Montgomery County 'More Housing N.O.W.' proposal aims to rezone single-family homes, convert offices

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. - Dozens of people packed in Montgomery County council chambers Tuesday for the first public hearing on a new housing proposal - with strong reaction on both sides.

Big picture view:

The More Housing N.O.W. (New Options for Workers) is a package of bills introduced by Councilmembers Natali Fani-Gonzalez and Andrew Friedson on January 28.

The legislation has five parts - including rezoning single-family homes to allow for duplexes or triplexes in certain high-traffic corridors within the country; converting vacant office spaces to residential housing, giving property owners tax abatements as an incentive; and doubling the county's investment in the Housing Assistance Program from $4 million to $8 million.

Below are the five steps in the More Housing NOW plan: 

• Workforce housing Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA): To allow more residential options along corridors with a 15% workforce housing requirement
• Office-to-housing ZTA: To create an expedited approval process for turning high-vacancy commercial properties into housing
• Office-to-housing property tax abatement: To establish a 25-year property tax abatement for converting high-vacancy commercial properties into housing with affordability requirements
• Workforce housing opportunity fund: To create a new $4 million fund to incentivize workforce housing construction
• Budget investment: To double the Homeowner Assistance Program from $4 million to $8 million in the Fiscal Year 2026 Housing Initiative Fund

It is in response to the pushback that the planning board's Attainable Housing or 'missing middle' plan received late last year.

"I'm very confident because this speaks about all the arguments that were against the proposal from the planning department and we went through all of them," Fani-Gonzalez said. "Yes you're going to get some folks who are going to say 'No, no, no' no matter what, but the vast majority get this."

What they're saying:

The plan has the support of six councilmembers, along with the firefighters union. Fani-Gonzalez said she has also heard from nurses, teachers and police officers in favor.

However, some residents told Fox 5 they believe the plan is moving ahead too quickly and community members don't feel informed.

"They have to slow down, they have to stop. Not now, it's not now - they have to look at the data and at the bare minimum, make it easily accessible to the public," said Brit Simon-Tov, who lives in the Kemp Mill area. "Statistics, studies, surveys - they all need to be conducted."

"The proposed initiatives will not solve the housing problems in the county and could have significant negative consequences," testified one longtime Montgomery County resident.

By the numbers:

Data shows the median sales price of a home in Montgomery County was $618,000 by the end of 2024 and average sale price for a single family detached home was $1.02 million.

What's next:

Following Tuesday's two public hearings, there will be work sessions and a council vote isn't expected until the summer.

You can read the full proposal here: https://councilmemberfanigonzalez.com/newsletter/more-info-on-more-housing-now/