Housing – Gary Bennett Publishing

Affordable Housing in Frederick County: What it is, What’s Coming, and Why it Matters – 1/8/26

By Gary Bennett and Mary Ellen Mitchell

This article is the featured January 2026 blog post for the Affordable Housing Council of Frederick, Maryland.

Affordable housing is a topic that touches nearly every corner of our community, yet it’s often misunderstood. Before looking ahead to what’s coming in Frederick County, it helps to clearly understand what affordable housing is—and what it is not—and why it plays such a critical role in our local economy and quality of life.

What Affordable Housing Is—and Isn’t

Affordable housing is frequently confused with public housing or housing reserved only for people with very low incomes. Those options represent just one small segment of the broader affordable housing landscape. Affordable housing serves people across a wide range of incomes, especially working households who are essential to keeping Frederick County vibrant and functional.

Housing is generally considered affordable when a household spends no more than 30 percent of its gross income on housing costs. When housing expenses exceed that threshold, families become “cost-burdened,” leaving less room in their budgets for food, transportation, healthcare, childcare, and savings.

One group most impacted by the housing shortage is often referred to as the “missing middle.” These are teachers, healthcare workers, restaurant staff, first responders, retail workers, and others whose incomes are too high to qualify for many assistance programs but too low to comfortably afford today’s housing prices. As home prices, rents, and interest rates rise, these workers are increasingly priced out of the communities where they work.

So why don’t we just build more modestly priced homes?

The answer is complicated. Land costs have risen dramatically, construction labor and materials are more expensive, and regulatory requirements continue to add to development costs. Zoning policies that favor single-family homes over townhomes, apartments, and smaller units further limit housing choices. Without some form of public-private partnership, it’s extremely difficult to for developers to produce homes at a reasonable profit that working households can realistically afford.

How Communities Increase Affordable Housing

There are two primary approaches to addressing housing shortages.

One approach relies entirely on the private market, assuming high prices will eventually cool demand and bring costs down. While this theory works in some sectors of the economy, housing markets can take years—or decades—to rebalance, leaving families struggling in the meantime.

The second approach uses a combination of policies, incentives, and partnerships to encourage the creation of more attainable housing more quickly. Frederick County and the City of Frederick have largely embraced this strategy.

Some of the most effective tools include:

Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit (MPDU) policies, which require a portion of homes in new developments to be offered at more attainable price points or allow developers to contribute fees that support affordable housing elsewhere.
Fee waivers, such as reduced or eliminated impact fees for developments that include affordable units.
Public land partnerships, where county- or city-owned land is used to lower development costs.
More efficient review processes, helping bring housing to market faster and with greater cost predictability.
Expanded housing types, including accessory dwelling units (ADUs), adaptive reuse of underutilized buildings, co-living options, and manufactured housing.

Together, these tools help create a broader range of housing choices that reflect the needs of today’s households.

Why Affordable Housing Strengthens Our Community

Access to stable, affordable housing benefits everyone—not just the households who live in it.

Research consistently shows that housing stability is one of the most powerful predictors of long-term success. A major multi-year study from Stanford University found that children who grow up in stable, affordable homes perform better academically and have improved economic outcomes as adults. Children who moved to lower-poverty neighborhoods experienced increased earnings later in life and were more likely to invest in their communities.

When affordable housing is scarce, the impacts ripple outward. Families are forced to live farther from work, increasing traffic and transportation costs. Employers struggle to attract and retain workers. Communities lose young adults who want to stay but can’t find housing they can afford, and older residents have fewer options to downsize while remaining nearby.

In contrast, a healthy supply of affordable housing supports workforce stability, economic growth, environmental sustainability, and stronger neighborhoods.

What’s Available Today

While challenges remain, Frederick County and the City of Frederick have made meaningful progress in expanding affordable housing options for renters and homebuyers.

Within the City of Frederick, several communities offer income-restricted or moderately priced rental opportunities, including Foundry Square downtown, Catoctin View and Manor on Motter Avenue for seniors, Sharpe Square on Motter, Ox Fibre Apartments on East Church Street, and Crestwood Apartments on New Design Road. These communities help provide housing options near employment centers, schools, and services.

Outside the city, Railroad Square Apartments in Brunswick and Orchard Park at Ballenger Run offer other affordable rental options, contributing to housing choice along key transportation corridors and serving residents who want to remain connected to Frederick County while living in a smaller community.

