The following measures are intended to implement, in part, the housing policy of Montgomery County as that policy is amended from time to time, and to increase the number and proportion of affordable, including assisted-family, housing in the total housing supply of the County in order to provide a full range of housing choices, conveniently located throughout the County.
(a) The County Executive must:
(1) Review public land declared surplus to determine its suitability for affordable, including assisted-family, housing;
(2) Review and implement opportunities for use of publicly owned land by the County, acting alone or jointly with others, in central business districts, transit station development areas, and other locations which meet the standards established under this Chapter for affordable, including assisted-family, housing; determine where joint development including such housing is feasible; and develop programs to produce such housing where feasible;
(3) Encourage and assist production of affordable rental and sales housing, including market rate rental developments with a small percentage of assisted-family housing units;
(4) Use state and County funding sources to provide short- and long-term financing for site acquisition or construction of additional affordable, including assisted-family, housing;
(5) Revise or recommend revisions, under method (2), to regulations which add unnecessarily to the cost or delay of housing construction;
(6) Use available County resources and programs to encourage the retention, including the rehabilitation, of the county's stock of moderately and lower priced rental and owner-occupied units;
(7) Encourage the establishment of tenant cooperatives or other forms of tenant ownership where such action is likely to maintain a supply of affordable, including assisted-family, housing that otherwise would be lost;
(8) Provide through County programs for the maintenance and extension of needed community facilities, including all elements of the neighborhood infrastructure required to sustain a desirable living environment in low- and moderate-income communities;
(9) Develop incentives to encourage the private sector to provide affordable ownership and rental housing for the citizens of Montgomery County;
(10) Give due consideration to the contribution that the provision of a public facility would make toward the provision of additional affordable housing;
(11) Plan for the provision of public facilities and amenities adequate to serve the needs of communities which receive affordable housing;
(12) Develop a coordinated program to implement the standards in the housing policy for the production, occupancy and maintenance of assisted housing;
(13) Investigate creative financing plans available in the private sector and provide official encouragement for the use of those plans deemed most suitable for making housing more affordable in Montgomery County;
(14) Report on the distribution of affordable housing units throughout the County and the programs and activities that the County has engaged in to enhance the stock of affordable housing; and
(15) Explore the potential for private developers of employment centers and employers to play a more active role in producing affordable housing.
(b) Local area master plans or amendments to them should:
(1) provide all reasonable opportunity for the use or reuse of land in ways that can facilitate the development of affordable, including assisted-family, housing by planning for suitable densities, mixed uses and public facilities, and
(2) plan for sufficient developable land to permit development of mid-rise or garden apartments, attached units and smaller detached units, while striving to maintain the character of existing neighborhoods.
(c) Montgomery County and each relevant agency should use available resources to ensure that the County receives and uses the maximum possible amount of housing assistance funding from federal and state sources consistent with good governmental practices and financial management.
(d) The County must take steps each year to increase the supply of affordable housing in those areas where the proportion of affordable housing in the entire housing stock is below the County-wide average proportion of affordable housing. To help achieve that goal, the Council, the Executive, the Planning Board, and other appropriate agencies must give the policy of locating a fair share of affordable housing units in each area of the County high priority in all planning, zoning, and land use decisions. As each of these bodies reviews changes in the County's general, master, and sector plans, it must attempt to increase the number of suitable locations for affordable housing. (1982 L.M.C., ch. 45, § 1; 1984 L.M.C., ch. 24, § 28A; 1993 L.M.C., ch. 37, § 1.)
