs benefit homeowners by creating an income stream, while adding lower cost and affordable housing in existing neighborhoods.

ADU DC aims to help qualified homeowners build ADUs on their properties; give greater access to affordable and lower-priced housing in the District; and add housing stock by educating homeowners about ADU development, zoning, permitting, design, and financing.

 

“ADU DC has the potential to empower residents to create affordable housing in their own communities,” said Dana Jones, President and CEO, United Planning Organization. “Through this innovative approach, homeowners will be able to increase property values, age in place, build intergenerational wealth and grow new skill sets in development and property management.”

 

“In Washington, DC, approximately one in three Black residents is a homeowner. Yet, research shows that on average, Black households have lower home values and lower incomes than their White counterparts. As a result, Black households in DC have a net worth 81 times lesser than White households,” said Robert Burns, Senior Vice President, Citi Community Development. “Accessory dwelling units present a unique opportunity for homeowners to increase their incomes and begin to close the wealth gap. By supporting ADU DC we aim to help enable more homeowners to boost their financial resilience, while adding much-needed affordable housing for renters in the region.”

“In 2016, DC reformed its restrictions on accessory apartments, now we must ensure that homeowners, especially moderate and low income homeowners, can take full advantage of this new opportunity,” said Cheryl Cort, Coalition for Smarter Growth.

As part of the initiative, the Coalition for Smarter growth and UPO will produce “how to” guides, a report of barriers, a Homeowner’s ADU manual, a policy brief on financing for lower-income homeowners, and procedural recommendations for government.

ADU DC was announced at a multisector launch event featuring a panel of experts that highlighted current regulatory barriers, financing, and case studies from ADU initiatives nationwide.

“Mayor Bowser has set an ambitious goal for DC to create 36,000 more homes, 12,000 of which must be affordable,” said Polly Donaldson, Director, DC Department of Housing and Community Development. “In order to achieve this goal we must think differently, be bolder, and create new affordable housing tools; ADUs fit that bill and this initiative brings us one step closer to our goal.”

DC’s rapidly rising housing prices pose dire challenges to low income families. In the last decade, the city has lost half of its low-priced and affordable housing. DC’s lower-income households increasingly pay more than half of their incomes for housing, or are pushed out of the District’s housing market altogether. For older homeowners, rising values have been both a threat and an opportunity. Rising property taxes that follow increased values can be a threat to long-time homeowners on low and fixed incomes. But higher property values also mean greater wealth that can be used for retirement and shared with the next generation. This opportunity is especially important for African American homeowners who experience wide gaps in wealth with their White counterparts.

About United Planning Organization
United Planning Organization is a human and community development organization. As the Community Action Agency for Washington DC, UPO’s federally-mandated purpose is to help people lift themselves out of poverty. UPO surveys DC residents to learn the gaps in community needs and invents ways to bridge those gaps by uniting people with opportunities. A staff of 400 helps over 50,000 DC residents each year, with impacts in education, employment, health, housing counseling, and in strengthening families and communities.

About Citi
Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.

About Coalition for Smarter Growth 
The Coalition for Smarter Growth promotes walkable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities in the Washington DC region, and the land use and transportation policies and investments needed to make those communities flourish. CSG combines grassroots advocacy with policy expertise, media communications, and relationships with elected officials to advance smart growth. After many years of effort, CSG helped reform ADU zoning restrictions for DC in 2016, and since then has worked to bring down the barriers to building ADUs.

CONTACT: 
Lauren Kannry
lkannry@thorpesearl.com
202.491.1001

ADU DC Initiative Presentations

 

CSG in the News: What It Takes To Build Accessory Dwelling Units (And Why Some People Oppose Them)

Posted on by Cheryl Cort
Thursday, Jul 25 2019 • 12 p.m. (ET)The Kojo Nnamdi Show

What It Takes To Build Accessory Dwelling Units (And Why Some People Oppose Them)

Listen to the Kojo Nnamdi Show, WAMU 

On the Kojo Nnamdi show, CSG’s Jane Lyons joins the discussion on the the Montgomery County Council’s decision to reduce restrictions for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) despite some residents voicing opposition.

Guests

  • Rebecca Tan Local reporter, The Washington Post; @rebtanhs
  • Hilary Phillips-Rogers Executive member of the Greater Olney Civic Association
  • Jane Lyons Maryland Advocacy Manager, Coalition for Smarter Growth; @janeplyons
  • Ileana Schinder Washington, D.C. Architect; @IleanaSchinder

Listen to WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi show here.