Habitat for Humanity also plays a key role by creating affordable homeownership opportunities through condominiums and townhomes that use land trusts to help keep prices attainable over time.

In addition, many new townhome and apartment communities—while not income-restricted—like Gambrill Glen, Preserve at Tuscarora, and Upper East Apartments help relieve pressure on the overall housing market by increasing supply. When more housing is available at different price points, competition eases and affordability improves across the board.

Crestwood Manor on New Design Road in Frederick

How Affordable Rental Housing Is Financed: A Brief Look at LIHTC

One of the most important tools for creating affordable rental housing nationwide is the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC, pronounced “Li-tech”) program. Established by Congress in 1986, LIHTC allows private investors to receive federal tax credits in exchange for financing affordable rental homes. These credits reduce the cost of development, making it possible to offer rents that are lower than market rates while still covering operating expenses.

In Frederick County, LIHTC has helped support numerous affordable rental communities over the past several decades as we noted above. Through the work of the County’s Division of Housing, Frederick has successfully attracted these investments, resulting in hundreds of affordable homes for seniors, families, and individuals. This steady use of tax credits has been essential in maintaining a diverse housing stock as market rents continue to rise.

Still, innovative approaches to affordable housing have never been more critical given the reduction in federal assistance and the fact that the very competitive nature of LIHTC can result in no or fewer projects being funded in the County for any given year. Co-living (rental housing) projects can provide housing opportunities at a less per-unit construction cost than other types of projects, generally requiring less public construction subsidies. Rental subsidies, via vouchers, are eligible for such housing that can range in price from $500 per month to $1,200 per month. This affordable option should be considered in the County, especially if funds are available that were dedicated to other planned projects that did not receive tax credits.

Artist’s rendering of the under construction Terrace affordable homes in Frederick.

What’s Under Construction and What’s Ahead

Looking forward, Frederick County and the City of Frederick continue to plan for growth in ways that support housing diversity and smart land use. Most new residential communities are located near existing infrastructure, employment centers, or transit corridors.

According to the City of Frederick’s development pipeline, nearly 14,000 housing units are planned or underway over the coming years. These range from small infill developments to large mixed-use neighborhoods such as Bloomfields, Brickworks, Renn Quarter, and Worman’s Mill Court Apartments. While not all these homes will meet formal affordability definitions, they will significantly expand the housing supply and help ease the ongoing imbalance between demand and availability.

Additional city and county developments—including Frederick Health Village, Simmers property in Thurmont, Summers Farm, The Terrace, and Lucas Village—will add a mix of housing types that serve different household sizes, life stages, and budgets.

Notably, the County’s new Prospect Center campus at the Old State Farm building on Himes Avenue is slated to be mostly affordable units. 150 units are planned. Both the City and County are actively considering public land for affordable housing.

Finally, the County’s Housing Needs Assessment study, which is in its final stages, will provide concrete data on the current housing gap and projected housing demand for both the County and City, and help to set a strategic direction for affordable housing policy.

Where to Learn More and Take Next Steps

For anyone searching for affordable housing, reliable information is key. Start with local housing agencies and nonprofit organizations, and follow up directly with property management offices to learn about availability and application timelines.

Helpful resources include:

Housing Authority of the City of Frederick
City of Frederick Department of Housing and Human Services
Frederick County Division of Housing
Habitat for Humanity of Frederick County

Visiting individual community websites and joining interest or waiting lists early can also improve your chances of finding a suitable home.

A Shared Responsibility

Affordable housing is not a single solution or a one-time effort—it’s an ongoing commitment. When we invest in housing that meets the needs of working families, seniors, and future generations, we strengthen Frederick County as a whole. Thoughtful planning, strong partnerships, and informed community conversations will continue to shape a county where people can live, work, and thrive—together.

Federal Government Shutdown’s Effect on Housing

By Gary Bennett

This article appears as the featured December blog post on Frederick County Government’s Affordable Housing Council website.

The federal government shutdown recently and thankfully ended but could have long-lasting effects on the ability to provide affordable housing for those who need it most.

The reason is simple: an entity as large as the federal government cannot turn on a dime and cannot ramp up fast enough to reestablish the safety net programs that are so crucial to poor and working-class Americans.

Sadly, many of these crucial programs were under fire even before the shutdown began. The reduction or delay in government benefits will affect the decisions people have to make today about how they spend their available resources.

During the shutdown many young families burned through whatever savings they had trying to keep their head above water. Others maxed out credit cards to survive. The shutdown opened the door for financial overload for many. Many if not most, are now further from homeownership than they were prior to the shutdown.

