Thank you for that countdown. Future job is a clerk for us. Welcome everyone this morning to the Montgomery County Council. Today our first item on our agenda is a proclamation celebrating women's history month. I'm going to invite my other fellow women colleagues I am the president of the Montgomery County Council. Thank you for joining us today. I do have the distinct pleasure of being the first woman on the majority women council to be joined by my colleagues who will speak in a moment. On Zoom, we do have our colleagues, Councilmember Luki and Mink, because as we know as women, we do a lot in our lives. in our lives. And sometimes that means I'm not being able to be present for certain things, but they are present on Zoom and we are so glad they are with us. So I just wanna give a few remarks before turning over to my colleagues to one to say thank you to all the amazing women who are in this room. We have school board members. We have representatives from Congressmen, Congressmen, and Raskins office. We have so many department heads in our county government led by women. And I just think that is just so incredible. Thank you so much. We have, and we have, from Senator Van Hollen's office, good to see you. And we have representatives from the Chamber and our business community. We just enjoyed a wonderful breakfast from lemon slice, a business-owned woman, a woman own business in downtown Silver Spring. And we just want to thank everyone for coming. Because here in Montgomery County, we still celebrate days like today. We still celebrate Women's History Month. And we know there are so many challenges as there have been over the years. We know there's still a long way to go on pay equity, making sure women are represented at all levels of industry and government. And we also know that for all women we celebrate International Women's Day, but particularly for women of color and trans women, they're seeing even more difficulties now as we're seeing all the chaos, cruelty coming out of the White House. And so here in Montgomery County, we come together on days like today because we know that as women across different segments of our community, that the way we strive, we advance is coming together and supporting each other. And so days like today are really important to celebrate. To this year's theme is moving forward together, women educating and inspiring generations. And I'm going to ask Dr. Anne Cadebian from the University's Asshady Grove. And I think a number of her students are here to join us as I let my colleagues say a few words and then we'll hear from Dr. Kedemian. Let's start over here. Good morning, everyone. My name is Natalie Fanny. There you go. My name is Natalie Fanny Gonzalez and my council member. I'm just gonna say yesterday, the three of us, plus a couple guys, where at the, at the economic development committee for the county council, and we had a session that was very eye opening. We basically, we had one of the items that we had on the agenda was discussing the economic indicators from Montgomery County, and it was shocking to see the data. We are losing young professionals, especially women. And there are two top reasons of for that. One, the lack of affordable in high quality childcare. We need childcare to work, okay, as women. So that's one, and two, the high price of housing in the county. On that last point, we have a poll here today. Stay tuned. I feel like I have to say that. There you go. Next. Thank you. Hi, everyone. Marilyn Balcon. I am the council member for District 2. And I'm so glad to see everyone. When I walked into the breakfast this morning, it was just so wonderful to see so many highly intelligent, high, high, the energy in the room and the networking in the room. And as the council president said this morning, we all got here with help from our friends and help from the community. And I can look around the room and see so many women who have personally helped my journey and helped me become the person that I am today. So I thank you all so very, very much. And when we celebrate Women's History Month, there's so much that we have to be proud of in our history. But the one thing that we sometimes forget is no one in this room or in the world would be here without women. So I just want to congratulate everybody here for all the great, great work that you've done. So thank you. That's a mic drop moment. I'm Councilmember Lori and Sales and at large Councilmember and it's an honor to represent this county. As you've heard and as we've witnessed it was a bright light coming into the room this morning because I've been asking everyone, how's your year going, how's your year going, and what's happening, all the work that we've done over the years. I love this theme this year. Together to get through all of this chaos and havoc and ugliness is going to take us moving forward together. Especially having young ladies of the next generation. Because if the woman who didn't fight for us to ensure that, you know, we have the right to vote, reproductive health, the things that we have fought for are trailblazing women have fought for. We're now picking up the mantle, unfortunately. It's a repetition that we don't want to see. But I'm honored to work with these women and be able to ensure that we continue that work. so we don't have to have the same things happening to the next generation. And so happy women's history month. Thank you for what you're doing to inspire the next generation. And please check out our event on the 28th of March to join us at our Women's History Month breakfast. Come on, now we're going to ask Dr. Kadeemian to come up. I'll introduce you first. As I said, this theme this year is moving forward together, women educating and inspiring generations. And when we heard the theme was this year and thought, gee, who should we invite to receive the proclamation and speak, it was obvious. It took us literally seconds to think of you, Ann. Because of the work that you're doing here in Montgomery County is the executive director of the universities of Shady Grove, you really lead by example and inspiring others. And I'm just so glad that you're able to come today to bring some of the University of Shady Grove students and just thank you so much and we'll have you speak. Thank you. Good morning everyone. It's such a pleasure to be here. Before I start I want to take a minute to have each of the students introduce themselves and just say a little bit about themselves. Brianna, you want to go first? Good morning everyone. My name is Brianna Gavar I'm a business management student at the Smith School of Business graduating this May. It's privileged to be here today surrounded by such inspiring leaders. At the University of Shady Grove I serve as a student admin assistant in the office of Dr. Ancademyan where I assist in coordinating tasks for Q-Litership initiatives. In this role I've gained valuable experience in time management, problem solving, and supporting strategic decisions that contribute to the growth and success of our academic community. Alongside, and I am a co-coordinator for the National Academy of Public Administration, 2025, Social Equity and Leadership Conference. I've had the opportunity to collaborate with a team of dedicated individuals to start planning and conference that aims to highlight the importance of leadership, equity, and public service. This role has sharpened my ability to lead initiatives and manage projects with a focus on impact and community engagement. Additionally, I'm an oral communication fellow at the University of Maryland where I work closely with business students to help them enhance their public speaking and communication skills. In addition to my academic and leadership roles, I am also a substitute teacher from Montgomery County Public Schools. Thank you. In this profession, I have the opportunity to contribute to the educational development of students where I am privileged to contribute to the development of young minds and help them create and engaging and supporting learning environment. Finally, a leadership role that holds great personal significance to me is being the eldest of five younger siblings. This role has taught me the importance of responsibility, empathy, and guidance as I strive to be a possible role model for them. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Wow. It's hard to follow up. Hello. My name is Maryama Chom. I'm also a student at the University of Shady Grove. I study Information Science at the University of Maryland College Park. First, I would just like to say that I'm extremely grateful to be in a room with such a outstanding woman. It's truly an inspiration, and Montgomery County has provided me and my family so many opportunities. Whether that's been in public school, allowing me to be a dual enrollment student and graduate in my associate's degree in high school, or whether that be opening opportunities for my parents who immigrated here in the 90s with little but came out with so much. And so I would just like to say thank you for all of the initiatives that you guys push to create a better space for me and other women like me and other women of color and just everybody. So thank you so much for all the work that you guys do. And a little bit about myself. So yes, I also work in the Executive Director's Office alongside Anne. It's one of the greatest opportunities that I've ever had in my life to work with such an inspiring woman like Anne and build conversations around social equity and leadership and trying to facilitate conversations to bring students to the forefront of those problems has been one of the most enriching opportunities that I've had. I also work with a lot of the other women in the office. I work with Mary Lang and Rose Jackson Spears. I also work with Cheryl Green, the data team that has taught me so much and allowed me to give me a space to use my data skills that I'm learning in the great information science major to facilitate conversations on how can we build opportunities for students who graduate from USG from all of our beautiful institutions in Maryland and how we can create a pathway for them so that when they graduate they're able to get a job or have any opportunity they're willing to have. So it's a great opportunity. Thank you so much. I also work for, I also work with Anne on the Social Equity Leadership Conference. I love that conference. I love the idea of the conference. I love the conversations that it's bringing, especially in this time. I think it's really important to have a student voice. It's amazing working with Breonna because she's also incredible and smart. She brings a lot to the conversation as well. Another hat that I wear at USG is also being a communication fellow. I help the information science students, my fellow students, and I help them facilitate conversations within their groups for their classes, you know, providing them with some skills, as best as I can, to not only perform well in their assignments and for their professors, but gain skills that can actually help them outside of school when they're getting a job or doing interviews and just helping to facilitate and take what I've learned in these amazing spaces and give it all to the students that I also work with. So that has been another amazing opportunity that I've had at USG. And outside of USG, I also work heavily with my high school, Northwood high school. I was, yes. I work with Northwood High School. I work with my D school, Northwood High School. I work with Northwood High School. I work with my dual enrollment mentor and we help students a lot with a lot of our dual enrollment students who are kind of already getting that early start with education and making education affordable, which is something that has been a conversation in Montgomery County for a while. And I think that dual enrollment has been one of the best opportunities for students to make that kind of, to make education more accessible because that is one of the keys to success. And so I work with him and talking to the students and providing ways to like show that, oh, here's a traditional route. You can go to university, you have your associate degree grade, but what can you do with your associate's degree? What are the non-traditional paths, like trade school? Something that we can broaden students, horizons, and find places that they can go and be successful. So I enjoy Montgomery County, I love Montgomery County, I love the work that you guys are doing. It's an incredible opportunity to be here, I just want to say thank you so much. Hello everyone. My name is Lua Shahmalak. I'm an information science student at University of Shetty Grove. I graduated with an associate's degree from Montgomery College in data science and I'm also minoring in technology innovation leadership. So it's a wonderful day today and it's I'm so glad to be here. It's a pleasure to be here among all these wonderful women here today. And as I stand here as a Muslim wearing a hijab, I am reminded that leadership isn't just about authenticity, but it's also about authenticity and growth and identity. So talking about authenticity, there's nothing like the authenticity in the story a data scientist tells from just numbers and words. So in my internship at the FDA, I was working on a capstone project where I had to analyze the collaboration between the division of the FDA and whether collaboration was a factor or if it was significant in enhancing publications and the amount of publications that are published in their portal. So let me just say that was definitely an incredible story to tell there. Currently, I also work at USG as part of the Data Analytics team and I am involved in the Ready Initiative, which is a project in hands educational pathways and career readiness for students. And in this role, I work in data visualization, creating dashboards and survey work, data analysis for anything that the department requires. And also, I get to work with wonderful people in this department, many of whom are women who inspire me every day like Dr. Ann herself. And she has been a true role modeling inspiration throughout the entire process. Reflecting on women's history month, I also realized that as an information science student, I noticed that every single woman is a program manager in her family. If multitasking was an Olympics for it, women would definitely take home the gold. It's a role that requires multitasking, a whole lot of grace, and only women would be able to do it for sure. Thank you all for the opportunity to speak here today and I'm glad to be a part of such a steamed company and it's a privilege to be here today. Alright, well I don't know that I need to say anything else. These are remarkable young women who inspire me every day. You heard reference to the Social Equity Leadership Conference. We are hosting that at the Universities at Shady Grove this year. It's part of the National Academy of Public Administration's annual conference. And we would love to see you all there if you're interested in speaking or being part of it. Please let me know. We've got a great team, helping us put it together. So, well, I want to say it is an honor to be here with all of you at this suspicious occasion of Women's History Month. I love the theme, moving forward together, women educating and inspiring generations. Thank you so much, President Stewart, for inviting me and all of you for your leadership here in the county, all the women on the council, all the council members. I look at this room and I know so many of you and work with so many of you and love so many of you and enjoy our friendships and the work we do together. So let's keep collaborating and moving forward. I wanted to share a few thoughts about education, because I believe that we can do so much more in this county with education. And not only inspire and motivate young women and all students, but really do it at scale. I get a big way, right? So I just want to share a few thoughts with you and get your thinking about this. Shady Grove is a campus in the University System of Maryland. It's very unique. We have nine universities on one campus, right? And students follow a pathway in Montgomery County to get there. They go to Montgomery County Public Schools. They go to Montgomery College, our tremendous partners. Sometimes they come from Frederick Community College, sometimes from Howard or from Prince George's Community College. And they transfer into programs at Shady Grove, right? And it's all about access. It's about affordability. It's about an ROI of a job when you graduate as well. It's about students staying in the county as well. We want students to graduate. 85% of the students who graduate from programs at the universities that Shady Grove stay in the region. So yeah, we don't want to lose any of this talent here. We want all this talent to stay. But I think you know we work with educational partners in a really creative and imaginative way and I think there is the potential here to do some really creative things together. What makes our campus and indeed our county unique is the potential not only for educational opportunity but for educational transformation. A transformation that begins by centering the student experience in all that we do. So that we not only inspire young women to learn and grow, but we transform the opportunities for generations of young women to lead with their individual strengths, with their passions and interests, and to lead with their values. And you heard this unique set of strengths, interesting values here today. Surely we are all dedicated to student opportunity and success. Absolutely. Yet our long-standing methods and models tend to prioritize our institutions over students. You may all remember the concept of a shopping mall. With big parking lots, way-finding signs that list seemingly hundreds of stores with X's that say you are here. And for a pair of socks or a new blender, you will need to wander and roam through the gap, through Annie's pretzels, up and down escalators, and through Macy's, and whether you find what you came for or not, as you find your way to your car and maybe use your car alarm to find where you parked, right? You've had an institutional shopping experience, right? Or today, you can go online, you can find exactly what you want, and the purchase comes to your door. Now, education is a more complicated enterprise than shopping. I recognize that. But today, in higher education, we are making students go to the mall, right? We may give card for meals, a bus pass to travel back and forth, and a special discount for their shopping, but they must still navigate the institution. Why can't we simply build a more coherent, smoother pathway that supports the unique journey of each student, access to the resources they need, and the realization of their individual strengths, interest, and values through credentials, degrees, work experience, and careers as lifelong learners. So how do we build this transformational, educational experience? One of my favorite authors and speakers is a professor named Angus Fletcher. He's a professor of story sciences at Ohio State University. In his quest to help all of us access and utilize the creative potential of our minds, he focuses on the idea of exceptional information. This is not information that is the best or information that is most true, but rather information that is the exception to a rule. The information that takes perspective and reflection to notice and the information that is the exception to a rule, the information that takes perspective and reflection to notice, and the information that can be transformative if we build on our creativity to make the exception a reality. Each of these young women here today, indeed every woman in this room, everyone in this room, we are writing our story. A story built on exceptional information. Your unique intellectual physical and emotional strains. Building on our interests, pursuit of what motivates and drives us, to solve problems, to create vision, to bring resources to bear on the interests that inspire us, and to build on our values, the guiding principles that inform our daily lives, give clarity to difficult decisions, and shape the cultures that we all build among our friends, our family, organizations, and communities. It is, I believe, the full realization of an individual's strengths, interests, and values that makes an outstanding leader and inspires generations. Not a GPA, not the number of honors classes you have taken, not the speed with which you complete four years of college and not the four year campus that you attend. Leadership is found where individuals can build and live their story, their exceptional information. We need to support every student's journey and make that exceptional journey the rule. Our county needs every one of you to make this transformation possible. To be the employers, the policymakers, the teachers, the nonprofit leaders, who mentor, who provide experiential learning opportunities, who share insights on skills and talent needs, who provide scholarships, who network with the students. I crazy this morning, it was awesome to see the students meeting to many of you, and who hire outstanding students along the way, who stay in the county and thrive. Before I close, I want to thank the women who have made today and every day in our modern lives possible. The women who ran for county offices, right? For the first, second, and third time, the women who built libraries out of trailers for elementary schools like my mom in Olive of Michigan. The women who built their own businesses, the women who teach, who heal, who build, and discover, and support. To all of you here, thank you for showing up, for sharing, for connecting, and making the connections that will last far beyond today. Let's not only educate and inspire. Let's work together to transform educational opportunities in Montgomery County and Maryland so that every woman, every student has the resources to support the educational pathways and the confidence needed to succeed to be exceptional. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much Anne for those inspiring words. I think we all know what we need to do. So usually when we do proclamations, we invite you all up here. But I had a feeling that Anne and the students were going to have some remarkable words to speak for you. So that's why I had you all sitting in the audience so you could hear it. And now I'm going to ask, as I ask my colleagues to come down from the dias so we could read the proclamation. If if... That's why I had you all sitting in the audience so you could hear it. And now I'm going to ask, as I asked my colleagues to come down from the diast so we could read the proclamation. If everyone who is here for the proclamation wants to come up and stand up here as we read the proclamation and take some pictures. Great job. Alright, the order is a little. You gotta just hand it down, yeah. Yeah, just take this one. The bright stars. Since we did make sure you guys get some. We can get some more. Alright. There you go.'ll just pass it on yeah okay yeah Yeah. Yeah. Oh, okay. All right. This is the Montgomery County Council proclamation. Whereas women of every race, class, religion, and ethnic background have made extraordinary contributions to the growth and strength of Montgomery County, our nation and the world, and countless recorded and unrequited ways. And... Whereas women have fought for and worked tirelessly to secure their own independence and franchisement and equal opportunities and have spearheaded efforts to create a fairer and more equitable world for all. And... Where as after being petitioned by the National Women's History Project, Congress officially recognized March as Women's History Month in 1987 to celebrate the contributions women have made to the United States and their achievements throughout American history. Whereas, while women have made great strides towards equity and equality, we cannot rest until all women can assume their rightful place as full participants in a secure, prosperous and just society and. Whereas, archaic stereotypes about gender roles help perpetuate the gender pick up and in undervalued the work of women with women in the US. Earning about 71 cents on a dollar compared to their male counterparts, blue, at the same educational level. And women continue to be on the represented in the highest paying careers. And... Okay. Whereas, despite these challenges, the accomplishments of women have been critical to the growth and development of the economy, medical and scientific discoveries, cultural and artistic expression, social advancement, and so much more. And, whereas Montgomery County has a rich history filled with women trailblazers. Some examples include Rachel Carson, the mother of the modern environmental movement, Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, and Emily Edminson, an abolitionist whose attempt to escape enslavement helped end slavery in the United States. And whereas today the 20th Montgomery County Council includes six women council members who are that deserves a round of applause. Please note I'm the only one that got a round of applause in the proclamation who are each making history of their own and together comprise a majority of the legislative body and. as the theme for women's history month this year is moving forward together. Women educating and aspiring generations in recognition of the collective strength and influence of women across our diverse county. And whereas Montgomery County strives to be a welcoming community for all women. Thanks to strong support from our countless community leaders, government officials, nonprofit organization, and county agencies. And, whereas during women's history month, we commemorate the struggles celebrate centuries of progress and reaffirm our steadfast commitment to women's rights in Montgomery County, the United States, and worldwide. Now therefore, be it resolved that the County Council of Montgomery County, Maryland, recognizes March as Women's History Month. Thank you. Alright, now we get to the kitchen. Oh, thank you. I would like to take a picture. And here. Yeah. All right. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, thank you. Yeah. Coming in. you you you you you you All right, everyone, we're, we need to move on to our council meeting. Again thank you everyone for coming today. Yeah, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no I'm sorry. Thank you, everyone. So much for coming today. I just want to do a shout out to our communications and public information office for pulling everything together. Thank you so much for all your hard work. Now we're going to move on to general business. Madam Clerk, will you please share today's announcements? Good morning, thank you. The Council will hold public hearings on the proposed FY26 operating budgets and FY26 to 31 public services program and fiscal policy for the Montgomery County Government, Montgomery College, Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission, WSSC Water, and Montgomery County Public Schools on Monday, April 7, 2025 at 1.30 pm and 7 o'clock pm, and on Tuesday, April 8, 2025 at 1.30 pm and 7 o'clock pm. Those wishing to provide testimony in person or virtually must register in advance via the council's website. Written, audio and video testimony may be submitted via the council's website. Also, the Montgomery County Council is extending the deadline seeking applicants to serve on the planning board. Applicants must be county residents registered to vote in Montgomery County and may be associated with any political political party or unaffiliated with a political party. Applications for the vacancy are due by 5 o'clock PM on Monday, April 14th, 2025. Cover letters and resumes can be submitted by email to council.clurk at Montgomery County MD.gov. There are two changes to today's agenda. The first is consent item 2D, action on a resolution to approve an amendment to the FY 25 to 30 capital improvements program and supplemental appropriation, number 2520 to the FY 25 capital budget Montgomery County Government, Department of General Services, Silver Spring Recreation and Aquatic Center has been removed from the agenda and Consent item to J action on a resolution to confirm the county executives nominees to the community Reinvestment and repair fund commission have been shifted to agenda item 1.5 Finally attending today's council meeting our council members Mink and Lou Dki. They are attending today's meeting virtually Excuse me you. Thank you very much, Madam Clerk. There are no minutes for approval today, so we will move forward with our first agenda item. Thank you for waiting patiently. The council will sit as the district council to consider action on local map amendment H-154, regarding the property located at 11900 Park Lawn Drive Rockville, Maryland. Further identified as last six in the North Bethesda Industrial Center subdivision as recorded at plat number 9530. Miss Nidoo, I think I'm turning it over you. Good morning. So this is a local map amendment that will rezone a property in Rockville, Maryland. The council has three options here. You can either approve, disapprove or remand the application. The packet includes a resolution that was provided by the hearing examiner and reviewed by council staff that would be consistent with the hearing examiner's report, which is to recommend approval of this application. If a council member disagrees or wants to remand, you can make a motion to disapprove or remand that application. And if that passes, you'll take a straw vote today and come back next week for a new resolution. So the property is about two acres. It is currently a four-story office building with the parking lot. The proposal is to re-zone it from EOF to ILF and construct a three-story self-storage building. As noted, my hands, I'm going to recommend approval and I will now hand it off to Mr. Coney to go through the report. Thank you. Good morning, Council President, Council Vice President and all Council members. Thank you for having me this morning on Local Map Amendment Case number H154. As Miss Ndu explained, this is a request for rezoning. From the current zone of this property is EOF, which is the Employment Office Zone and the proposed rezoning would change it to the light industry of floating zone. The office of zoning and administrative hearing held a full day hearing on this matter. No one filed any opposition, nobody appeared in opposition of this application. The applicant, just, I know that I've provided the council with a very detailed report, but just by way of a summary of what this case is all about, the applicant is a contract purchaser, and the owner is PDC Lexington LLC. And as the council president explained, this is a rezoning. And I would like to just give you a little lay of the land just to give you a sense of where this is and what surrounds it. The subject property is bounded by the CSX train tracks to the west and southwest. So Miss, thank you so much for having this up on the screen. Hopefully you can make out what's around it. But the property itself is on Parkland Drive. It's bounded to the west and southwest by the CSX train tracks. Then you have Randolph Road up to the north. To the east, the neighborhood is bounded by several roads including Hunter's Lane, Rockinghorse Road, and the combination of all the Sky Hill Road, together these roads form a boundary between a more dense and more mixed-use area within what is called the Staff Delineineated neighborhood to the west. And you have predominantly single family neighborhoods to the east. East of Parklon drive within the neighborhood area are more mixed uses including garden apartment buildings directly across Parklon drive from the subject property, as well as the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School and the Rocking Horse Road Center. Along the south side of Randolph Road is the Lehman Plaza Commercial Center. What is proposed is the redevelopment of this, which is currently the EOF and if it changes to light industrial, the proposed project would be to redevelop the existing suburban office building on this property with a new self-storage facility. The project aims to activate and enhance the street frontage through a building design where most of the property along Parklon, there's actually this is probably a good place for me to jump just to highlight what the binding elements are. But the idea is that the property on Parklon will have a binding element which ensures that binding element number three, any building on the property must have a minimum of 70% of the front of the building facade located within 35 feet of the property boundary. So if you look at the layout right now, the property has a lot of, you have, you know, parking parking lot right on, you know, franting on Parkland Drive and the building itself is very set back, significantly set back from the street. So the idea is in line with the master plan is to bring this building within, to ensure some more interaction between the pedestrian population, pedestrian community and the building itself. There are three binding elements, as you're probably aware, binding elements are restrictive covenants that will run with the land. One of the restrictive binding element number one is that the use of the property will be limited to self storage. Binding element number two is that the vehicular access to the site will be limited to a single consolidated access point from Parkland Drive. And the last binding element, sorry, there are four. The third one is that any building on the property must have a minimum of 70% of the front of the building facade within 35 feet. So it should be set back no more than 35 feet. And binding element number four is that parking located between the building and the street is prohibited. And that also is in line with ensuring more interaction. It's to make it more pedestrian friendly and just have more interaction between the public and the building. The hearing examiner recommends approval of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, and the building. The hearing examiner recommends approval of the of the of the rezoning based on the totality of the evidence on the record. And I'm happy to take any questions if the district council has any. Great. Thank you so much, Mr. Coney. And it's great to have you here in this role before the council. I believe this is your first presentation. It is it is Thank you so much. I see I have councilmember Freightson and the Natalie Fanny Gonzalez Yeah, I just wanted to acknowledge first time before us and we're really excited to see you a familiar face But in a new role and I'm very excited. I know I speak for everybody when I say that. That was really the reason why I wanted to speak. I'm supportive of this and happy to make a motion at the appropriate time, but if there's others in the queue, I'll yield to that. Council member Fannie Gonzalez. Yes, thank you so much for the presentation and also happy to see you here in this new role. This is in my district and I have been following it very closely. I also worked on the master plan in this area. So I am 100% in agreement with everything that you have explained. I was going to make the motion. But if you want to make the motion. Okay. Okay. I'll make the motion. I'm off for approval. Second. All right. We have a motion. Second seeing seeing no one else in the queue. This is a roll call vote. I'll turn it back to the clerk. Council member Lutki. Yeah. Council member Lutki votes yes. Council member Mink. Yes. Council member Mink votes yes. Council member sales. Yes. Council member sales votes yes. Council Member Freason. Yes, Council Member Freason, vote yes. Council Member Glass. Yes. Council Member Glass, vote yes. Council Member Katz. Yes. Council Member Katz, vote yes. Council Member Albanyl. Yes. Council Member Alvarnos, vote yes. Council Member Fondigantos. Yes. Council Member Falcom. Yes. Council Member Balcom. Yes. Council Member Balcom, vote yes. Councilzalos? Yes. Councilmember Fondagantzalos votes yes. Councilmember Balkham? Yes. Councilmember Balkham votes yes. Councilmember Duwando? Yes. Councilmember Duwando votes yes. Councilmember Stewart? Yes. Councilmember Stewart votes yes. Great. Thank you, Mr. Dune. Thank you, Mr. Coney. We're coming today. Our next item is action on a resolution to confirm the county executive's appointments to the community Reinvestment and Repair Fund Commission. The names of those he has sent over for appointment is in the packet and on our agenda. I have a couple of colleagues in the queue. I'll first turn to Council Member Malcolm. Thank you. I want to thank everyone who applied to the Community Reinvestment and Repair Fund Commission and to thank you for your service to our community. I also want to be clear that I do not object to any of the individuals who are nominated here today. I'm going to follow the lead of this morning and use my strong girl voice, my strong woman voice to share my thoughts. One of the responsibilities of the council is to approve membership on our various boards, committees and commissions. Because we have so many groups, approvals come to us on a very regular basis sometimes two or three a day. I was elected as always reading through the packet each week, I noticed that the up county was rarely represented on these boards, committees and commissions, both in the new members being nominated and the existing members who are in the middle of their various terms. At first this seemed anecdotal, but based on the results of an OLO study done in February of last year, the data showed that the up county was indeed represented at a much lower rate than other areas of the county. This study was done over a year ago and nothing has changed, which brings us to today's agenda and the approval of the nominees for this commission. This is such an important commission. The full duties are outlined in the packet. The commission will be responsible for making recommendations as to how the county will spend funds that we receive that resulted from the state's legalization and sale of cannabis, as well as making recommendations to the county on a wide array of programs. After all the work and due diligence that the county took to determine the type of expertise and life experience that should be represented on this commission to ensure that these funds would be spent in the most impactful way, it was so disappointing that once again, my community was not represented. Not only is there no one from my district or the up county, there is no one from the entire Northwest quadrant of Montgomery County. There are however, nine of 13 nominees from Silver Spring alone. When I bring this up to this issue to the County Executive Office, which I have done many times, I get the response that no one from the up county applied. If this were any other demographic, that would not be an acceptable answer. We would all demand that there would be more direct outreach to the underrepresented community. I've said so many times, Germantown is the largest census designated place in the county and most recently named the most diverse community in the country. The county cannot continue to espouse inclusion if we aren't including everyone in the county. I realize that the creation of this commission is a requirement of the state to receive Montgomery County's share of the cannabis tax revenue. and I also understand that it's time-sensitive and this has to go forward. While I cannot vote in favor of this slate, I will also not vote against any individual. Therefore, I will abstain, and I implore everyone presented on this list to make sure that the work that you do Excuse me that you do on this commission represents the entire county Excuse me and I asked the executive branch to do a better job and I asked my colleagues to please see my community. