Do Something: The week of February 19, 2024

Weekly, Regional Policy Director Dan Reed and DC Policy Director Alex Baca will share with you an action you can take in the immediate future that has the potential, sometimes great and sometimes small, to increase the number of homes in our region, decrease the trips people take by car, make all of it safer, and not screw people over in the process. This week: get hyped for the new Comp Plan; Moore Housing and a silly bill in Maryland; and the ongoing saga of accessory apartments in Virginia.

If you have any questions, email dreed@ggwash.org about Maryland and Virginia Do Somethings, and abaca@ggwash.org about Washington, DC, Do Somethings—or, about whatever you want to talk about.

DC

The Office of Planning (OP)’s performance oversight hearing is this week and, while I don’t think you need to testify, I think it’s worth watching. It starts at 9:30 am on Thursday, February 22, and I’m looking forward to any additional details that OP might provide on its newly released “Outlook for the District’s Next Comprehensive Plan,” which it’s calling “DC 2050.” That’s right: We’re rewriting it! It should be done by the end of 2027. I, personally, am thrilled. —AB

Maryland

Tuesday was the House hearing for Governor Moore’s Moore Housing bills. I was expecting a production, which it was—it’s not every day the Governor testifies for one of his own bills, and the hearing room was so crowded I sat on the floor. What I didn’t expect was to hear so much support from elected officials for the Housing Expansion and Affordability Act, which would require them to allow larger, denser housing developments with more dedicated affordable homes and a streamlined approval process. Officials representing all of Maryland’s major cities and big counties spoke in favor, or with some amendments. A representative from the city of Havre de Grace, north of Baltimore, was one of the few opponents.

The other day, I watched electeds in Rockville–which controls its own planning and zoning, unlike other communities in Montgomery County–discuss what the city’s position on Moore Housing should be. They’ll likely support it: councilmembers including our five endorsees agreed on the need for more homes, but not about having fewer public hearings. Councilmember Kate Fulton would like the approval process to go faster, while Councilmember Izola Shaw said disadvantaged communities need time to give feedback. Mayor Monique Ashton pointed out that public input has made some projects better, but councilmember Marissa Valeri noted that the people who speak at public hearings don’t speak for everyone.

“It’s easy to get people out [to public hearings] when they oppose something. It’s really really hard to get people out when they support something,” Valeri said.

That’s the argument behind the Governor’s bills: the residents who show up to these meetings usually don’t reflect the whole community and use this process to block or delay things they dislike, leading to our current housing shortage. With that in mind, Maryland legislators are working on some other bills (that only apply to Montgomery County) that take away chances for a vocal minority to block things–and one that would give them much more power.

HB 424 (formerly MC 3-24) would overturn a 1950s law that requires extra hearings for public housing proposals, which residents have used for decades to block affordable housing near them. And HB 1300 (formerly MC 8-24) would overturn decades-old property covenants that block homes that zoning already allows, like apartments–another tool neighbors have used to fight development. We support both of these bills, and you can find more info and our testimony here.

Then there’s HB 1364, sponsored by Senator Ben Kramer, who you may remember from a now-dead bill that would have stripped the Planning Department’s ability to talk about sidewalks or bike lanes. Now he’s back with a bill that would force Montgomery County to resurrect the People’s Counsel, a lawyer whose job is to represent “the public interest” in planning matters. The bill’s loudest supporters are organizations like the Montgomery County Civic Federation and the people who don’t like cell phone towers, you know, the type of folks who already show up to public hearings a lot.

There hasn’t been a People’s Counsel since 2008 in part because as we discussed above, the public is pretty diverse, and has lots of different and sometimes contradictory interests. Last year, following some other unsuccessful bills, Kramer did help create a workgroup that made good recommendations for how to make Montgomery County’s planning process more accessible to the public. The People’s Counsel wasn’t one of them. We hope that, like Brokencyde, it remains stuck in 2008.

If you have a few minutes and live in Montgomery County:

• Find your delegates and email them to say you support HB 424 and HB 1300, but oppose HB 1364 and the People’s Counsel.

If you have a few minutes and live anywhere else in Maryland:

If you have a few more minutes and live in Maryland, show your support for Moore Housing:

Virginia

It’s go time: After the Virginia Senate revived a bill that would legalize accessory apartments across the state, the House–which attempted to push this to next year–gets to take it up again. Thursday morning, a House committee will again review that bill, HB 900, which we’re supporting alongside our friends in the Commonwealth Housing Coalition. Meanwhile, Democrats in the House are caucusing all day Wednesday, meaning they’ll be talking about this a lot.

If you have a few minutes today (Wednesday):

• Cheat sheet–three of those committee members represent Northern Virginia: Delegates Atoosa Reaser (Loudoun), Laura Jane Cohen (Fairfax), and Candi Mundon King (Prince William and Stafford).

Your support of GGWash enables us, Dan and Alex, to do our jobs. Our jobs are knowing how development and planning works in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. If it’s appropriate to take action to advance our goals, which we hope you share, we can let you know what will have the most impact, and how to do it well. You can make a financial contribution to GGWash here.