Let’s look at some pocketbook facts.

According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average household’s monthly expenses were $6,440 ($77,280 over the entire year) in 2023. That’s up from $6,081 ($72,967 over the entire year) in 2022. The average annual income after taxes was $87,869 in 2023, up from $83,195 in 2022. Even under the best conditions, that leaves little room for error or an unexpected major expense.

Naturally, housing is the largest average expense for most Americans at $2,120 per month, making up 33% of typical spending. That is the absolute highest ratio Americans should spend for their housing to not be considered cost-burdened or “house poor.”

Housing costs are followed in order by transportation, food, personal insurance and healthcare. None of these costs can be looked at in a vacuum. All are interrelated. If, for example, your housing subsidy goes away, it would be extremely difficult to make up for that in other areas.

Food

On the food front, low-income families may have trouble buying food if safety-net programs stall.

The SNAP program, which some 42 million Americans rely on for food assistance, has been the subject of much uncertainty — and an escalating legal battle — in recent weeks. The Trump administration said last month that it would suspend SNAP funding in November due to the shutdown, prompting a wide outcry and a series of legal challenges.

At this point, beneficiaries in some states have gotten their full monthly allocations, while others have gotten partial payments or nothing at all. Reopening the government means restarting SNAP, but it’s not clear how quickly full payments will resume since that varies by state. And, many who rely on the program are worried that benefits could be cut again.

One lesson that both parties should take from the fight is this: You should not play politics with the food assistance program that 42 million people, including about 18,000 in Frederick County, depend on. In the future, SNAP benefits and other federal payments should be specifically exempt from cutoff during a shutdown. Congress should direct the government to continue paying these vital benefits.

Housing

On the housing front, the government shutdown created significant disruptions and delays for various housing services, like loan processing, rental assistance payments, and federal insurance programs.

For home buyers and sellers, significant delays are expected for government-backed loans from the FHA, VA and USDA. That means big delays for families waiting on mortgages and for developers and homeowners seeking refinancing or rehabilitation funding. First-time buyers that rely on federally backed loans would likely be hit hardest.

Lenders rely on the IRS for income and tax verification. The shutdown caused major backlogs in this process, delaying loan approvals for conventional loans and those backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that can’t be reversed quickly.

For renters and homeowners who get federal assistance through programs like the Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers and Project-Based Rental Assistance, the prolonged shutdown will almost certainly mean funding gaps when reserves are depleted, creating financial uncertainty for public housing agencies and participating landlords.

Public housing agencies may need to rely on limited operating reserves for daily operations and emergency repairs, potentially forcing them to limit services or delay critical capital improvement projects.

Homeless assistance grants recipients will almost certainly experience delays due to needing HUD staff approval that will be heavily backlogged thereby disrupting the continuity of services.

For federal workers, the State of Maryland has taken steps to protect against evictions and foreclosures. This means an involuntarily furloughed federal government employee at risk of eviction or foreclosure can ask the court to temporarily pause the eviction or foreclosure during the shutdown. Federal employees are protected even if they are required to work during a shutdown.

For everyone else, it has been reported that HUD has restored Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) funding for both November and December. But nothing is guaranteed for January because of the shutdown.

State Resources

The State of Maryland is doing its best to step in during the shutdown and during the time it takes federal programs to ramp up after the shutdown.

If any homeowners get behind on mortgages, they shouldconnect with a HUD-approved housing counseling agency for free and objective guidance on available options. If foreclosure action has been filed, they should act quickly and consider reaching out to a nonprofit legal services provider.

If evicted from a rental home, reach out to the Access to Counsel in Evictions Program for coordinated legal services. Maryland has recently passed several tenant protection laws.

Local Resources

Local Continuums of Care offer emergency rental assistance, street outreach, shelter, and permanent housing assistance for individuals at risk of or experiencing homelessness. Contact your community’s coordinated entry hotline or intake point for access to local services.

The city of Frederick recently announced it will provide rental assistance, flexible payments, and other services to federal workers affected by the government shutdown. About 3,500 federal workers live in the city according to the city’s website.

Frederick County has recently approved $2.5 million in aid to organizations helping county residents dealing with the impacts of the federal government shutdown. $1.5 million is allocated to provide grants to nonprofit organizations in the county and an additional $1 million for local food banks to help them meet demand. The county is home to about 12,000 federal workers.

