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Housing Policy Element of the General Plan

As the result of the Department’s recent and significant research and policy work in the areas of the moderately priced dwelling unit (MPDU) program, the workforce housing program, and senior housing, the 1993 General Plan Refinement’s housing element became dated and in need of improvement. The 2009 Housing Element envisions a future that allows more residents and members of our workforce to choose to live here for as long as they want.

The plan will focus on connectivity, design, diversity, and the environment. The plan will link housing to community more clearly than has been done in the past, guiding communities toward for a continuum of residency, and identifying design changes, legislative reform, and social supports necessary for success. Since July, staff has met several times to reorient the final product from one that was “held prisoner by the General Plan,” as former Chairman Hanson so aptly described it, to one that was more muscular, directive, and measurable. When completed, the 2009 Housing Element will provide more concise guidance for development review, master planning, and public investment than was previously possible.

Housing Element of the General Plan

Housing Functional Master Plan DraftView the Planning Board draft of the Housing Element of the General Plan (5 MB)

Appendix

For more detail about our recommendations, view the appendix of the Housing Functional Master Plan.

Latest Developments

The Research & Technology Center of the Montgomery County Planning Department has created a new web page to track foreclosure events in the County. The page includes links to digital maps plus key information about the foreclosure process—including recent changes in State law intended to give homeowners more time to cure a default.

The web page is part of a broader initiative of the Research & Technology Center to serve as Montgomery County’s central resource for foreclosure-related data. Combining quarterly foreclosure data that it obtains from the Maryland Department of Housing & Community Development (DHCD) with its own property-level data, the Research & Technology Center creates detailed data sets and digital maps to track foreclosures in Montgomery County. This data is provided to staff at the Department of Housing & Community Affairs (DHCA), the Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC) and other Montgomery County Government agencies.

On April 17, 2008, the Planning Department staff presented to the Planning Board a memointended to spark conversation about the relationship between master plans in the County and housing. In it, staff provided observations and recommendations related to housing in master plans as well as a review of the housing components and strategies in all master plans that have been approved and adopted since 1993.

Staff Reports & Presentations

Date of last update: August 4, 2009