Howard County Council Housing / Community Development Subcommittee met June 26.
Here is the minutes provided by the Subcommittee:
The meeting began at 3:15 p.m.
In attendance: Anne Brinker, Paul Casey, Ana Cisneros, Kiim Flowers, Cindy Parr (by phone), and Coleen West. Also attending, Jeff Meyers, Council staff.
The minutes from June 4, 2016, were approved with minor changes. The amended minutes have been posted to the Task Force website1.
Kelly Cimino, Director of the county’s Department of Housing and Community Development, briefed the subcommittee on some of the key data and issues facing the County in terms of housing. Her handout has been posted to the Task Force website2. Although the exact number is not known, it is clear that there is a large gap – many thousands of units -- between workforce, low- and moderate-income housing supply and needs. And it is also clear that the gap is worsening. The Department has insufficient funding to address the gap. More study is needed to clarify the magnitude of the problem.
Peter Engel, Executive Director of the Howard County Housing Commission, also briefed the subcommittee. His handout, also posted to the Task Force website2, highlighted the demographic data
of those who in distress partly or wholly related to housing. He noted that the County does not provide any general County money for multifamily housing. The recent changes to APFO are likely to further constrain the supply of housing by slowing development and driving prices higher.
The County lacks a master plan for housing and lacks any goals relating to affordable or workforce housing or housing of special needs populations. This lack of plans, goals, and funding stands in stark contrast to, e.g., Montgomery or Arlington County.
The subcommittee will meet next:
• July 16 – discussion of recommendations and policies
• July 23 – continuation of July 16 discussion
The meeting ended at 5:18 p.m
https://cc.howardcountymd.gov/Portals/0/HCD_Minutes_6-26-18.pdf
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