Bernard W. Brown: 95 years of serving and going strong

By Gary Bennett

Bernard Brown stands in front of the building named after him on N. Market Street in downtown Frederick. Staff photo by Ric Dugan

This article appears in the October 15, 2025 issue of the Frederick News-Post’s Prime Time Magazine.

There are not too many living Fredericktonians with their names on a building, but Bernard W. Brown of Thomas Avenue is one of them. He is, without a doubt, the epitome of a life well lived. He has accomplished much in his 95 years and is determined to remain active and vital for as long as he can.

At the current United Way of Frederick County offices at 629 North Market Street, the Bernard W. Brown Community Center proudly bears his name. The Center stands as a testament to his lifelong work advocating for affordable housing in Frederick.

“I’m very proud of the Bernard Brown Building,” he said recently. “The Housing Authority named it after me after serving as chairman [for the Housing Authority] for more than 20 years. I go way back. I first got involved with my daughter at some programs there.”

His building is no longer a community center but serves as the United Way’s main conference room, featuring prominent floor to ceiling windows. Seeing it still thriving and providing support to residents makes Brown proud.

“I’m really pleased with the way things worked out. It gave the United Way a good, central place to operate and tied in the Housing Authority and their properties with it in a way that is good for both.”

AN ELK AT HEART

Throughout his career, Brown has worked tirelessly behind the scenes, not only leading the Housing Authority but with a number of boards and committees.

Remarkably, he also served as exalted ruler of the Mountain City Elks Lodge for more than 50 years. Oct. 15 of every year is now Bernard W. Brown Day at the Elks. He was even presented a key to the lodge, so he can come and go as he pleases.

“What can I say? I love the world of ‘Elkdom,’” Brown said of his time and service with the Elks. “My brother Adrian and I joined up together. He got sick and passed at a young age, but he told me that’s a good organization so stay there as long as you can. I’ve been a member for 58 years now. I stepped down five or six years ago as exalted ruler.”

As for his special day at the Elks, Brown is characteristically humble.

“My brother and I saw that a lot of help was needed. We wanted to do as much as we could and didn’t want our efforts to fall away, so I pledged to carry on after my brother died as a tribute to him. Before I knew it, decades had passed,” Brown said.

Now he looks forward to his special day every year because friends near and far call to congratulate him on his life and legacy, typically ones he’s not heard from in years.

It wasn’t always hard work with the Elks.

“We’d go to the convention in whatever city, and then we’d stay an additional week,” he recalled. “That gave us a chance to travel, and most of the time we drove. My wife wouldn’t fly or take the train. These were some of our most enjoyable times. We’ve been to Vegas, Detroit and lots of trips to Atlanta. My wife was also a teacher, so we had summers off and took advantage of that for our trips.”

ORIGINAL POWER COUPLE

Brown lost his wife Ruth in 2023. They had been married for 68 years. Ruth Brown worked as a local teacher and coach and founded the Bernetta R. Brown Dance Troupe, named for their late daughter.

Brown credits Ruth as the person who kept him grounded. Together, they were a power couple to be reckoned with.

They both joined the NAACP and delighted in helping others solve problems. They didn’t always succeed but generally felt they made things a little better.

“I miss her a lot. We had a good life together. We were both Christians, and I just remember all the special things she did for the community and family. She was the backbone of the family. If I came to her with something I wanted to do, she never turned me down. She always said, ‘Give me one good reason why you can’t do this?’ I could never come up with anything. I took care of her at the end. That left me with a very special feeling. It gave me the opportunity to show her how much I loved her.”

LABORING SONS

Along with his passion for the Elks and his work at the Housing Authority, Brown was instrumental in the restoration of Laboring Sons Memorial Grounds on Chapel Alley between Fifth and Sixth streets. It was a Black cemetery when it was donated to Frederick in 1941. The city then converted the site to a whites-only playground in 1948, but after the original purpose for the site was discovered in 1999, the playground was dismantled and the site was re-dedicated as the Laboring Sons Memorial Grounds in 2003.

“I looked into the history of the cemetery and found they closed it and built a park over it,” Brown recalled. “The park at that time was segregated. I got together with Bill Lee and a couple of friends and said we need to restore it so people can remember it. We went to Mayor [Jennifer] Daugherty, at the time and she allowed us to restore it. So we got it restored and added the monument. It turned out to be something nice for the community.”

LEARNING AND SERVING

Brown credits a surprising career change for sparking his love for learning and serving.