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember Javanda. Thank you, Madam President, and I wanna thank Councilmember Balkham, my seatmate and good friend for bringing this up. It is an important issue. And as she knows, in this process, as I'm one of the co-leads sponsors of this bill, along with Council members making sales, that there were efforts made, not enough, to extend and try to get more people in this process from the up county and to get more diversity of all types. I agree that this is an important goal and that we need to work with the executive to do better. I also am grateful for everyone who applied. There were many, many qualified applicants who applied in the current pool. And I know that you all will serve with distinction and congratulate you on your pending nomination. I will vote for the slate. I'm thankful to Council Member Mank and Council Member Sales for the work that their teams put into leading this effort, in particular, Council Member Mank and her team. And I want to thank everyone for applying. The good thing about this commission, like many of them, there will be a time when people cycle off and apply again. the sale of cannabis and the disastrous warrant drugs that created the need for some minor reinvestment that this will provide as to repair the harm that's been done is an important, important mission as Council of Development mentioned. So I will expect that when we, that everyone on this who's being approved today will represent the diverse needs of our community and that when we go forward for new reappointments that we will do a better job and really appreciate Council Member Brock and bringing that up. Thank you, Madam President. Thank you, Council Member Mink. Thank you. I also want to thank and acknowledge the comments of Council Member Balkham. It is an important issue. We do need to do better as a county. And we need to figure out what the system exclusion is and not have this be like a whack-a-mole process every time that there does need to be much more strategic outreach to make sure that the pool of applicants that we're getting does represent the full breadth of our county in every way including geographically. I'm excited for this commission to move forward and for these funds to get moving. At the same time, this is a use it or a lose it situation. These funds are available to us from the state as soon as this commission is appointed and ready to get to work. So very much appreciate everybody who applied and appreciate all of those who are about to be getting to work to let us know how we should be spending out those funds and also want to just note for the record that we need to keep a close eye on making sure that those funds actually do get moving and out into the community as recommended very, very quickly we can't have any any funds being held up on the county side. This commission is really important to ensure that here in Montgomery County we have impacted communities that have a very public and participatory role in deciding where this funding should land. So appreciate all the work of my colleagues and getting this going and especially council members, Tramondo and sales for their co-leadership on this effort. Thank you, council member sales. All right, thank you, Madam Chair. I also want to thank my co-sponsors, council member Mink and council vice president Jawondo and working together to pass this legislation to ensure that we are able to reinvest in the communities that were disrupted, I would say, by the war on drugs. And so all of these meetings, similar to our other boards committees and commission meetings, are going to be open to the public. And so I hope that in addition to the appointed members, we will have great participation and a presence from our broader community to ensure that these reinvestment funds are circulated back into the community and truly impact the lives of those that were impacted. So I'm so excited to have our council support and look forward to the next steps and taking action on this. And thank you to my colleagues words because as an up county resident, even though we represent the county at large, we often hear about how we're neglected and whether it's through voting or participating on such an important committee, up county voices matter and look forward to working together to see how we can improve outreach and engagement from that part of the county. So thank you. Thank you, Council Member Feetzen. Appreciate it. Just want to thank Council Member Sales, Maken Jowanda for their work on this and everybody's been involved. It's a critical issue, a crucial commission, but I did want to just lift up Council Member Balkham's point. I used to represent a good portion of that district and it is an ongoing issue and it hasn't been addressed. And we have a tremendous number of great opportunities and crucial circumstances where we need resident input resident input where we are asking for residents who are incredibly talented to be part of the policymaking process, to be part of county government, and we are not getting a representative voice that represents the whole county. And we have anecdotal evidence to suggest that, and we have data from the Office of Legislative Oversight to suggest that. There are a number of people on this slate and this committee who I know personally quite well. And I think it's a very talented group, but Council Member Balkham's point is important. I am going to join her in abstaining because I think it's not just a district council issue that she is raising, representing her own district, which she does so effectively and ably. It's a broader question of whether or not the efforts to recruit and to ultimately appoint to these commissions are reaching into the community in an effective enough way in order to get the type of broad based representation that we discuss. So I appreciate that. I share her view on this not being about any individual. And in fact, I think that there are some terrific individuals in the full group are all talented and experienced in their own right. But the issue that's being raised is too important from my perspective to have Council Member Baalco making the point alone. Thank you, Council Member DeLas. Thank you very much, Madam President. President appreciate all my colleagues for re-emphasizing the importance of this commission but pointing out the flaws systemically within the county's 95 plus boards committees and commissions process and council member balkham issued authored the OLO last year, which continues to guide this work. I do have a question about the process, and I don't know if it should be directed to Council President or to the clerk. How many times has this commission been re-put into the public domain for applications? Because I think that's really important here. And to broaden the point, if we had only put it out once, and this is what we've got, then that does not bode well for the process. But if it had been put out multiple times, then it is a sign of the work we need to do to emphasize that the opportunities are available. So I believe, hearing from my colleagues, it was put out twice and then individual council members also put it out to their communities. Okay. I think that important, that context is important to show that a good college try was initiated but certainly drives on the point that more work is needed. Thank you. Councillor Vicer, is it in Toronto? I appreciate that and just wanted to mention also that it was mentioned, but I emphasize there was a time crunch here too that to receive the funds. We, Councillor Marrake, went by specifically and we talked about if there wasn't that time crunch, could we have waited longer in addition to putting it out twice? But the systemic problem still remains, but that was something unique to this instance. Okay, thank you everyone and I'll just add my thanks to Council Member Balcom and all her work on this. We did take this up as the government operations committee and added to the long list of things the government operations committee has taken up and requested of the county exec's office. We were promised a full review of our committees and commissions and we continue to wait on the report back from them and we'll definitely check in with them on it but we appreciate you taking this opportunity and also understanding from our colleagues the urgency of getting this commission seated. So with that is their emotion to confirm the county executive's nominations to the community reinvestment and repair fund commission. So I have council member, a council vice president, Juwando move, council member, Lori Ann sales seconded. All those in favor, please raise your hand. I have Council Member Luki. I have a question for you. I have a question for you. I have a question for you. I have a question for you. I have a question for you. I have a question for you. I have a question for you. I have a question for you. I have a question for you. I have a question for you. I have a question for you. It's our consent calendar. Is there a motion to approve the consent calendar without items E and J? So the council member sales moved, council member Balcum seconded. All those in favor of the consent calendar, please raise your hand. I'm seeing everyone on the dius and two folks virtual. That is everyone then. All right, we are in recess until 1.30 pm, in which we will do many public hearings this afternoon and this evening. So take a walk around the block because you're be sitting in the lower wild as afternoon this evening. Thank you everyone. And again, thank you to our entire essential staff for making this morning such a wonderful celebration for women's history month. Thank you to our entire essential staff for making this morning such a wonderful celebration for women's history, Mom. Thank you. Oras Pico, Cabo. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome back to the County Council session and numerous public hearings this afternoon. Our first item is item three and is a public hearing on zoning text amendment 25-01, self storage, civic and institutional. It's called the SAVE as ETA, the street activation and vacancy elimination ZTA. This ZTA would allow self storage above ground floor in the CR zone with a charitable philanthropic institution or cultural institution on the ground floor. A planning housing and parks committee work session is scheduled from March 24th, 2025. Those wishing to submit material for the council's consideration should do so by the close of business on March 17th, 2025. As a reminder of our public hearing testimony guidelines, your comments must be limited to issues relevant to the public hearing topic for which you are testifying and are appropriate with the public. We have a meeting with the public. We have a meeting with the public. We have a meeting with the public. We have a meeting with the public. We have a meeting with the public. We have a meeting with the public. We have a meeting with the public with a focus on Good afternoon Council members and thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is John Sweeney and I represent Terminal Real State Partners, a national developer with a focus on adaptive reuse projects transforming vacant buildings across the country. We're here today to express our support for the street activation and vacancy elimination or save zoning text amendment. When our company looks at converting existing office buildings, we strive to find the highest and best use for that given project. As such, we evaluate a variety of uses including residential and hospitality. There are certain properties where office to residential or office to hospitality conversions are simply not feasible. When these types of uses are not viable, we have found that a self-sourge use provides a meaningful benefit, especially when combined with other public amenities as required by the SAVE Zoning Tax Amendment. As such, the approach of the SAVE ZTA aligns with our commitment to revitalize ghost buildings in urban environments, creating a net positive impact to the surrounding neighborhood. We have seen properties both in Montgomery County and other areas of the country where owners have tried many approaches to disposing of these ghost buildings. This is included putting these vacant office buildings up for sale. They're an auction process at a significantly discounted price. But there are properties that have significant site complexities and market challenges, which make it even an auction property unattractive for sale and redevelopment. Is this subset of buildings that become the ghost building which are dark, unactivated along the street, and make no contribution to the community? The save zoning tax amendment presents a valuable opportunity to revitalize these problem and long vacant buildings. While the ZTA is very restrictive in its scope, it ensures that a property owner will be required to activate the street by bringing in a philanthropic and or cultural institution to the ground floor. A use that would positively impact the community, specifically the SAVE's ETA is a game changer for nonprofits that we have found needs spaces. And the requirement that such institution be located on the ground floor has a added benefit for an activating that has an added benefit for activating the adjo joining and surrounding pedestrian environment. The SAVEZTA also requires the preservation of the character of an existing office building. As part of any redevelopment, a property owner would be required to maintain the facade and windows ensuring that the building continues to read as an office building. The SAVEZTA provides a path for a eliminated problem problem and long term vacant buildings with the result benefiting the community as a whole. We respectfully ask for your support for the SAVE's ETA and this important initiative. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Swini. Thank you. That is our only in person or person on that item for the public hearing. This public hearing is now closed. I do wanna note that we have colleagues on Zoom. Also listening, we have Council Member Mink and Luki with us as well. Now we will move on to our next public hearing. This is item number four, and a public hearing on Zoning Text Amendment 25-02, workforce housing development standards. This CTA would allow additional residential building types in the R40, R60, R90, and R200 zones along certain corridors with a minimum percentage of workforce housing units. A planning housing and parts committee work session is scheduled for March 31, 2025. Those wishing to submit material for the council's consideration should do so by the close of business on March 24th, 2025. And the council will continue to accept correspondence after the state. As a reminder of our public hearing testimony guidelines, your comments must be limited to issues relevant to the public hearing topic for which you are testifying and are appropriate for a public meeting. You will hear a tone when your time is up and we appreciate everyone abiding by there a lot of time. The first five speaker, or the first five speakers, yes, we have for this is Irene Lane, Debbie Heller, Maureen Metschneck, mechanic, thank you, Arty Harris and Roheed Kana. We'll start with Ms. Lane. Good afternoon, Council President Stewart, Council Vice President Joondo and County Council members. My name is Irene Lane and I serve as the mayor of the town of Chibi Chase. We appreciate the county's efforts to expand housing opportunities for essential workers and we recognize the thoughtful engagement of Council members Freizen and Fannie Gonzales in gathering community input. While we generally support the goals of this legislation, we believe it can be strengthened through several key amendments and clarifications as well as responses to our technical questions posed in our written testimony. These adjustments will help ensure balanced growth, infrastructure sustainability, and compatible development standards. Our recommendations are as follows. First, the ZTA is intended to apply only to lots fronting major corridors. To ensure this, we recommend amendment prohibiting lot-chaining to interior lots. We are still evaluating whether restrictions on ladder a lot-chaining along the corridor may also be necessary and await answers to our technical questions before taking a position. Secondly, we strongly recommend maintaining a maximum far of 1.25 across all residential zones rather than increasing it to 1.40 for our 60 lots as proposed by the planning board. The 1.25 far already allows for significant expansion of multifamily housing while mitigating concerns for traffic congestion and green space preservation. With respect to parking pressures, we support the planning department's recommendation that on-site parking be tied to the number of bedrooms in a unit, preventing increased strain on street parking. Further, we request confirmation at section 4.1.8 the compatibility requirements of the county zoning ordinance be applied to all workforce housing developments ensuring compatibility with adjacent single family homes. This includes maintaining a 45 degree angular plane for roof height ensuring a smooth transition between new and existing structures. Third to preserve these units units for longer-term housing, we strongly urge the county council to prohibit workforce housing from being used as short-term rentals. These units should remain available to the workers they intend to serve rather than becoming daily or weekly accommodations. Fourth, we commend the Planning Department for recommending a ban on stormwater management waivers aligning with a 2021 climate action plan. Fifth, we are particularly concerned about the Planning Board's recommendation to eliminate site plan review, which is a key element of public participation in transparency. We urge the Council retain site plan review to ensure the public input remains central to development process. Finally, we request that the public record remain open until just before the county council vote. Align residents to submit feedback as more information becomes available. By incorporating these amendments, clarifying the public engagement process and addressing our technical questions, we believe this legislation can be more effective, balanced, and transparent while earning broader community support. Thank you for your time in leadership. We look forward to working together to ensure a thoughtful approach to workforce housing. Thank you, Ms. Lane. Next, Ms. Heller. Hi, I'm Debbie Heller, a council member from the town of Somerset. I want to thank you first for the opportunity to give this testimony. Our democratic practices in the county are paramount to who we are. It is this very principal that governs my testimony today. I appreciate that the resident's voices were heard concerning the attainable housing strategy initiative and the council is pivoted to the more housing now new options for workers legislation before us. I have three points to make. My first point, I understand that the impetus behind the changes in zoning is to create housing that is affordable for our workforce of nurses, teachers, firemen, and other workers in our communities that make lower wages. But the initiative of more housing now will not be able to meet that goal. What this legislation will provide for is vastly more market rate housing that will be a developer's dream. What they will be able to do is buy houses and tear them down and instead of creating triplexes or larger, they will build duplexes and therefore avoid having to build any lower income units. I doubt the goal of 15% workforce housing will ever be achieved. I envision our corridors