CSG testimony in favor of Montgomery County housing legislation

Posted on by Emily Maurer

July 12, 2019

Montgomery County Council

Council Office Building

100 Maryland Ave

Rockville, MD 20850

Bill 18-19 — Landlord Tenant Relations — Relation Expenses (Support) and Bill 20-19 — Landlord Tenant Relations — Licensing of Rental Housing — Fee Exemption (Support)

Testimony for July 16, 2019

Jane Lyons, Maryland Advocacy Manager 

President Navarro and Councilmembers, thank you for the opportunity to speak today. I am here to urge your support for two bills, both of which advance the Coalition for Smarter Growth’s mission of creating more inclusive, livable communities. 

First, Bill 18-19 requires that if a tenant’s housing is condemned as unfit for human habitation, a landlord must make a relocation payment to the tenant and provide a tenant with right of first refusal. Given the current housing crisis, low-income tenants often have few choices but to locate in housing that is substandard but affordable. When that housing is condemned due to poor conditions for which the tenant is not responsible, the tenant must then face the expensive task of moving, possibly to a more expensive home. 

Further, the right of first refusal provision ensures that tenants have the option to return to their homes after repairs. To truly have mixed-income, inclusive communities, we must protect renters, especially those at the highest risk of displacement due to health and safety violations. This is common sense legislation that would make Montgomery County a more welcoming place for low-income renters. 

Next, Bill 20-19 is linked to a familiar issue: accessory dwelling units. CSG and partner organizations that care about providing a diverse and affordable supply of housing have highlighted the numerous benefits of ADUs. One of the greatest benefits is allowing individuals with disabilities to live closer to caretakers or relatives – whether that be parents, siblings, children, or extended family. Similarly, individuals with disabilities can also benefit from the lower rents often offered for ADUs. 

One of the biggest barriers to providing ADUs as a housing option for disabled individuals is the cost of licensing and constructing an ADU. Exempting the license fee for ADUs occupied by disabled individuals will help lower the overall cost of providing an ADU. In addition, we hope that the Council will pursue opportunities to assist homeowners, especially low-income homeowners, with ADU financing. Financing assistance can include partnering with banks, providing interest-free loans, and creating a financing guide. 

This is a population that stands to benefit the most from ADUs; therefore, I urge you to help incentivize ADUs as a housing solution for individuals with disabilities, while also enabling greater integration into neighborhoods and community life. 

Thank you for your time.

CSG support for Prince George’s Countywide Sectional Map Amendment

Posted on by Cheryl Cort
CSG Support of Prince George’s County Council advancing SMA

July 2, 2019
The Honorable Todd Turner, Chairman
Committee of the Whole
Prince George’s County Council
RE: Support for:
CB-011-2019, An Ordinance Concerning the Countywide Sectional Map Amendment;
CR-026-2019, A Resolution Concerning the Countywide Sectional Map Amendment;
CR-027-2019, A Resolution Concerning Preparation of a Countywide Sectional Map Amendment and Approval of Goals, Concepts, and Guidelines; and Public Participation Program
Dear Chair Turner and members of the committee:
Please accept these comments on behalf of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. The Coalition for Smarter Growth is the leading organization working locally in the Washington, DC metropolitan region dedicated to making the case for smart growth. Our mission is to promote walkable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities, and the land use and transportation policies and investments needed to make those communities flourish.
We wish to express our support for initiating the countywide sectional map amendment to advance the implementation of the zoning rewrite enacted by this Council in the fall of 2018. This zoning rewrite is a significant advance for the county. We appreciate that this is an important change for the county, and we commend the level of public engagement required to implement the countywide sectional map amendment.
This change is worth the effort because it replaces the county’s current obsolete and cumbersome zoning regulations which are holding back the county. Here are some of the ways the zoning and subdivision process will improve:
  • Design and building form standards: the document establishes transit-oriented zones at the local and regional scales to support the goals of walkable urbanism, creating walkable, and bikable areas that are well-connected to transit;
  • Parking standards for urban and transit-oriented areas: the zoning rewrite reduces excessive minimum parking requirements in transit-oriented centers in order to support more multimodal designs and uses.
  • Street designs: the revisions require interconnected streets, shorter blocks, and pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. It implements newly adopted urban street design standards that support walk and bike friendly streets.
  • Transportation demand management: the regulations also establish progressive traffic reduction measures that emphasize encouraging more people to ride transit if available, bicycle, share rides and walk.
  • Ease of use: The zoning and subdivision regulations are presented in a more readable format providing tables and graphic illustrations to better understand and visualize the standards.
  • Ending perpetual approvals: The proposed rules establish limits on approvals after a number of years. Today, approvals are allowed to live on forever, despite significant changes that may occur after initially projected conditions. While some of the provisions seem overly generous, setting the proposed limits would be a big step forward for the county.
Adopt this critical reform
We believe implementation of the zoning and subdivision rewrite is a tremendous improvement for the county and the community. It is a once in a generation opportunity. We urge the Council to vote to initiate the countywide sectional map amendment process in order to keep the zoning rewrite timeline on track. The countywide sectional map amendment is the next essential step to ensuring the timely implementation of the county’s modernized zoning and subdivision regulations.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Cheryl Cort
Policy Director
CSG Support of PGC advancing SMA