He’d worked for Frederick Construction Company for 22 years as the concrete supervisor when a friend told him the school system was changing the way they hire teachers in the construction field.

“I interviewed and because of my time in construction, they hired me as a teacher. But I had to pick up 18 credits right away during the summer at the University of Maryland to get my teaching degree. I got my degree and then got my first teaching assignment at Brunswick High School teaching the building trades. I retired after being at Brunswick High and New Market Middle schools. It all came about because research showed that students learned better from people that had actual hands-on experience in the trades.”

Brown credits community service for his longevity and constantly working his mind to remain mentally fit and agile and recommends getting involved in the community as much as possible.

“I got involved in a lot of community stuff early because of my wife. She was involved in a lot of things, so I started going with her. I started volunteering under Ron Young. He appointed me to the first block grant committee. After that, everything took off.”

In his many decades, he has seen and contributed to more change than most of us can imagine.

“Things are better now than they were. Now, we’ve sort of come to a halt nationally, but we’re still doing alright compared to the old times.”

Brown was no stranger to discrimination, segregation and redlining. With a twinkle but slight hint of sorrow in his eyes, he told the story of how he came to be in his current home on Thomas Avenue in Frederick.

“My first home was on South Street. We bought that one. After 10 or 12 years there, we built this house. My realtor was a real nice Christian man and he had us a place lined up on Route 40 — the Golden Mile — up on the left [in the Hillcrest neighborhood]. But, at that time there were terrible racial problems. People up there found out we were Black and started talking. The owners took it off the market. My realtor was mad and said, ‘I’m going to get you a nice home if that’s the last thing I do.’ He found this lot on Thomas Avenue and we jumped on it. I got a contractor to set up the shell and we did the rest ourselves — me, my father and two brothers. We were all builder types.”

THE FUTURE

At 95 years old, Bernard Brown’s lifelong dedication to service continues to inspire everyone around him, and he is optimistic about the direction of the city.

“I think we’ve had good people as mayors and on the boards,” he said. “I believe we should support our leaders, not condemn them unless they’re really doing something terrible. I talk with Mayor O’Connor some, and he spoke at my 95th birthday. And Ron Young, too. I’ve been friends with them all. When I’ve had a problem, I go to them and they’ve never backed off.”

His impact is lasting, and his example reminds us of the power of service and community.

Gary Bennett is a longtime Frederick resident who spends his time hiking, biking, volunteering and providing childcare for grandchildren. He serves as a board member of Advocates for Homeless Families and is on the Affordable Housing Council for Frederick County.

‘YIMBY’ analysis ignores reality

By Gary Bennett

The letter to the editor appears in the September 12, 2025, issue of the Frederick News-Post

The Sept. 5 column “Forget YIMBY. The housing shortage could disappear on its own.” is an example of a column from an outsider that really says nothing.

The word “could” in the title should be the tipoff. I “could” become a millionaire tomorrow. Sure, but not very likely.

The same can be said about the author’s opinion on a subject he apparently knows little about. He says the housing shortage will straighten itself out in five years due to demographic shifts and a surge in construction.

Five years sounds pretty good, but that is no solace to the 20- and 30-somethings who can’t find an affordable home for their growing families now.

Demographic shifts and a surge in construction also sound plausible, but I know from my time on the Affordable Housing Council of Frederick County that affordable housing simply cannot be built without incentives to do so.

The math just does not work because of the cost of land and other factors, including the price of materials, and, yes, zoning regulations.

I’m part of the demographic that would like to downsize, but downsize into what? Plus, we’re living longer than ever.

He goes on to say the housing issue is a local one and cannot be solved by national policies or national groups like YIMBY.

He is mostly right. Housing policy is a local issue, but national policies play a big part, especially federal tax credits and funding from HUD.

Frederick politicians say all the right things, especially at election time, but the problem is when push comes to shove in public meetings, the NIMBYS — the “Not In My Backyard” types — often win the day because they are organized and motivated, and they vote.

That is why national groups like YIMBY (“Yes In My Backyard”) have state and local chapters that work at the local level.

I’ve been in discussions with the national YIMBY group to start a Frederick chapter to hold politicians accountable and to push back at the NIMBYs. If you are interested in joining our cause for more affordable housing now, contact me at gabennett01@comcast.net.

Gary Bennett
Frederick

Editor’s note: Gary Bennett is a member of the Affordable Housing Council of Fredrick County, but is speaking on his own behalf.