filled with market rate duplexes. Surely there are better ideas to create the type of housing that is needed for our workforce. My second point is parking. This plan does not guarantee parking on newly built properties. Where will the residents of the newly constructed homes park? Parking is not allowed on any of these thoroughfares. They will have to resort to parking in the neighborhoods on streets that are already narrow and already overcrowded. Any building on the corridors has to have full parking allotments included, so as not to burden neighborhoods. My third point is about process, the democratic process actually. Why wasn't this legislation developed with input from the residents from the county? There should have been input from every county group of this legislation effects. For many in the county, this zoning will define their own housing. As it appears to me, this was rushed. One week I was at an AHSI town hall and the very next now was introduced. How could that happen in a week? Why the rush? Why not do it right and bring the residents to the table? What will be lost if you do it right? Maybe time? Please pause the now zoning process and bring a representative from every stakeholder group to the table and start again. Please do this the right way. Please bring us legislation that we can all be proud of and support. Thank you. Thank you. Next we have Mr. Mechanic. Thank you. I'm Maury Mechanic, Council member for the village of North Chevy Chase. The more housing now proposal is a significant improvement over the prior attainable housing strategy initiative. Credit to the Council for having heard and listened to the concerns that have been raised. While the underlying objectives of more housing now are laudable, it remains unclear whether the proposal's implementation will provide for increased opportunities for affordable workforce home ownership or just provide more affordably priced workforce rental units. Further, while there may be parts of the county where the proposal may achieve the desired results, that may not be the case elsewhere. It's difficult to assess the impacts because there is no evaluation of different infrastructure conditions that vary from one part of the county to another. What then is most likely to happen in certain parts of the county is a replacement of residential home ownership by increased residential rental units managed by real estate investment firms accompanied by a fundamental shift in the dynamics of local municipal governance away from meeting the needs of individual residential owners to dealing with absentee corporate management companies. A minimal increase in workforce housing accompanied by significant expansion of market price rental units at locations irrespective of demand. Moreover the full impact of the major disruptions and uncertainty arising from the Trump administration's actions need to be considered in determining whether to pursue major changes in country, countywide residential housing strategy at this time. These concerns notwithstanding, if the proposal is adopted in some form, it is absolutely essential that there be a final determination of the properties to which it would apply and whether the optional method workforce housing procedures could also be utilized to cover for properties adjacent to or butting covered properties. Failure to do so will open the door for after the fact gamesmanship that could significantly expand the scope of the program. Other concerns that we will address and separately written testimony testimony or separately submitted written testimony include considerations of means for managing increased density without damaging the surrounding single family neighborhood character conducting comprehensive environmental and infrastructure impact assessments development of standards to ensure consistent and equitable availability of workforce residential units and retention of the site plan approval process. In conclusion, the housing issues facing Montgomery County are serious and complex. Further refinement to the proposal is still necessary to achieve meaningful results. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. McKenna. Next we have Chair of our Planning Board, Arty Harris and Mr. Harris is speaking to a number of items today, so you have five minutes. Thank you so much. Good afternoon, Council President Stewart and members of the County Council. I am Arty Harris, Chair of the Montgomery County Planning Board. On behalf of the planning board, I am here to testify in strong support of the more housing now package. I want to thank the sponsors, Council members, Freetson and Fanny Gonzalez, and all the co-sponsors from putting together a package that works to address our acute housing crisis in the county. While no single bill is a panacea, the beauty of this package is that it tackles the crisis from numerous perspectives. Introducing new housing types, encouraging more workforce housing, and facilitating the conversion of vacant office space to residential. Our county has been steadily losing our middle income residents. In the past 20 years, we've lost over 26,000 middle income residents. These are our teachers, first responders and more who can no longer afford the type of housing they are seeking in our county. We've also seen a continuing decline of housing affordability throughout the whole region. Over the past 20 years, every zip code in the county has lost affordability. For example, in 2000 over 65% of county households could afford to purchase a typical home and zip code 20910, including downtown Silver Spring. By 2022, that number dropped below 40%. the zip code 2090904, including White Oak, affordability has dropped from 66% of households able to purchase a home down to 47% of households. We are happy to provide numbers for other zip codes, if you like. The more housing now package adds opportunities in the county to turn around this and create space and incentives for more housing of more types accessible to more residents. The planning board previously submitted a climate assessment to council and met on Thursday, March 26 to review in detail the draft ZTA's SRA and bill and make up the more housing now package. We have some suggested minor modifications to help strengthen this package to address housing needs throughout the county. While our detailed recommendations are transmitted to the council this morning, I want to take a moment and highlight just a couple of items that I hope you will consider. We recommend exempting small optional method projects from the site plan process, or establishing an administrative site plan process that would relieve the development review burden and improve the feasibility of these small projects. In looking at bill 2-25, we recommend that the council expand the pilot program to include four sale options. Many office to residential conversions that have already occurred or are under development are creating condominiums and not rental units. Our additional technical recommendations are available in our written transmittal. The planning board and the planning department remain available to support the council as you move this package forward through work sessions. Thank you for keeping the needs of all Montgomery County residents at the forefront of your actions. Thank you. Thank you very much, Chair Harris. Next we have Roheet Kanna and I believe Mr. Kanna, congratulations are in order because I believe it was just this morning you were appointed as a council member in the town of Somerset, but you are here speaking as an individual correct? Yes, thank you very much. As you said, my name is Roheet Kana. I've been a resident of Montgomery County for 31 years. I want to thank the council members for listening to residents concerns on on AHSI and for the opportunity to speak today. I spent 30 years at the UN and the World Bank advising developing countries on their national strategies. So it concerns me that our county, like many of the countries I worked with, seeks to adopt policies lacking sound data, empirical evidence, and economic analysis. The proposed initiatives will not solve the housing problem in our county and could have significant negative consequences for three reasons. First, the lack of public data means that the county is flying blind and taxpayers are being asked to take a leap of faith. We don't know how much housing is needed, how much of this needs to be affordable housing or workforce housing, how much is currently being delivered and what gap this package and existing policies will fill. The planning department is currently analysing the permitted development pipeline. Regulatory reforms to advance these projects should be prioritised. The county should also evaluate the many existing affordable and workforce housing programmes before adding new tools. Second, the county's plan cannot achieve its target of 75% of new housing being affordable, because if development provides 85% of new units at market rate and 15% at affordable housing, achieving the affordable housing target is mathematically impossible without a large oversupply of market rate housing. B. Up-Zoning typically replaces existing lower cost housing stock in market-preferred areas, reducing housing options for lower income households. See, upzoning that replaces single-family homes with multi-family dwellings only reduces the supply of single-family homes thus raising these home prices even more. D, the correlation between new housing supply and affordability is weak. Prices do not vary significantly between markets based on zoning restrictions. Instead, they are influenced by wage levels and land values. It is income inequality that drives the housing affordability problem and explains why there are pervasive shortages nationwide for low income households. Third and therefore, the county needs policies that reduce wage polarization and maximizes affordable housing with minimal public spending. The economic efficiency of the proposed payment and lieu of taxes is questionable, because its design will overcompensate some projects and lead to revenue loss. Numerous existing exemptions and discounts have already weakened the adequate public facilities concept in Montgomery County, resulting in insufficient funding for transportation and school improvements. Instead, I would suggest the counties should provide a larger capital increase to the housing production fund, which uses a very efficient leverage model for mixed income social housing. The county could consider, for example, an ambitious target of 1,000 new affordable units per year over 20 years, which a scaled up HPF can provide instruments to achieve. The county could also pilot a competitive reverse auction in which public subsidies are provided to developers willing to offer the largest number of affordable units for the lowest tax abatement. In summary, pausing this package would enable the county to formulate a comprehensive, affordable housing strategy with clear targets and cost-effective policies. Additionally, it would allow the county to assess the impacts of federal and state reductions on its population, jobs, tax revenue, and housing market. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you to our first panel of speakers. Next, we will have Samantha Demeito Jeffrey D Michelle Penn Roman Nelson and Scott Goldberg and miss Dmitro I have you speaking also on bill 2-25, so you have five minutes. My name is Samantha Demado. I am testifying today as the president and on behalf of the Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors, whose membership includes 12,000 realtors, property managers, title attorneys, and other real estate professionals to express our strong support for the more housing now legislative package. Lead sponsors, council members Freedzen and council member Fanny Gonzalez have done this county a service. They have offered multiple solutions to the multifaceted problem of housing. Council President Kate Stewart, Council members Marilyn Balkom, Don Lutke, and Laurie Ann sales have signed on as co-sponsors, signaling their strong support for making real positive change happen. Among Montgomery County's two-on-e 24 resident survey, there was a sharp decline in and in this county's efforts to provide housing from page 8 key findings declining rates were seen for well planned residential and commercial growth well design neighborhoods and variety of housing options the poll has dozens of other red flags about the direction and quality of our county with 77 of the 123 annual questions showing a decrease in approval. The survey projected that less than one fifth of the county residents believe housing affordability and availability are improving. What are we, as what are you, as elected leaders, doing to serve the 82% of residents who believe the housing marketplace is stagnant or actively getting worse. As a Montgomery County resident, as a mother of three young children, and as a settlement attorney, who has seen closing costs drastically increase for buyers and sellers at the settlement table, I find myself in that 82% who do not see any improvement in affordability and availability across the county. Opponents of this legislation continue to spread the malicious narrative that anyone involved developing housing is a millionaire unless they work for nonprofit. The fact is the real estate industry is a force multiplier for any local economy. The vast majority of those building and maintaining these homes are middle class, blue collar that our county depends on According to the United States Bureau of Economic Analysis the employment multiplier for real estate in Montgomery County was 1.44 in 2023 For every new job in real estate an additional 0.44 new jobs open on another industry The multiplier for rental and leasing services were even more significant at 2.20. The fact, sorry, another off repeated attack on this proposal is that it does not focus on units of affordable to middle income housing, creating opportunities for our teachers, first responders, and other essential workers to live here. Fortunately, that's exactly what ZTA-2502 accomplishes. It incentivized the creation of and develops better procedures for workforce housing. Like MPDO programs, the more housing now legislative package requires more affordable housing to be built. This time targeting middle income residents without the need for direct economic support that would further empty our already dwindling coffers. Some direct our focus to prioritizing high yield strategies. The fact is in our jurisdiction with our current conditions, there are no single strategies that will produce a high yield of how's or for lower and middle income residents. The more housing legislative package is a strong start. We face a deficit of tens of thousands of rental units that are affordable to incomes within that 70 to 120% of area median income. If not this legislative package, what is the alternative to filling that gap? The firefighters of IAF, Casa de Maryland, the Maryland County Black Collective Habitat for Humanity, Maryland, Maryland Housing Partnership, and Teachers from across the county have publicly endorsed the more housing now packaged. As part of the solution, the populations you say are in need are asking you to help them with this housing package. You have called for any pause on any council actions to respond to the well-sourced, expertly crafted, attainable housing strategies findings, criticizing those findings for not focusing on housing at the lowest economic level. When that was never its main objective, your solution will involve more county money without any steps to engage private industry to help solve this problem. Bill 2-25 and zoning text amendment 25-03 make development partnerships with private industry more likely, and there is no solution to our housing woes without private industry. Every time we dismiss private industry's role it makes Montgomery County less attractive to economic development and a time where the state is cutting billions from its budget, shifting more financial responsibility to the county attempts to further burden residents, residents with more taxes and fees are and we're regressive and we'll set Montgomery County back. We expect this to be the first step to the journey to making Montgomery County affordable and welcoming place for all. With bold leadership that this legislation reprints represents, we can do great things in service of our community. Thank you, Mr. D. Good morning. My name is Jeffrey D. But afternoon, sorry. name is Jeffrey D. I'm the president, CEO of Habits Effie Mani Metro, Maryland. We are not millionaires, I wish we were. But we are in support of the more housing now package. And I want to thank the council members for sponsoring this package and for continuing to prioritize housing affordability along the entire spectrum. And we of course appreciate and recognize all the County Council has already done for affordable housing and recognize that workforce housing is also needed. This package provides more tools that can help families at various income levels have housing that they can afford. Through our home ownership programs, we have seen firsthand how hardworking families are unable to afford to purchase among County, even at the workforce level. For example, according to planning, the only income band that saw a net increase in owner-occupied units between 2010 and 2021 were households earning more than $150,000. Families considered workforce largely earn less than $150,000 a year. We need to produce more units and we need more funding as proposed in this package for down payment assistance to ensure buyers with more moderate incomes can buy homes and build wealth that can then be passed down intergenerational. We are thrilled to see the doubling of down payment assistance as the current funding is fully spent prior to the end of each fiscal year. We appreciate that this package both focuses on increasing supply but also expands down payment assistance, which is a more immediate solution to help lower and moderate income buyers become homeowners. We need to build more housing typologies. They provide greater choice for purchasers and owners and typically duplexes and triplexes etc are more affordable than single-family homes. We appreciate that the ZTA is a step towards implementing Thrive 2050 which Habitat continues to support in order to ensure that homes are built through the ZTA. It's critical that we look at reducing barriers to creating housing and affordable home ownership opportunities and to promote certainty for builders and developers whether they're for profit or non-profit. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next we have Ms. Penn and Ms. Penn, you're also speaking on Bill 2-25, so you have five minutes. Good afternoon, council members. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Michelle Penn. I've been our Montgomery County resident for the past 12 years in the neighborhood of Camp Nell. I strongly oppose this housing now package and urge the council to reject it. I understand that there is an affordable housing problem, but this package is not the answer. Let's start at the concept underlying this package to the 15-minute city. You see I'm a super active person. Most weekends you'll see me and my husband out with our five kids exploring the bike paths around our neighborhood or exploring a new area in the DMV on our bikes. When I first heard about this concept, I loved the idea. How cool would it be to live in a place where everything you need is a 50 within a 15-minute walk or a role of your home. Think about how much healthier we would be. Thank how much community we would build by being out and about. If we were starting with a blank plot of land, it could build our neighborhood accordingly then this utopian vision could actually become somewhat realistic. But as you all know, Montgomery County is not a blank plot of land. It is actually a lovely suburban area with its own characteristics that make it unique and a truly lovely, vibrant community. But that is suburban, suburban, with sprawl, which means it is necessary for a car in the 15-minute city. It's a completely unattainable vision to then try to make fit into this already existing community. It's like trying to fit a round peg into a square hole. It just doesn't work. It's actually worse than an unattainable vision. It's actually an existential threat to our community, one that hasn't existed before in the 12 years that I've lived here. How do you ask? Well, let me tell you, since you certainly didn't ask for my or anyone else's input before creating these proposals. By increasing the density with the housing now package, you are adding hundreds and hundreds more people to our neighborhoods and therefore our roads, which are already crowded and busy. Do you know that during busy times as it currently stands you can still wait through multiple rounds of lights of four corners during rush hour? That traffic on Colesville is so bad that I am going down to downtown to downtown Flover Spring until after 10 30 a.m. on weekdays. This is the reality before you start adding thousands of residents up and down the corridors. And now you're suggesting putting in place traffic calming measures with different corridor plans. To what end? You're going to basically make it virtually impossible to get anywhere in our suburban community. Because guess what? All those people that you that will live in your workforce housing will have the same problem as we do. They will need their car to get where they need to go. And it won't be because they don't love biking or rolling or public transit, but because we don't live in a 15-minute community, and it can't become that when it's already something else. I have many friends who live in communities in the Tri-State area where they have too many residents for the roads. It takes them 30 minutes to go three miles. Don't turn our communities into these types of cities. By the way, I checked my mail all last week, certain that there would be something about this upcoming meeting. An initiative that has me so worried for my community? No, not one mailer about this initiative that would forever change the nature of our neighborhood. Even worse, not a single resident of our neighborhood was asked for feedback or input into this plan. Not even our civic association. Okay, fine. Maybe it was just our community. No, it's not just us. A colleague actually checked with 21 different civic associations and HOAs around the county. Not a single one was contacted. How is that possible? Who are you here to serve? As your constituents who put you in place, we are feeling completely overlooked and blindsided. I truly believe my community and my neighborhood would be as concerned as I am and would all be here now if they were even aware what was in the works. But today I am here and these other people are here to show you that we are not voiceless and will not be overlooked in service of a utopian vision that it does not belong here. For the record on this gorgeous day, I thought about biking here. I- show you that we are not voiceless and will not be overlooked in service of a utopian vision that does not belong here. For the record on this gorgeous day, I thought about biking here. I took a look at how long it would take me, one hour and 12 minutes. If this were a 15-minute city, there shouldn't be that I could bike to this council meeting in 15 minutes. Is the plan to move the council building to be within the 15 minutes of the housing now buildings? you and I both know that's not in the plan. That no matter how much you try and force it with these ZTAs, with the corridor plans, and the other packages that you're suggesting that this round peg is not going to fit into this square hole. Please stop trying. Please reject these ZTAs and the other packages looking to destroy our vibrant and thriving community. Thank you. Thank you. Next, Mr. Nelson. Good evening. My name is Roman Nelson and I'm a resident of the Woodmore Development in Four Corners. I'm here to express my deep concerns about ZTA 25-year-to and the significant long-term impacts we'll have on our communities, infrastructure and the fairness of our zoning laws. While the stated goal of increasing work-first housing is important, the way this amendment is structured raises serious concerns about transparency, infrastructure readiness, and unequal application of zoning laws across the county. The plain board is bypassing community input. Montgomery County City Federation MCCF, meeting minutes from September 6th, confirm the plain board actively discourages developments from working with communities to mitigate project concerns. Projects will bypass public hearings and be approved administratively leaving residents with no say in what gets built next door. This amendment is as beneficial as claimed, why does it need to be rushed through with minimal public oversight? Infrastructure concerns are big ignored. No comprehensive infrastructure has been presented to demonstrate that schools, roads, water, and storm water systems can handle the increase in density. Montgomery County Blight High School is already overcrowded and no data has been provided to show how additional students will be accommodated. The county storm water system is already failing and the increased invious services from high-density development will worsen flooding. Why is the county provided a legally required infrastructure impact study before moving forward? Unequal application of zoning. Certain areas are being exempted. This amendment applies to 82% of Montgomery County, yet a fluent area like Potomac have been conveniently excluded from zoning.. The zoning changes stop at River Road. Why does the county apply one set of rules to some neighbors while accepting others? This raises serious fairness and legal questions about the selective application of zoning laws. Legal and procedural issues. Maryland law required zoning amendments to align with master plans and be supported by infrastructure studies, neither of these of which have been adequately addressed. The plain board has ignored master plans and dismissed concerns from its own infrastructure experts. Is this process legally defensive, defensible, or is it setting a stage for costly legal challenges? In closing, I urge the council to pause the TAA 25-year-to until a full infrastructure impact study is conducted in a fair, transparent zoning process if restored. There is that residents of Montgomery County deserve clear answers and how to amendment while impeccable schools, roads and property values. If the goal is to truly support workforce housing, then we must do so responsibly not by overriding public input and selectively applying zoning laws. Please commit to a transparent data driven approach that protects our both our communities and the integrity of our zoning system. Thank you. Thank you. Next I have Mr. Goldberg and you are also speaking on ZTA 25-03, so you have five minutes. Thank you. Scott Goldberg on behalf of the Bethesda Chamber of Commerce. It is always a great day when we can take real action so that our kids don't have to move back into our basements. If we step outside of the details of more housing now, that's really why we're here, the why. Not necessarily, so some future awkward 20-somethings are moving back into our homes, but the why of why we're trying to modestly expand our housing supply. Converting underused office buildings to apartments is a good thing. Converting, excuse me, allowing for more units to exist on main roads is a good thing. There are people, our friends and neighbors, and those who will never meet who need and deserve to be able to afford to live near great schools, the schools where they teach, live near great jobs and stay in in the neighborhoods they know and love. Too often, that's not possible in today's Montgomery County. The preamble to our Constitution says one of the main reasons to create our system of government is to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. Liberty has to include the freedom to afford life's basic necessities, in this case shelter. And even at the birth of this nation, our four parents were already thinking of future generations, like passing on a cleaner earth, ensuring that our children, their children, and their children have a framework to enjoy a housing ecosystem better than what we have for ourselves, and that's our responsibility today. And right now we're going in the other direction. As with most things, the more housing now, suite of bills probably won't create as much housing as supporters predict, nor will it create as much housing as opponents forecast. But that's okay because progress is a process, not a single moment. And we have every expectation that the deliberative process and the wisdom of the council members will improve the legislation taking many of the reasonable suggestions that are made here today. I would like to draw attention to the first person who submitted written testimony. She's 80 years old, she lived in her home on New Hampshire after 42 years, and she's part of the why. She should be able to afford to live in her home for as long as she wants, and more housing means sharing property taxes over a greater number of people, so she doesn't have to shoulder the big increases. She's against more housing now, and she writes, quote, this proposal easily paves the way from Montgomery County to eventually remove us from our homes in order to implement your latest strategic vision designed to enhance economic development through cleverly obtained land parcels that support the workforce housing initiative. This is a potential land grab, isn't it? Now we all know nowhere in the legislation does the county call for eminent domain, it doesn't call for taking people's properties. Change can be scary and it can leave people to believe things that may not be true. We don't believe that anyone's housing is going to be taken, but is this process continues? Debate is good, disagreement is good, questions are good, and we support your continued success and outreach to the community to inform what more housing now does and doesn't do and we offer our partnership in that process. Thank you. Thank you very much Mr. Goldberg. Thank you to everyone who is on this panel. Our next panel will be Jenny Sue Dunner, Patricia Johnson, John Holden, David Barnes and Lyick Winnick. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Miss Thunder, you can start whenever you're ready. I'm Jenny Sue Dunner, and I am testifying today on behalf of the Montgomery County Community's Coalition. The Coalition represents residents across the county. We were organized well before the first housing proposal was made public. Of course, once that issue captured our attention, the members of the coalition had a ready-made organization where they could share their views and comments. Importantly, we feel strongly about a democratic process, especially one where citizens actively participate in the decision-making process of the government, and one where the citizens' concerns are heard. There is one part, though, of your housing, recent housing proposal, that we feel that we can support, that would create an opportunity for converting commercial buildings into residential units of moderate income housing, but without the pilot program of 100% tax abatement. This could be done by appointing an advisory group that would be composed of citizens from all areas of the county and all advisory group meetings would be public. The idea of an advisory group is not a new concept. It has been used many times over the years in Montgomery County. Also, it furthers the fairness of a democratic process and allows for transparency with the public. If an advisory group was formed, that would allow an opportunity to review and suggest improvements to two of our important current community programs, the Housing Opportunities Commission, the Modern Price Dwelling Unit Program. I'm not suggesting that they need changes, but it is an opportunity to take a look at the complete picture of the housing process in Montgomery County. Thus, I repeat our position. We are offering the Coalition is offering a proposal to work with this council through advisory group that if successful would create new living units of moderate price housing in buildings that already have vacancies. And to just end to say in our mission statement who we are and what we will be continuing to do in the coming months. And I will read from the mission statement and I also have copies if anyone would like to have one. We work together to ensure that all levels of government, including local and state officials, both elected and appointed, govern and act in an open and transparent manner with maximum input from all stakeholders. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next we have Ms. Johnson. I'm Patricia Johnson from Kenwood and Chevy Chase. I asked that the Council polls ETA-2502 until residents provide input and we get explanations about its confusing content. This plan was formulated with advice from special interest groups. One of the acknowledged authors is a paid manager for the coalition for smarter growth. Citizens learned of this ETA, when a press release appeared with a photo of council members joined by special interest representatives front and center. The voting public sees this as a conflict of interest and a lack of transparency on the part of the six council members who supported the ZTA. Where was the democratic process and community engagement? The ZTA seems purposely hard to understand. There's no legal description of either the corridors that can be developed or the impacted lots. Councilmember Friedson and attorneys have stated that properties can be chained. How do you reconcile height to lot coverage and setbacks between different zone properties assembled? Duplexes have no requirement for workforce housing, all will be priced at market rate. This ZTA package specifies that 85% of housing will be sold at market rate. What happened to promoting MPD use for the lower income families? Neither the council nor the planning board can answer the major question, what is the actual number of units needed? There are over 30,000 unbuilt units that only need permits pulled. Another 65 units can be realized through municipalities and master plans. Lisa Gavoni, a supervisor with the planning department says planning will do a deep dive into these 30,000 units and find out why they are not being built. She adds quote, planning will implement strategies to accelerate the construction of the unbuilt 30,000 unit pipeline. Why don't you do that and get your data straight before this poorly constructed ZTA is passed? Moreover, the planning department states that it has tried workforce housing and hasn't been successful. We are facing a recession. Federal workers in the area are facing major layoffs. As many as 28,000 will lose or have already lost jobs. Real estate development doesn't create jobs. Developers often hire workers from out of state. And that $20 million subsidy for the Jobs Act produced a whopping 30 jobs in the county in 11 months. Our state economy is in trouble. Maryland is ranked 46th on the state business tax climate index, while Virginia is ranked number one. While we are facing tax increases, Virginia is making tax cuts. The middle-income population is leaving because of a lack of jobs and rising taxes, not a lack of town homes or trip lexas. Dedicating time and taxpayer money to this badly written and confusing ZTA adds to our costs. Our central focus should be on job creation and private sector growth. People will want to move to this county for a good paying job and a competitive economy, not for a house. When the biggest employer in the county is the county and federal government, you have a core economic plan. Please stop now. Thank you. Mr. Holden. My name is John Holden. I've lived more than 30 years in Montgomery County, 22 years in South Four Corners, which borders both the University of Alabama and US 29. The county has a shortage of affordable housing. Unfortunately, this legislation will provide workforce housing in only 15% of the housing units in triplexes and larger properties. The other 85% will simply be more market rate housing, which will not address the shortage of affordable housing. Planning zone studies show that the new market rate homes will be as expensive or more expensive than the housing stock that they replace. Also the new housing will not lead to more home ownership by residents who will be outbid by institutional investors looking to build expensive and lucrative rental properties. The county has had a workforce housing program for many years, but it has not solved the problem. There is almost nothing in the current legislation to indicate that this proposal will be any less of a failure. Perhaps Council VP Juwanda's upcoming pipeline housing bill will begin to address the problem. The new development will increase demand on overburdened infrastructure and services, schools, water and sewer, policing, etc. It's not clear that sufficient infrastructure will be in place to accommodate the planned development, or that the county's growth and infrastructure policy will be adequately funded to pay the cost of the needed additional infrastructure. This legislation and the Carter plans that will follow it are based on BRT routes that, in many cases, have not even been studied much less funded or built. These changes should not take place until a satisfactory BRT is fully funded for the corridor in question and the BRT is within a year or two of completion. Also, most new households on these transit corridors will still have cars that must be parked on already crowded and narrow neighborhood streets. Please address this in the legislation. If this legislation moves forward, the changes must be limited to properties that front directly on a corridor road and not a chained parcel with other lots that are deeper within the neighborhood, the residential neighborhood. One of the ZTA sponsors has repeatedly said that this package does not propose any zoning changes within the residential neighborhoods. So please suspend work on this legislation until one, we know what's happening with the federal government and who's going to have jobs. Two, we know the details of the states pending housing for jobs act, which could override this CTA. And three, a BRT is fully funded for each of the carders. Please do not deal with the housing affordability and home ownership crisis by doubling down on a failed strategy. Thank you. Mr. Barnes. Thank you. My name is David Barnes. I represent the Edmore Citizens Association. It's a community association of over 500 homes, immediately west of the central business district in Bethesda. I want to thank Councilmember Freetzin and Fannie Gonzalez for developing this proposal, which is a big improvement over the attainable housing strategy. I hope that it's a first step toward thinking differently about how to help all people who are priced out of the housing market. Although the county's MPDU program may be good, it only helps a small portion of those people. It could use an update also for what that's worth if you're looking for your next project. It's obvious that a lot of work went into this and it seems to be on a fast track. There's all the way ready, work session plan for the end of March. And I appreciate that you're doing something and that you wanna do it soon. But this is a complicated plan, unveiled just a few weeks ago with limited public input and limited public outreach. Please take your time. There's some good ideas here, but people have only begun to dig into the specifics and identify potential