CSG in the News: Why local affordable housing orgs want to expand accessory apartments in Montgomery County

Posted on by Jane Lyons

Why local affordable housing orgs want to expand accessory apartments in Montgomery County

By John Paukstis, Jane Lyons, Greater Greater Washington

Like much of the United States, Montgomery County is facing a critical housing shortage. Finding healthy, affordable housing near jobs and transit is extremely difficult for many people at varying income levels.

Earlier this year, Councilmember Hans Riemer introduced Zoning Text Amendment 19-01, which is aimed at making it easier for county homeowners to build accessory apartments (also known as Accessory Dwelling Units or ADUs) on their properties. Accessory apartments are separate apartments either within, attached to, or detached from a main unit—think English basements, garage apartments, and small backyard cottages.

Accessory apartments allow homeowners to flexibly use their largest asset, their home, as their family’s needs change. Accessory apartments also provide important economic, social, and environmental benefits including:

  • Providing critical rental revenue to a senior living on fixed income and looking to age in place
  • Utilizing existing infrastructure to provide additional housing without increasing sprawl
  • Increasing housing opportunities around transit, near jobs, and in desirable communities
  • Providing opportunities for multigenerational living while maintaining independence for all parties
  • Habitat for Humanity could build accessory apartments for low- to moderate-income residents or for adults with disabilities

Importantly, accessory apartments provide opportunities for families who cannot afford to buy a home, to access housing in areas of the county which are generally inaccessible to them otherwise. Much of Montgomery County is zoned for single family, detached homes. With an average home value of $450,000, many potential homebuyers are priced out of the market and unable to save a down payment due to the high cost of rent and living.

Accessory apartments offer an opportunity to expand housing options in highly desired neighborhoods, helping make our communities more diverse, no matter socioeconomic status, race, or ethnic identity. While we cannot guarantee that accessory apartments will be rented at or below market, studies from areas with large numbers of accessory apartments show that many units are rented below market rate and are affordable to families with modest incomes.

Moreover, accessory apartment size restrictions will limit the amount of rent that can be charged. Either way, renting an accessory apartment is more accessible to families than buying a home in the same neighborhood.

We believe that ZTA 19-01, with amendments unanimously approved by the Planning, Housing, and Economic Development committee, balances the desire of homeowners to build accessory apartments with concerns from the community around short-term rentals, parking, and storm water management.

  • Short-term rentals, including Airbnb, are explicitly prohibited and homeowners are required to live in either the main unit or the accessory apartment. Both units cannot be rented at once.
  • The amendments recommend waiving the additional parking requirement within one mile of a metro station. That said, additional off street parking is still required outside of the one mile metro radius at the same level as is currently required.
  • Under the ZTA, detached accessory apartments continue to be treated as accessory structures and must comply with the same lot coverage ratios deemed acceptable, in terms of storm water management, for a garage or shed.

The expansion of accessory apartments will not solve the affordable housing crisis, but we believe it is a critical tool in providing increased housing opportunities in desirable neighborhoods. That’s why the Montgomery Housing Alliance Action in Montgomery, Coalition for Smarter Growth, Habitat for Humanity Metro Maryland, Housing Opportunities Commission, Interfaith Works, Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless, Montgomery Housing Partnership, Rebuilding Together, and Victory Housing all strongly encourage residents and councilmembers to support ZTA 19-01.

Join Habitat for Humanity and the Coalition for Smarter Growth to voice your support for accessory apartments in Montgomery County!

—

You can read the full Greater Greater Washington post here.