Policy Priorities for 2025

Frederick County Affordable Housing Council

By Gary Bennett and Hugh Gordon

On March 10, Frederick County’s Affordable Housing Council (hereafter referred to as “the Council”) released its 2025 affordable housing policy priorities.

The Council advises Frederick city and county government officials on housing policy and advocates for safe, sanitary and affordable housing for all Frederick County lower- and middle-income households.

The policy priorities for 2025 do not take into consideration matters likely to be covered by Frederick County’s new housing needs assessment and strategic plan currently in the planning stages. The study is being conducted by TPMA Consultants and the county’s Division of Housing. Once the draft is presented for public comment, the Council will respond. Following final county approval of the study, the Council will incorporate recommendations from the study into its policy priorities for 2026.

The 2025 policy priorities outlined below are matters deemed important enough to go forward without waiting for completion of the housing needs assessment study.

Streamline Frederick County’s and the City of Frederick’s building permitting process.

At a September 2024 meeting hosted by the Council, non-profit and for-profit developers and builders indicated that the permitting process is overly cumbersome and costly. The Council has contacted city and county officials to establish a strategy and action plan to resolve permitting obstacles, working with the public sector and developer/builder stakeholders to address these matters with established timelines.

Encourage municipalities, the public and other stakeholders beyond the City of Frederick and Frederick County to develop relationships with the Council regarding housing policy best practices.

The Council will develop a strategy and action plan in the second quarter of 2025 to address specific municipalities at public forums. Independent of this effort, the Council will reach out to invite municipal officials, the public and stakeholders to monthly Council meetings.

Continue working with Frederick County and municipalities on implementation of area plans as part of the Livable Fredrick Master Plan.

As such, the Council will continue its active participation with the Housing Element Advisory Group and offer recommendations. It is also working with the county on attaining the goals set out in the 2023 county executive’s Housing and Quality of Life Transition Plan.

Appoint a Council member or consultant to act as liaison with county and city legislative officials with a goal to accomplish the recommendations of the forthcoming Frederick County Housing Needs Assessment and Strategic Plan.

Hugh Gordon, chair of the Council, commented that accomplishing these priorities demonstrate a proactive effort on the part of the Council to address one of the greatest needs existing in the Frederick community: “The need for affecting implementation and the potential for assisting seniors, school teachers, police officers, firefighters, restaurant workers, and other vulnerable residents of Frederick County to achieve their dream of living in a safe, sanitary and affordable home.”

Historically, the Council has been quite successful in developing housing priorities and encouraging elected officials to give them fair consideration.

Last year, the Council was instrumental in advocating to update the city’s Moderately Priced Development Units (MPDU) ordinance. The ordinance now encourages increased development of affordable housing in the city by requiring developers to pay $2 per square foot for every unit in the development if they opt out of building the required number of MPDUs.

The Council also pushed for updating the 2016 Frederick County Affordable Housing Needs Assessment study to better reflect current housing and economic realities and to develop a strategic plan to address the findings. This project is now in the early planning stages.

Finally, the Council has helped institute the implementation of the City of Frederick’s rental registration and inspection program and encouraged municipalities in the county to allow construction of accessory dwelling units (ADUs), many of which are doing that.

The Frederick County Affordable Housing Council meets the second Tuesday of each month at 2:30 pm at a location designated by the Council. Confirm meeting dates and location by checking https://www.frederickcountymd.gov/6371/Affordable-Housing-Council or by calling the Frederick County Division of Housing at 301-600-3518.

The issues are difficult but the stakes are high for all of us. The Frederick County Affordable Housing Council invites you to participate.

Meetings are open to the public and public participation is highly encouraged. Agendas can be obtained at the website noted above. Public comment is welcome at all meetings.

Gary Bennett is a retired association executive with no stake in the housing market except for being a concerned citizen. Hugh Gordon is the association executive for the Frederick County Association of Realtors and has decades of experience as a mortgage banker. They are long-time Frederick County residents and members of Frederick County’s Affordable Housing Council.

Regional Housing Infrastructure Gap Act

By Gary Bennett

This article appears in the March 2025 edition of the Woodsboro-Walkersville News-Journal, page 5.

Municipalities around Frederick County that deny housing projects because they will “change the neighborhood character” or because they simply “don’t want any more housing,” should be ready to prove in an objective, measurable way how new housing will adversely affect their community if Maryland House Bill HB053 (cross-filed with Senate Bill SB0430) passes the Maryland legislature and ends up on Governor Moore’s desk.