problem areas. I have three f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing evaluating developments. The site plan is where nearby residents have the most meaningful opportunity for input into a development plan and have their concerns heard. I hope if you hope to re-bell trust in residents which have been eroded by AHSI, this is not the way to do it. Second, please do not make unilateral reductions in the off-street parking requirements. You've already reduced parking minimums within a half mile of transit, and there's no reason to extend that here. Parking circumstances vary significantly in our unique to every site. Reducing all minimums along these corridors will adversely affect nearby smaller streets where residents will certainly go to look for parking spaces. The parking requirements should be addressed at the site plan and reflect the circumstances of that area. Finally, the CTA should clarify and be explicit about all of the rules for lot consolidation and aggregation and limits on lot size. Be clear about what's allowed and what it's not allowed. You frequently talked about how compact these new developments will be. If you aren't painfully clear about these issues in the rules, we will end up with rows of townhouses or apartments, consolidating multiple properties, and extending it to non-corder lots within neighborhoods through creative lot-massing. Thank you for the opportunity to comment. Thank you, Mr. Winick. Thank you. I'm Lyric Winick from Chevy Chase. I help start the Countywide Press Paws Coalition. I've raised two sons here as a full-time working single mother and spent 15 years as a parent trying to improve MCPS. I'm asking you to press pause and revise this package. I also want more affordable and workforce housing options, but the numbers being used by ZTA advocates simply don't add up and bad math risks making a bad situation worse. The first problem is the assumption that building more housing is somehow cost-free to communities. An 85-15 split means that to get 3,000 workforce units, you need to build at least an additional 17,000 market-priced units. Every unit needs additional services. Fire, EMS, and police, sewers, roads, and schools. Where will that capacity come from and who pays? County planners may tell you that BCC high school is still a few students from full utilization. What they won't tell you is that BCC has 660 farm students and a cafeteria that holds 330. Half the students who need school meals today cannot fit. Capacity issues for schools, hospitals, and first responders must be calculated and addressed. The ZTA advocates are unfortunately also selling you bad math. Many of these new units must use a condo structure, yet condo fees often outpace mortgage costs and property taxes. Even worse, advocates can flate mean housing cost and median income, which calculate two different things. It should be median housing prices and median income. The result the numbers you are relying on have been distorted sometimes up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. But more is at stake than simply housing supply. We have a household affordability crisis in this county. Here's the hard math I and many other residents live with every month. Before making any mortgage payment, my property taxes have risen by more than 29% in the last four years, and I don't even have my 2025 bill. My home and current insurance rose 37% in the last year. My February electric bill is now more than my July electric bill of two years ago. My self-employed family health insurance on the Maryland exchange is $24,000 per year. Just waking up and breathing each day in this county costs tens of thousands of dollars a year outside of the sales price of any home. More expensive market price housing will only drive up overall costs. The last parts of the affordable ability crisis are a lack of job growth and what was the county's dual MCPS. Confidence in our schools is plummeting and residents are voting with their feet. Two of my neighbors with young kids are leaving, one for Virginia and one for DC. It's hard to tackle these serious issues, but you must. Please work with your talented residents, not oppose them. We should all want the same thing. Among Montgomery County where people want to live, not feel forced to leave. Thank you. Thank you to the panel. Our next group of speakers is Tony Bern, Marla Schulman, Lee Henry, Patrick Haney, Kevin Brahmberg. Okay, it's to burn, you can kick us off when you're ready. Great, thanks. Good afternoon. My name is Tony Bern. I live in North Woodside and I own a small business headquartered on Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring. This package will affect me directly by enabling additional housing in my neighborhood along my commute and near my workplace. This is why I sit here in favor of this package with an amendment. This is personal for our family. Our adult child presently lives in New York. He might wish to return to Maryland to advance his career and start a family But the dearth of housing options, particularly the kinds of walkable, bikeable transit-rich communities that his generation increasingly seeks Will likely prevent him from doing so. He will likely never be able to live in the neighborhood where he grew up our neighborhood today Which like most county residential neighborhoods no longer provides starter home opportunities This is why I urge you to amend this package to allow a wider variety of home types near rail stations, as well as on major county corridors, excluding the Ag Reserve. Now, I'd like to switch hats and speak to you as an owner of a consulting business in Montgomery County, where I recruit young professionals to work in our great state. Perspective recruits tell me about intense competition for scarce housing options, especially near transit, leaving them on the sidelines. As a businessperson, I understand these forces of supply and demand, and in our housing market, they are real. Growing evidence around the country shows that economic vitality depends on increasing the housing stock in an era of declining household sizes. So now this becomes a fiscal issue. More homes means a broader county tax base at a time when I trust you agree. We need to pull every available lever on the revenue side of the budget. Now I recognize that you face powerful forces opposing attempts to meaningfully increase the volume and diversity of the county's housing stock. I've heard these voices echo for 30 years that I've been living in this county, consistently saying that now is not the right time, or we need to study more. This has been going on for 30 years. And meanwhile, the shortage of homes has evolved from inconvenience to significant problem to major crisis. Today the county faces two demographic futures. The default path we're on right now is aging, static, amenity poor, economically divided, and car centered, with an emphasis on home ownership only attainable for those with generational wealth. The other path offers multi-generational opportunity, economic dynamism and fiscal health, more multicultural communities, and the resilience that always comes with greater diversity. Right now, we're not headed on that second path. It will take leadership to get us there. I'm asking you today to lead. Please advance this package with the amendment I proposed. Thank you. Thank you very much. Mr. Shalman. Good afternoon. My name is Marla Schelmer and I live in Bethesda and I am a near lifelong resident of Montgomery County. I'm an active member of the local Jewish community, including as a member of Bene Israel congregation. And I help to organize my congregation's participation in action in Montgomery and I serve on the board of AINN. My husband and I raised two children here, now 22 and 25, and in our family the only way they would be able to live in Montgomery County would be if we subsidized them. At this point there isn't a single one of our friends whose recently college graduated children is able to afford to live here on their own without some kind of assistance. Maryland's population is declining and two out of every three people leaving are young adults. These are bright and talented individuals who are choosing to set down roots elsewhere instead of here in Montgomery County. What a tremendous loss. I've also been a small business owner here in the county for more than 30 years. My business model is such that the majority of my employees serve in entry-level positions. I've been so proud over the years to employ many graduates of local universities who have come to settle in Montgomery County. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult for my small business to pay such young adults, a salary that would enable them to live here In fact, during the pandemic, we went fully remote and have stayed that way since. And the sad reality is that as a result, we've been able to hire a more affordable workforce by hiring those living outside the area. Now the 200,000 square foot building around the corner from here, in which I'm still paying out a lease for office space, since nearly empty in a Zimbankruptcy. So at the same time, we don't have enough housing that's affordable for a new young adult workforce. We also have countless empty commercial buildings that are very expensive for developers to repurpose as residential. The more housing now bill would encourage the conversion of highly vacant offices to housing through an expedited approval process and a housing property tax abatement pilot program for projects meeting affordability requirements. It will also incentivize workforce housing along corridors and add an additional $4 million in funding to the county's FY26 housing initiative fund. This bill is not the total answer, but it is a start. And I support it and want to thank council members Freedson, Fanny Gonzalez, Balcom, Ludkey Stewart, and sales for their support of it. Creating more supply is a key part of the solution. According to a greater, greater Washington survey, 71% of voters believe the government should reduce barriers to building new housing. Expanding the supply helps make housing prices more affordable for everyone. Next year, my synagogue will celebrate our 100-year anniversary, and we're working hard to reimagine how we can evolve to continue serving this community for the next 100 years. I love living in Montgomery County and I'm proud of our great diversity. We also need to work hard to make sure our county continues to be a place that people are proud to call home And this bill is a start and ensuring our healthy economic future, which is a critical part of that hard work Thank you, Mr. Oman next is Lee Henry My name is Lee Henry and I'm speaking as an individual I applaud this legislation and the compromises that it required. Its goals of increasing housing supply, reducing cost, and increasing pathways to home ownership, are key components of economic development. Housing now represents our best current opportunity for development of housing that meets the needs of prime wage earners age 25 to 54. A key cohort that is leaving the county at a rate that is five times that of the region. Our economic vitality is linked to creating jobs and attracting highly educated young professionals. We are not doing that now. Highly educated professionals are not purchasing homes in neighborhood served by low performing schools, but finding housing unaffordable in neighborhoods served by schools with top ratings. Housing now's $25,000 down payment incentive could be an important tool encouraging first-time home buyers to invest in affordable neighborhoods and to demand school rating improvement. To justify the taxpayer's contribution, these funds should be awarded to those who purchase in neighborhoods with low performing schools. Now now appropriately shifts the focus to corridors and away from thriving neighborhoods with high performing schools. It better addresses the needs of young scientists and engineers drawn to career opportunities in life science, technology, and medical industries primarily located up county along I-270. The vacant commercial to housing component of this legislation is a forward looking innovative strategy. It encourages the development of new visions for neighborhoods undermined by failing commercial buildings. This element encourages neighborhoods to evolve to better need emerging needs. I was pleased to see planning commissioners reject a requirement that vacant commercial spaces remain boarded up for an extended period before becoming eligible for the pilot program. It's hard to see the win in that. Housing now is a component of the toolbox we need to arrest, decline, and jumpstart neighborhood revitalization through support of home ownership, lower cost, more efficient housing forms, and encouragement of new visions for neighborhoods that were places failed commercial buildings within demand housing. It is my hope that this is the first step towards a bigger vision. Our bolder vision should include regulatory reform, additional tools for encouraging neighborhood revitalization, encouragement of missing middle housing forms, including ADUs and commercial to housing incentives. Thank you very much. Next is Patrick Caney. Good afternoon, Council members and fellow citizens. It is my genuine pleasure to speak before you today about the important matter of housing supply in our county and in support of the ZTA. My name is Patrick Caney. I'm 26 years old. And I have been a resident of the county for just about three years now. My fiance who couldn't be here today has called the county home for all the one year of her life. We are both currently renters in Gathersburg. My residency here has been brief and I hope to offer a perspective that is often underrepresented in this conversation. As young adults not yet on the property ladder and amid ever growing housing costs are prospects for purchasing a home of any kind here and my fiance's home seemed to pressing bleak. We have role-paying jobs. I'm an aerospace engineer, she's a software developer. And yet the unyielding high price of housing in MoCo pushes us to look elsewhere for a place to put down roots. It just makes more economic sense. Another county in which to live, to work, to pay taxes, and to stimulate the economy. This current status quo, which drives away current and prospective residents like us, will have negative economic, social, and environmental consequences for our county for decades to come. The proposed ZTA we are discussing today is an important first step in allowing our woefully insufficient housing supply to approach demand and just as importantly, allowing for a more diverse stock of housing that reflects the diverse needs of our many residents. And yes, that housing stock must include new market rate housing to have a true and lasting effect. Housing stock does not exist in a vacuum and changes in supply will have a ripple effect throughout the whole system. Personally, I had hoped for more ambitious legislation more in line with the planning boards AHS proposal from last year. And I still hope someday we will have something that further facilitates a vibrant and diverse housing stock, especially in proximity to our transit resources. but I enthusiastically welcome this critical first step. I respectfully urge the council to listen to the voices outside of this hearing room, calling for actions on housing prices, voices that lack the time and resources to be here on a Tuesday afternoon. Please pass this compromise legislation for the good of our county, our citizenry, our whole citizenry, across classes, across generations. As the name accurately captures, we need bold action now. Thank you. Mr. Bromberg, you have five minutes. You're also speaking I'm Bill 2-25. Thank you. Good afternoon, Council President Stewart and Council members. I'm Kevin Bromberg, a resident of Chevy Chase, Maryland. Starting from the top, I'm strongly opposed to the more housing now initiative. The sponsors of this initiative have been misleading the public. The press release makes no mention of the fact that up zoning are permitted by the ZTAs, nor does it address the intent to upend single-family housing. Even council member Fannie Gonzalez admitted in her recent video that the zoning is allowed under this plan. To address this problem, there needs to be direct notification of effective residents on and nearby affected carters. Additionally, the council needs to perform a thorough study of the alternatives to up-zoning single-family neighborhoods. One of the speakers just said we've been waiting 30 years and we're waiting for a study. Well, we're waiting for a study too. I spoke in Bethesda Chevy Chase. I said, we learned in elementary school to show your work. Where is your work? When there's no work done then it causes the citizens to react as you're seeing here. So this morning I got another email that said, homes are too expensive in Montgomery County, doing large part to the housing crisis we are losing young professionals. All of this is true. But neither of these points mean that these plans that were being presented just like AHSI are supported by sound analysis or indeed any analysis. Nor will they achieve the goal of affordable housing as I explained it in more detail. So I've reviewed more than 1,000 emails between October 2024 and February 2025. And I have other things to do in my life. but I thought it was important that I do that. There are hundreds of emails from individual residents and numerous civic associations. Unlike the council's erroneous counts from last fall, I counted approximately a ratio of five to one in opposition to the previous AHSI. No civic associations supported AHSI. Of those emails in opposition, there are dozens detailing specific and well-supported objections to the AHSI plan. They often reflected deep analyses from professionals with expertise and economics and other relevant backgrounds. And I know what I speak, I've 40 years, plus in the federal government, working on environmental problems. In contrast, the minority of individuals supporting HSI appeared to be using form letters with identical language generated by organized lobbying groups. For the most part these letters show no evidence that the authors had even read the plan, and I'm not sure that situation has changed. So this is a fraud being perpetuated on the citizens of Montgomery County. The current GTA was apparently committed, created without input from citizen groups that uniformly opposed the previous AHSI. In contrast, I was told by a council staff member that specific lobbying groups and housing activists were briefed on the content of the ZTA's days before the January 28 press conference. So is this really the product of a consensus of the community or is it something that's in favor of one side? I also know that of the four council members including Councilman Friedson with the highest contribution from Realtors 3 support the current ZTA. I think the fourth councilman, councilman ever, Katz, who was not supporting the ZTA, and his free vote is conscience because he's, I think, he's not running for real action. But I'm sad to hear in any event. So it was more housing now good for the county, or is it good for realtors and builders? There are many elements that are common to both the ZTA and the for running AHSI plan. These common elements point to one conclusion. More housing now needs to be withdrawn and the county needs to return to the master plan process. There is no analysis of the need for additional housing in the county, relying instead on outdated predictions. There's no analysis of alternative approaches to produce affordable housing at less cost. There's no analysis of housing units in the pipeline. There's no analysis whether the master plan would accommodate future housing needs. research by a professor of UCLA showed there's no relation between up-zoning and housing costs. They do not go down. There is no restrict on the price of these units and therefore no attempt, no real attempt to create affordable or workforce housing despite the rhetoric behind the new ZTAs. If that truly was the intent behind these ZTAs, then why is an affordable housing the object of this legislation? There's no analysis of the various adverse impact referred to for various people. Traffic, tree canopy, stormwater, new name, it's not been analyzed. Regarding the new pilot legislation, this bill is on affordable. It provides unnecessary incentive. Thank you, Ms. Bromberg. That's your five minutes. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you to this panel of speakers. Next, we have Dick Pavlin, Mary Ann Dillon, Kara Kasicki, Gordy Bren, and Elizabeth Joyce. Mr. Pavlan, you can start when you're ready. Good afternoon. I'm Richard Pamela, member of St. Mark Presbyterian Church in A&C, testifying support of ZTA-2502. Thank you, councilmembers. Welcome, Freedson, Gonzalez, Lutke, Sales, and Stewart for co-sponsoring this important amendment. The State Department of Housing Analyze the Needs for Housing in all Maryland counties in relation to the number of jobs in each county. Montgomery County has 741,956 jobs and needs, 31,364 new housing units for current job workers working here. The gap between the number of jobs and the number of housing units is stifling economic growth in both the county and the state. Maryland's GDP grew only 1.6% from 2016 to 2023. Virginia's GDP by comparison grew 11.2%. Younger workforce members are leaving Maryland at an alarming rate, nearly 40,000 younger workers left the state in 2022 to work and live elsewhere. Primarily due to the cost of housing. This exodus from Maryland of younger workers is my family story. My son Andrew left Maryland after working here as first year out of college because the cost of living and especially housing were beyond his reach. The only reason my daughter Emily stays here is because we helped her pay for a one bedroom apartment she couldn't afford on her own. She earned below the per capita income in the county. So Governor Moore's housing bill for jobs asks counties to boast new housing permits to clouds the gap between the number of jobs and the number of housing units. Our county averages, 2017 housing permits a year, the gap is over 31,000 units. Changing our zoning to allow more than only single family homes to be built on land at a but's growth corridors where density is already present, aligns with the governor's focus on building more housing. In conclusion, a greater Washington poll of 820 Maryland voters taken last week, found 73% of them believe building more housing makes communities more accessible to all types of people, not just the rich. Our housing crisis is deepening. We're losing our younger workers and we have meager economic growth. We need to approve this ETA. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next we have Mary and Dylan. Good afternoon. Thank you very much. I'm President Stewart, Vice President Joando and members of the council. I'm Mary and Dylan. I'm I live in Bethesda. I'm here to speak in strong support of the zoning tax amendment in 25-02. I'm retired of affordable housing professional and I'm passionate about making Montgomery County accessible and affordable to all who live and work here. My family is one of the lucky ones. We live in a single family home walking distance to Metro in the Walter Johnson High School cluster. We moved here 22 years ago, and we clearly could never afford to move back into the neighborhood today as so many of the modest 1950 style homes have been torn up and replaced by huge single family homes that could actually accommodate multiple families. The vast majority of the county's developer land is owned single family. We simply can't afford to continue this low density pattern of development that forces families to live further and further away from the urban core, from jobs and from metro. The CTA-25-2 allows slightly denser housing along high traffic quarters throughout the county. Many of these corridors are no longer attractive for single-family homes given the volume of traffic generated. So a higher density use seems very appropriate. Montgomery County has fallen way behind in housing production necessary to sustain population growth. Our county is growing because it's a desirable place to live with plenty of employment opportunities. If we want to protect our open spaces, higher density housing in already developed areas has got to be a big part of the solution. I want to focus on a few of the objections that we often hear raised about this zoning change. First, that this zoning will not solve our housing crisis. No, it will not solve it. But it's an important piece of the puzzle. We must try a wide range of solutions and changing density even modestly will make a difference in the long run. Second, I don't want to lose a suburban character by neighborhood. This proposal will allow but not require slightly denser housing along a select major residential corridors. These changes will not come overnight but can make a positive difference over say a 50-year horizon. Number three, our schools are already overcrowded. The modest nature of this zoning change means that there will not be any dramatic changes at school age, population, and any given cluster. Also, small multi-family buildings mean smaller apartments, not suitable for larger families. And four, this is too small of a proposal to make a difference. Yeah, I'd like to see more too. But this legislation encourages workforce housing production. It would be a great test case to provide new opportunities for the majority of our residents who can no longer afford a single family home. In closing, I urge the County Council to pass this common sense legislation. I suggest two amendments. First, to increase the height limit from 40 feet, where appropriate, on site, start adjacent to single family homes. Second, to allow more flexibility and setbacks. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next we have Ms. Kerry Kisicki, who will speak for five minutes. She's speaking also on ZTA 25-033 and build two dash 25. Good afternoon and thank you for the opportunity to testify. My name is Carrie Kasicki and I'm the Montgomery County Advocacy Manager for the Coalition for Smarter Growth. We believe that building walkable, bikeable, transit oriented communities with housing that all people can afford is the most sustainable and inclusive way for our region to grow. So we'll not be surprised to hear that we support this legislation. So I'm here today to offer our support for this package and to say thank you to the sponsors for stepping up and showing that this county is ready to do what is needed to address our housing crisis. It is a plain and simple fact that our county needs more housing. People want housing that they can afford and they do not want to have to spend their lives sitting in traffic just to get to work. Nothing demonstrates the strong support for these simple ideas, more than the broad diverse coalition that showed up in support of the announcement of this package. I was immensely proud, I would say the proudest moment I've had in this role for the two and a half years that I've worked here, to stand alongside teachers,, CASA, action and Montgomery, leaders from the business community, affordable housing providers, and more. At that press conference, all of whom have felt the toll of our affordability crisis in housing, felt the toll it's taking on our communities, and all of whom are ready to see this council take action. This county has a strong record of supporting subsidized affordable housing, including making historic commitments to funding for affordable housing these past few years. This is critical work that makes our county a better and more inclusive place. But we have not been innovators in the same way when it comes to making sure our county has homes that are affordable to our middle class, or to young people, or to people looking to downsize and stay in the county. And I could go on. We all know people who have struggled to afford housing. And I'm one of them. We've heard a lot about young people who can't afford to live here, who work here. We haven't seen a lot of them. We've seen maybe one high. I am one of them. So I'll speak for myself here. I'm 25 years old. I moved here after college for work. I did not grow up here and I absolutely love this county. I work here. I've built a community here. I want to stay. But as I made the transition recently from living in a group house with three roommates, which I was ready to be done with, I'm still looking for a place of my own. It was nearly impossible to find an apartment I could afford. In fact, I ended up jumping on a studio apartment that was a few hundred dollars above my budget because I knew it was the only thing even close to what I was going to be able to find. And it's a real stretch. So I made the choice to stay in this county and to try to save in other areas of my life so that I can afford it. But that is not the choice that everybody makes when they face the undeniable structural issue of the lack of affordable homes that we have to offer near transit and jobs. And I would add as well that that has to include market rate homes. I live in market rate housing. I believe that you know I should be able to afford market rate housing. I do, I'm above the threshold to qualify for affordable housing, but I live in market rate housing that I can barely afford. And I think many people are in that situation. And so we have to acknowledge that there are certain housing needs in this county that lie somewhere in between folks who can comfortably afford the market rate homes that exist and folks who are served by affordable housing. And I believe that's what this legislation seeks to address, which is really important. So when we don't build that kind of housing, people end up looking for homes farther out from their jobs, they have longer commutes, they generate more traffic, more emissions, or they might simply turn away from our county and choose to live and work elsewhere where they can find housing they can afford. This hurts our ability to retain a strong workforce, it diminishes our tax base, and our ability to fund critical social services and programs including affordable housing. What kind of a place are we if we look around and see people who desperately want to live and work here and be part of our communities but can't because we are refusing to build the kinds of housing they need. What would that say about us? This is why this legislation matters because every sponsor and every vote for this package is a declaration that this county is not okay with being the kind of place that would turn people away because they can't afford it. Instead, we are ready to do new things. We are ready to build housing in a way that works for our economy, supports diversity, and preserves, and protects the health of our environment. We're ready to acknowledge there are housing needs that our existing policies do not meet. And we are ready to do the right thing. Are there ways I think this legislation could be stronger? Yes, you will not be surprised to hear that. Many of our partners in affordable housing have already mentioned that we would love to see more areas around transit be included and also for the council to continue to consult with partners in affordable housing to reduce barriers to building these homes. And all of that is important, but I don't want to lose sight of what I see as the most important part of this package. I think it's a watershed moment for our county that we will look back on as when we finally decided that it was time for a new approach to provide people the housing they need. So I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for that. I am really excited. I think this is a great moment. You have more support than you know, and so I ask you to support this package and keep going. Thank you. Thank you. Next, Mr. Bren. Gordy Bernie with the Taxpayers League, good afternoon. This bill's a big improvement over planning's recent attainable housing proposal, and we support it with an amendment. The ZTA is limited to housing, fronting on quarters. That's good. So it doesn't go into neighborhoods there by limiting densities impact. Also workforce housing will not be by right. That's also good. This will allow neighborhood controls over what's built. The downside is there's no estimate for the supply of new units making impossible to estimate infrastructure costs as well as demand for subsidies. Taxpayer housing subsidies have been reserved in the past for affordable housing. That's for those with incomes below 80% AMI. Now in an effort to revive housing starts subsidies for market rate housing or being proposed for developers and first time home buyers. This could reduce resources for true affordable housing, and it could be made less costly by simply getting rid of the regulations that drive up costs and reduce housing supply. So this ZTA is a workaround. That could increase supply enough to lower prices, but it could also be inflationary by eliminating pre-existing attainable housing and artificially stimulating first time buyer demand with subsidies. The reason government traditionally don't subsidize market rate housing is because artificial demand increases our inflationary. This is particularly a problem in a period when supply has been constrained by higher interest rates in lower turnover. When interest rates come down and turnover resumes, housing inflation pressures will mount. The adverse effects of this ETA, the potential adverse effects, need to be closely monitored. Further, the best way to justify this subsidy risk for middle class housing is if it generates county revenues to offset the subsidy in related infrastructure costs. This could come from property taxes, but those revenues will be deferred because the state doesn't immediately reassess chair down rebuilt. However, recordation of transfer taxes are another revenue source that's been sagging recently, and that could be stimulated by this T.A. And amendments needed for an annual report to the Council on affordability of prices paid for housing built under this T.A. And corridors developed. The number of naturally occurring affordable units replaced should also be tracked and minimized adverse impacts. I should and projected infrastructure costs include a sunset for subsidies if they exceed additional revenues and don't produce target housing pricing and target corridors or exceed expectations for naturally occurring affordable housing and infrastructure costs. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next we have Ms. Joyce and you have five minutes because you're also speaking on bill 2-25. Good afternoon, Council President Stewart, my personal council member. I'm Elizabeth Joyce from Silver Spring and somewhat humbled to be the skunk at the garden priority in this panel. Thank you so much for this opportunity to speak about more housing now. Housing is the most important cost of living issue face-and-face. Ms. Joyce, can you get a little closer the mic, that's awesome. Thank you so much for this opportunity to speak about more housing now. Housing is the most important cost of living issue facing our- My stories, can you get a little closer to the mic? Sure, that's awesome. Thank you, Sam. Housing is the most important cost of living issue facing our entire nation right now. So my gummy conny must get this right. First, thanks to the sponsors for heating residents' concerns about previous plans and about the need for for alternative solutions, such as converting commercial buildings to housing, and increasing work-first housing and down payment assistance, as well as the change recently mentioned, not requiring these changes to be by right. These are absolutely a step in the right direction, and a welcome act of good faith. However, certain problems remain under ZTH-2502, despite its workforce housing name, most new housing would be market rate and the workforce housing program itself has not had significant success. The county does face a housing shortfall. We all know the nature of the problem, but this proposal does little to address the most important problem affordability. And I want to stop for a minute. Many of the advocates of this and previous controversial proposals have suggested that having a great lofty goal is the way to get there. But as Mr. Connoissell eloquently pointed out, you have to do it in a fact-based numerical way, or you don't get where you want to be. And this is the problem that we're dealing with. Although recent projections about the actual number of needed units are now in question, the Council of Governments estimates that the majority of new residents in the coming decades will be low income, making under $50,000. This proposal will do nothing for them, or very because most new housing will be market rate. Nothing long with market rate, but it serves its own purpose and developers have every right to make money. The workforce housing program requires that buyers live in their units and observe certain restrictions. Will CTA 2502 include these requirements, which would discourage the purchase of these units by speculators and absentee landlords lords as have been in Minneapolis by the way, taking money out of the county rather than spending it here. And paying taxes here. Will these units be equitably distributed throughout the county or concentrated in already dense areas with small lots like where I live? How many current lower income residents will be displaced in such quarters as Georgia, have a new enismore Road in Wheaton with those lovely little well-taken care of houses that could be, you know, upended by having a huge house next to them and everybody else sailing. How will this CTA relate to the highly complex corridor plans now being introduced and generating controversy in such communities as Camp Melis we've heard earlier? Many concerns about the attainable housing strategies initiative also applied to this new plan, particularly on heavily traveled corridors. The county now has huge infrastructure problems and not just on the corridors, for example, at one night this winter, 130 pipes burst, countywide causing the county to issue in order to conserve water. And that is with the we have now. How are we going to pay for what is needed for these new units? It makes no sense to build any new housing without analyzing the infrastructure and planning how to pay for these needs. Despite recent incentives such as increasingly lower impact taxes, the needed development fails to appear and more than 30,000 approved units in the pipeline remain unbuilt. Why and who will pay for this infrastructure? The current taxpayers already groaning under their property tax burden, and will be groaning under perhaps under the governor's proposals, will be carrying the burden for this. Montgomery County is steadily losing middle class taxpayers often for these reasons. My second focus is build 225 pay minute lieu of taxes which offers a 25-year property tax holidays to specify developers for converting commercial properties. It seems reasonable to ask why at this time the financial crisis in the federal government in the county, the council should consider such an expensive proposition. We don't know where we are now, and this could be catastrophic for the county and its economic health. So that's a reason to step back for a while. Also, regardless of the timing, the council is tended to give, to pass giveaways to developers with no strings attached to encourage more housing production. For example, how many units were built under the recent bill that gave similar tax rates for developers of units over metro stations? I don't know, but I suspect it hasn't been