Testimony supporting amendments to Subdivision Staging Policy

Posted on by Emily Maurer

June 7, 2019

Montgomery County Council

Council Office Building 100

Maryland Ave. Rockville, MD 20850

Resolution to Amend the 2016-2020 Subdivision Staging Policy (Support) 

Testimony for June 11, 2019 

Jane Lyons, Maryland Advocacy Manager

President Navarro and Councilmembers, thank you for the opportunity to speak today. I am here on behalf of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, the leading organization in the D.C. region advocating for walkable, inclusive, transit-oriented communities. We support current efforts to lessen the negative impacts of the Subdivision Staging Policy’s (SPP) housing moratorium and echo the need for affordable housing. However, we ultimately urge the Council to replace the moratorium with policies that better address the County’s school construction, housing, and economic development needs. 

The 2016 SSP projected that the county would grow by over 200,000 residents between then and 2045, with 14 percent of land absorbing 82 percent of new jobs, 76 percent of new households, and 73 percent of population growth. Preventing new housing, especially mixed-use, mixed-income, transit-oriented, and affordable housing in efficient locations close with good transit, stifles the county’s ability to meet the housing needs of current and future residents, as well as to grow the local economy and maintain the county’s fiscal health. We can have a county that has both good housing and good schools for all of our residents. 

Further, new medium to higher density development has not been a major contributor to student generation. Single-family homes countywide generate almost double the number of students that multi-family homes generate, and single-family home turnover is the primary factor driving school population increases. Finally, school impact taxes paid by new development provide more than the total cost for each projected generated student. Medium to higher density development also provides significant property tax revenue. It does not make sense to punish new development that the county needs for impacts it does not cause. 

For these reasons, we ask the Council go further to address the harm that the moratorium brings. Today’s resolution is an important first step to mitigating the harmful impact of the moratorium on affordable housing supply. However, the stringent requirements of the resolution are likely to help just one current housing proposal, the transit-oriented 850 Sligo Apartments in Silver Spring. Other important transit-oriented new housing developments, like Strathmore Square, are left in moratorium for at least another year, limiting the number of units that are being approved at this time. We’ve also heard that the uncertainty and potential limitation on buildout caused by the moratorium can put the private financing of projects like Strathmore Square at risk. 

There are many alternatives to the moratorium for the Council to consider, including: 

• Reinstating school facility payments in overcrowded clusters, while maintaining the current school impact tax. This would allow development to continue, but impose a slightly higher cost to do so. As clusters and individual schools became more overcrowded, the county could require a corresponding increase in school facility payments. 

• Aligning the timelines of the CIP and annual school test. While the Capital Improvements Program (CIP) includes projects six years into the future, the annual school test in the SSP only looks at the next five years. This means that even if there is a project in the sixth year of the CIP that would remedy overcrowding, that school or individual cluster could still go into moratorium. To address this, the annual school test should consider projections six years into the future. 

• Taxing teardowns more substantially. Teardowns do not currently pay impact fees, even though they are new construction and new families moving in can be expected to generate new students. This might also reduce the “mansionization” of our communities, which turns formerly modestly- sized homes into much larger homes, housing a similar household size. 

• Exempting Metro Station Policy Areas from the annual school test. Building more homes, especially affordable homes, near transit is necessary for a sustainable future. We cannot afford to miss out on opportunities to grow in a more walkable way. Businesses and residents are looking to locate in more transit-oriented communities. 

• Redistricting school boundaries. Although education policy is not our specialty, we encourage those who are experts to make more substantive recommendations on this topic. Redistricting has the potential to relieve overcrowding, as well as further goals of socioeconomic and racial integration. 

• Reviewing school design standards. If schools are designed to occupy a smaller footprint by being three stories instead of one, or integrated into mixed-use development, and if playing fields can be shared with recreational centers and parks, then it might be easier to find sites for new schools. 

• Pushing forward the 2020 SSP effective date to June 2020. The current timeline for the SSP update is November 2020, well after the next annual school test in July 2020. Changes should be made to the SSP by June 2020 to avoid another year of moratorium restricting the housing supply and economic development. 

These are our suggestions to consider, but we strongly urge the Planning Department to offer other alternatives to the housing moratorium policy. Montgomery County can have great schools, plentiful housing, and a strong economy, but we must have policies that support that future. We look forward to being a part of these conversations throughout the 2020 SSP process. For now, this resolution is a first step. 

Thank you for your time.