Known as the Regional Housing Infrastructure Gap Act (or Housing for Jobs Act), this proposed legislation will tie a region’s number of jobs to the housing needed to support those jobs. The legislation purposely aims to make it more difficult for jurisdictions to oppose reasonable housing projects.

The proposed legislation is similar to “Fair share” planning and zoning rules in New Jersey, Connecticut and other states that require each municipality or region to provide a proportional amount of affordable housing based on factors like population, jobs and land availability, essentially ensuring that the burden of providing low-income housing is distributed equitably across different areas, preventing concentration of affordable housing in only certain neighborhoods.

The housing gap in Frederick County was estimated to be 5,700 units in 2016, and we all know the gap has widened since then. It is especially dire for those at the bottom rungs of the economic ladder. To update our estimated gap, Frederick County is now in the early stages of a new housing study that will also lead to the county’s first housing strategic plan.

Even with people suffering with homelessness, overcrowding at others’ homes and doing without enough food, medicine and clothing to pay their exorbitant housing costs, some municipalities around Frederick County (excluding Frederick City) have made it abundantly clear that no residential growth or very slow residential growth are the only policies they will accept and support. We read about this time and again.

It shouldn’t be this way. Just like it takes a village to raise a child, it will take the entire county to solve our housing problem.

All municipalities in the county should share in the expected growth we cannot stop. There is not much we can do to quell demand to live in our county short of ripping up Carroll Creek, razing our delightful downtown and walling off our picturesque scenery and open spaces, which are already protected by the state and county and can’t be built upon.

Sure, we could shutter our windows and stop all housing projects in their tracks if we wished, but then we would become like other no-growth counties that eventually wither and then try to get back on track. This stance may work for people who live here now, but what about our children and aging parents who wish to stay. Where do they go?

The proposed legislation aims to peg needed housing to jobs. Specifically, the bill says that for every 1.5 jobs within our county, there should be one housing unit. Under our current jobs-to-housing ratio, the county would need to build 7,000 homes to reach that ratio, a number not far from our estimated 2016 gap of 5,700.

Pegging housing to jobs makes sense. People want to live close to where they work, and for a host of environmental, energy, family and community reasons, we should want that, too. Under the bill, planning and zoning boards and town councils must approve housing projects unless there’s a very good and objective reason not to.

Municipalities would be able to stop housing development projects only if:

It would have a specific adverse impact on the public health or safety to the residents who would live there, and there is no feasible way to mitigate it.
It is in an area with inadequate water or wastewater facilities to adequately serve the project, and there is no feasible way to mitigate it.
It is in an area zoned for heavy industrial use or on conservation property.
It is in a school attendance area that has verifiable current or projected full-time enrolment that exceeds 100% of the school’s estimated or state-rated capacity, and there is no feasible method to comply.

The bill authorizes the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development and Department of Planning to calculate regional housing infrastructure gaps, provide the apportionment of regional housing infrastructure gaps to all counties and incorporated municipalities and establish that certain local jurisdictions have an affirmative obligation to expeditiously approve housing development project applications.

The “affirmative obligation” clause is a big one and a paradigm shift in how business is done now.

Currently, municipalities are under no obligation to help solve our county’s housing problem and often do not even see it as their problem. They are perfectly happy for most of the development to happen in Frederick City. Under the bill, a local jurisdiction may not deny a housing development project unless it has a justification that “clearly outweighs the need for housing and is supported by clear and convincing evidence.”

Indeed, if a local jurisdiction denies a housing development project, the local jurisdiction must provide in writing the reason for denial, specifying how the denial complies with the law. The proponent of a housing development may bring an action in the appropriate circuit court to enforce it. If passed and signed by the governor this session, which is likely, the Act will take effect on January 1, 2026.

This potential shift in state housing policy is not surprising. We should remember that land use control is constitutionally guaranteed to states, not municipalities. States have often delegated this authority to municipalities, as they’ve done in Maryland. But it can be taken back when local decision makers misuse the privilege.

It’s too bad doing the right thing has to be mandated, but we suspect the state has had enough new housing developments stopped in their tracks for specious reasons to warrant action. The days of simply not wanting more housing to stop projects may become a thing of the past.

The bill is still in draft form and there’s a very long way to go. It is currently in the House of Delegates with a hearing scheduled for March 4 at 1:00 pm. Frederick County Delegate Ken Kerr is a co-sponsor.

A new way to finance affordable housing in Frederick County

By Gary Bennett and Hugh Gordon, members, Frederick County Affordable Housing Council.

Affordable Housing Crisis newspaper headline and related economic news, with coins

This article appears in the February 2025 issue of the Emmitsburg New-Journal, page 46.

In our last affordable housing column, we talked about all they ways developers scramble to fully fund affordable housing projects. This is important because a project is not feasible unless it covers 100% of its funding gap.

That is why Frederick County and the State of Maryland try to be aggressive when helping affordable housing developers. The county and state often step in with funding options such as:

Waivers or deferrals of impact of fees charged to buyers that meet income requirements for affordable housing purchases from a developer.
Loans from Frederick County’s Housing Initiative Fund’s (HIF) Deferred Loan Program. The purpose of this fund is to provide flexible loans to support affordable housing in Frederick County.
Maryland’s Department of Housing and Community Development’s (DHCD) nearly $24 million in federal funding to provide gap financing to affordable housing projects statewide in the form of HUD’s HOME Investment Partnerships American Rescue Plan Program (HOME-ARP).
County guidance in using “rental housing works,” a fund through DHCD providing $3.5 million in gap funding.
The use of some county owned-land for affordable housing projects combined with a federal loan for pre-development costs thereby reducing two key costs.

Other funding possibilities in various stages of discussion and could come online in the future include:

Implementing a Frederick County Rental Registration and Inspection Program to mimic the one Frederick city has in place and using the proceeds for rental assistance and affordable housing projects.
Waiving development fees for housing projects meeting certain income requirements.
Increasing the portion of the County Recordation Tax revenue going into the Housing Initiative Fund, which is then used to support affordable housing projects.

IDAs and TIFs

Even more creative help may be on the way soon.

The Affordable Housing Council wholeheartedly supports a push for enabling legislation to allow Frederick County to expand the use of funds under the State of Maryland’s Industrial Development Authorities (IDAs) to include affordable housing.

IDAs were created long ago to establish an entity that captures future tax growth for an area slated for development and reinvests it. It has been used mostly for industrial parks. It was never intended for affordable housing but could be used for that purpose in the future. Prince George’s County has this authority now.

If enacted, the County Council would create the tax capturing entity, adopt a project area plan and how the funds can be used in that area. The board of the new entity would then approve specific projects like affordable housing.

This would be an important new revenue source for affordable housing projects. It has the possibility to be the gap financing that allows new projects to happen faster.

IDAs are based on well-established tax increment financing (TIF) districts. TIFs have been used in the past as a mechanism to fund public infrastructure improvements in connection with private development projects.

In the affordable housing realm, TIFs could be used for infrastructure needs for site readiness such as water, gas, and sewerage. Items like these need to be ready and paid for before an affordable housing project kicks off. As we’ve said before, tax credits are fine but developers need money upfront.

How do TIFs provide financing?

Under the TIF process, special obligation debt would be issued by the county to provide funding for infrastructure improvements benefiting a certain district. The incremental future real property tax revenues are pledged to the repayment of the special obligation debt. There will be incremental real property taxes created because the assessed value of the TIF district properties increases as a result of the planned new infrastructure.

Because only a portion of the future incremental tax revenue is pledged to repay the debt service, the TIF structure allows the county to continue to receive the tax revenue today that existed prior to the new development and to also receive today the future tax benefit of the project to fund the project.

It is important to note that this is not a new tax on citizens. The plan takes the place of issuing bonds.

Currently in Frederick County, commercial entities are responsible for 22% of the tax base. Citizens pay the rest. We cannot bring in more commercial development unless we have more affordable housing.

The plans for future housing development in the South Frederick Corridor is a specific example where this could work well since developers know the county plans to add value by creating affordable housing there.

Frederick is not alone. Many Maryland counties have expressed interest in this type of affordable housing funding.

A bill has been drafted to allow TIF districts in Frederick County and other counties to be used for more than industrial development. It is before the legislature’s Ways and Means Committee right now. Delegate Fair and Senator Lewis-Young are supportive now. Maryland Secretary of Housing Day and Maryland’s Affordable Housing Coalition are also supportive of this.

Financing for affordable housing projects is intricate and arcane, but the more you know, the better you can help us advocate for creative financing that gets these critical projects off the ground. If we don’t, we’ll have few options for our children and parents to live in Frederick County, and economic development will suffer as a result.