gargantuan or we would have heard about it. Not only that, but the Office of Legislative Oversight, Racial Equity, Study, Predicts, and Negative Impact on Minorities, likely benefiting landlords and tenants who can afford market rate housing. while else says the bill could widen existing racial disparities and impair the county's financial ability to provide public goods and services for the by-product community. So this is why I think it's time to suspend this bill despite its annual. Thank you, Mr. Joyce. Thank you. Thank you, everyone. On this panel, our next panel is Katie Erkseg, Melissa McKenney, McKenna, David Johnson, Susan Gallagher, and Benjamin Ross. Katie, Ursa, you can start when you're ready. Good afternoon. My name is Katie Ursa, and I address you as a lifelong resident of sections 3 and 5. I might not have much experience with government or policy issues as so many of my accomplished neighbors do, but I can say with conviction that I know a great deal about my neighborhood. It is my love of the neighborhood which compelled me to volunteer with the Chevyche Historical Society in previous summers, and it is also this innate appreciation which compels me to oppose the proposed legislation and acts incompatible with the areas already burdened infrastructure and unrepresentative of local voices and interests. My experience is both someone who grew up in the affected area and as a current college student, likely two perspectives underrepresented today, giving particular insight in these dimensions. The abundance of cars completely overburdened an adequate infrastructure. In experience with the Chevy Chase Historical Society, I saw how Montgomery County really developed as a street car suburb in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While the original rail lines and trolleys have virtually disappeared, Moorah and Welcome Traces linger, namely streets and neighborhoods designed without any consideration for cars. These narrow streets already posed major complications to parking, and the proposed legislation would certainly only inflame this issue. This glaringly apparent deficiency also represents far more complex and less readily observed environmental implications to the area, not to mention resident safety. This dimension greatly concerns me as a resident with an understanding of local history. The relationship which is proposed legislation creates between developers and local jurisdictions only inflame such implications. Effectively transferring development power to those with monetary rather than community interests creates a worrying dynamic. Developers owe little allegiance to the proposed proclamation of affordable housing or the well-being of existing and future residents. As a student, the proposal and execution of this legislation disheartens me on a more ideological premise. And this area more than any, the importance of observing democratic representation and transparency should appear evident, yet limited public input and outreach have made for a flawed proposal. I urge you to pursue a more nuanced legislation reflective of all community interests, especially those who cannot attend this meeting today on Tuesday at 130. I thank you for the opportunity to speak on this issue. Thank you so much. Thank you Miss McKenna. Good afternoon my name is Melissa McKenna. What homeowner would do this to their own property? Would you? How would you feel if you saw your highlight your house highlighted on the company and map? Would you feel targeted for possible taking under imminent domain? How can you ensure that end developers won't buy up these properties? Because this looks like a guide for them to know which houses to go after when the owner dies and the family needs to sell the house to pay the taxes on the supposed generational wealth. Have you looked at the map? I mean, looked. The parcels identified are well interesting. Included our parks, houses of worship, government services, and lots and lots of schools. In no order. Glenmont Forest Park in Kensington Volunteer Fire Station number 18, Black Hill Regional Park, Saddlebrook Local Park, Gathersburg Library, Rockville Volunteer Fire Station number 31, the former landfill on East Goody Drive in Rockville, the Barry Day School, St. Bernardette Catholic Church and School Crossed from Blair High School. In only St. Peter's Catholic Church and School, St. John's Episcopal Church and School, Benishalom of Only and School, then Shady Grove and Eastern Middle Schools, Seneca Valley, Quint Sortured, Northward and Kennedy High Schools. My favorites, Georgetown Prep, Strathmore and Blair High School. The Purcells along Randolph Road, for example, are small, starter-sized, attainable, single family housing, privately owned, and occupied, and often have a small home business on site. These lots typically have a steep front grade and require at least two adjacent properties and significant earth moving to make a triplex or four unit townhouse. And how are they not part of a residential neighborhood just because they aren't in the middle and the rest of their neighbors are behind them? There's a good way to do workforce housing and this proposal is not that way. I will provide in my written testimony a few examples of teachers village in Newark, New Jersey and Hartford, Connecticut, and in Maryland, Ro home style teacher housing was completed in Baltimore just last fall. I'd provide more but then what would I have to run on? What happened to the APFO part of the growth and infrastructure policy? You know, having adequate public facilities, waters, sewer, storm water management, fire and police coverage, school capacity, oh my bad, that was the subdivision staging policy, and the GIP pretty much wrote that all out. Landju's planning provides an overall vision, zoning implements specific regulations to achieve those goals. In neither case should it encourage haphazard insertions of random housing types everywhere, which is what I foresee. What I read in this legislation is a backdoor introduction of the main tenant behind the attainable housing initiative, up zoning of single-family residential, wrapped in a disguise of highly detailed physical plans and nomenclature. Please remain at the broad brushstroke and revisit this plan. Next we have those, John. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Hello. My name is David Johnson, and I have lived in Chevy Chasen's 1981. I believe there are too many unknowns about ZTA-2502 to allow consideration at this time for one thing. Why are there over 30,000 approved housing units already in the pipeline and none are being built? And why would one think adding additional units by the ZTA would expect a different result? These are Cvonius Supervisor Montgomery Planning. Planning has promised a thorough analysis of the pipeline to better understand project specific impediments to getting these units built. So where are the results? Also, do you know how many service workers, teachers, police, and fire there are that need in want homes in Montgomery? How can you set a goal and not have that number? She goes on to say, we should continue to zone for housing that meets demand in places that have the infrastructure to support it. So let's talk about infrastructure. Where is the research for the potential effects of this proposed ZTA on the present infrastructure in areas that are already under stress. You know that some of these neighborhoods were established nearly a hundred years ago, with infrastructure determined by master plan equally as old. WSSC reported 130 water main breaks this January alone. Many neighborhoods have narrow streets, some without sidewalks. If developers do not provide full on-site parking and are allowed to chain, how are resulting on-street parking affect emergency vehicles getting through? Or how would the quality of life and those neighborhoods be affected? What are your plans to lessen the gridlock already present? Your own research has found that public transportation cannot handle, and increase over the 30 million square foot cap currently in place. Public schools are already above 100% capacity and we heard at the BCC listening session last year that children are sitting on the floors of school buses on their way to school. And the county council office of legislative oversight determined that ZTA 2502 will widen disparities in housing by race and ethnicity, will negatively impact racial equity and social justice, and is likely to benefit only developers and landlords. I've been in Northpeak Surgeon in this area for over 50 years, and a 2,500-year-old adage, known to every doctor, is first-do-no-horm. Before I would recommend surgery to any patient, I'd ask myself three questions. One, are there alternative options that may be equally good or better? Number two, what could go wrong? So I can anticipate and prevent and three, the most important of all, what do I not know? Because being blindsided may lead to disaster for the patient and put my entire career at risk. So before you do any surgery on our neighborhoods with the ZTI, what questions have you asked? Your careers may depend on it. Thank you. Thank you. Next we have Ms. Gallagher. Hello, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to testify today. I'm Susan Gallagher and I live in Bethesda. I'm in favor of the housing now package, but I did want to address the issue of the owner occupancy requirement for ADUs and how that might thwart our effort to create more affordable housing along the corridors. It's actually anywhere in the county for that matter. The ADU rule say that a basement apartment of any size is considered an ADU and an apartment in any other part of the building would be considered an ADU if it's smaller than 1200 square feet. So under the owner occupancy rules, if one of the two apartments in a building is considered to be an ADU, the owner of the building has to live in one of the two apartments in order to rent the other one out. So owners of homes along the corridors can be so excited to hear they can build a duplex and rent out their units. And they'll probably want to take the less expensive option, which is to convert their basement to a walk out apartment or build a small apartment on their house so they can rent out the units. But you're going to have to tell them that if they try to do that they won't be able to rent out their units because of the requirements of owner occupancy under the ADU. This is a real disincentive for them and it's going to create a lot less affordable housing than you want. So even if a donor or a builder wants to start from scratch, tear their house down, put in a new duplex, they're going to have to be super careful that one of the units is not considered to be a basement apartment. And they have to be sure that one of the units is no more, or sorry, no smaller than 1200 square feet. Otherwise, it won't be considered a fully rentable duplex under housing now. So owners might try to get around this by building an addition that's one square foot larger than the 1,200 square foot, but why create such an arbitrary distinction in this case? And why incentivize the construction of larger, more expensive housing? So I'm just trying to argue that it would be really good. By the way, landlord to can't afford to build something cheap and cheerful would be tempted to sell it to a developer who's going to just put expensive luxury, duplex, or townhouses there. So what I'm trying to argue is the way to avoid this adverse consequences to clearly spell out in your housing now bill that any structure along the corridor that has two units, regardless of whether one is in the basement or whether it's smaller or bigger than 1,200 square feet, is considered to a legally rentable duplex. Unless you do this, you're going to leave a lot of landlords along the corridor confused, very angry and disappointed, and you're going to end up with a lot of luxury duplexes that only the wealthy can afford. So if I have enough time, I guess I don't. Yeah, I was going to say we might as well just go ahead and eliminate the own recumency role all across the county for this very reason. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Ross. Good afternoon. My name is Ben Ross and I'm speaking as an individual. I urge you to enact ZTA-2502 and strengthen it. The current draft is a step in the right direction, but it's much too small a step to meet our housing needs. Missing housing needs to be legalized by right within the entire red and purple line carters, extending one mile from the stations. I'm going to use most of my time to look at the arguments made by the opponents of missing middle housing. These arguments just aren't coherent. The opponents have told us for years that master plans are sacred. Now they want you to ignore the master plan. They want traffic kept out of residential neighborhoods, but they also want all the neighborhoods to go where there's a lot of traffic. They rail against big developers, but they oppose by right development of small houses which is the only way small builders can get into the market. They say they want to preserve the county's suburban character, but their policies allow make all the new housing go into a few small areas full of high rises. Let me say one more thing about neighborhood character. The character of detached house neighborhoods near transit is being altered right now by mentionization. Manionization is a consequence of the current zoning code. The code limits new structures to one housing unit per lot. And that means every time an old house is torn down we get a mansion for rich people. If you really want to preserve neighborhood characters, you need to do two things. One which is where it's effective in the current zoning ordinance is to increase the maximum number of units per lot from one to at least three by right. Second, you would then limit the size of the individual housing units in the replacement structures to something like the size of the old houses, say 2,000 feet, 2,000 square feet. That way, when a 1,500 square foot house comes down and replace with a 5,000 square foot structure, the new structure would have three units, each similar in size to the old house and thereby preserve the character of the neighborhoods. Because what you need to preserve is not the buildings, it's the age and economic diversity of our detached neighborhoods. You know, this is exactly the point that the town of Somerset made earlier this afternoon. At the same time, would that kind of limit you would add more no housing units to address our severe shortage? It would be a win-win giving both sides of this debate what they're asking for. Thank you very much. Thank you, thank you to this panel. Our next panel is Carolyn Gupta, Catherine Davies, Richard Hoy, Rich Simontov, Mauricio Vasquez, Ryan Analu, and Sharon Canavan. Yeah, and then push in. We can start off with Ms. Carolyn Gupta when you're ready. Good afternoon. I'm Carolyn Gupta with the Connecticut Adventistate Civic Association. I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak of this hearing regarding housing. Our community has over 1,000 houses bordering two state roads as MD-185, Connecticut Avenue, MD-586, Pierceville Road, and a County Street Randolph Road. We're also near two metro stations, Wheaton and Glimont. This neighborhood is diverse with residents from over 15 countries. The Civic Association has been active since 1994. Recently, the CAECA has been receiving in the mail information from the county boards of appeals and private surveyors that do not directly affect the neighborhood. Yet, why is it that the Connecticut Adventist States are not getting information by mail on this housing issue, which mentions area uncertain carders, like rows and boulevards that have three lanes, which are Connecticut Adventist states bordered on, the vírôs marauding Connecticut Avenue? How can a civic association inform the neighbors if information is not provided to the civic association? In the neighborhood there are those who work two jobs are taking care of their families, etc. who do not have the time to sit daily at a computer to see what's happening in their area. You may say that these can be pulled up online or on emails. I want to announce that there are those who are still like me who do not have email. I still get most of my information through the USPS, the mail service. It will be beneficial for my civic association to get such information through our kind of council representatives to inform us. of formats. I did learn that one of the plans was to try to drastically reduce the numbers of view. such information through our County Council representatives to inform us. I did learn that one of the plans is to try to drastically reduce the numbers of vehicles on the road and to use more bicycles, as well as buses. On one hand, it helps the environment. When on the other hand, there are those like some of the seniors with several packages. Those with mobility difficulties and those with children to find that most difficult to handle. I do think Councilmember Natalie Fondin Gonzales for having a public town meeting or more housing that now the new options for workers that was Thursday evening February 27th at Wheaton High School. There was a PowerPoint presentation that evening, but some residents present there it went over their heads. It has been mentioned of a possible pilot for residential development from converting a property that is at least 50% vacant. What will happen to the other 50% who are in that property and is the county looking like vacant lots like the old white Flint shopping mall which has been vacant for a few years. Another question, who are these thousands of people who will be moving into Montgomery County and where they coming from? The main concern for the Connecticut Avenue States residents is who is being displaced and where would they go? Thank you. Thank you Ms. Cooper. Ms. Davies, you're next. Good afternoon. My name is Katharine Davies and I live in Bethesda and I was reading about this new plan and imagine my dismay when I saw on the map that my library, the Little Falls Library, was available. Available? What is it your intention to let developers tear down libraries and build high-rise apartment houses? This library is more than a library. It sits next to Westland Middle School. It is a safe place for students to go and wait for their parents to pick them up. It's a place where the students go and sit and do their homework together. And it's a very active library for older people in the county. This is an important community resource. I cannot imagine letting a developer tear down a library that's so important, not just to me, but to the school and the rest of the community in order to build a high rise and give you 15% for your units. It boggles my mind. I cannot imagine what process of thought made this property available? And I ask you, please make it unavailable. And I will just say that I didn't do a comprehensive survey on the map, but I noticed that the Chevy Chase Library is available as well. Is this like a library giveaway? Seriously, if this is a housing plan, can we not leave the libraries alone? Could we please take them off the available list? That's my request. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to speak. Thank you, Councilmember Benigan-Zalas would like to speak. I am so sorry, two seconds. That was a mistake, not a single library qualifies on this, or schools, or public buildings at all. So we heard you, we agreed, don't worry. You will. Thank you, Mr. Hoy, you're up next. Thank you, Council President Stewart, for allowing me to speak on this important topic. My name is Richard Hoy. I am a retired firefighter for Montgomery County. I live in Bethesda. My bike ride here from Bethesda took 10 minutes. So I think we can say that Bethesda and Rockville are within a 15 minute neighborhood. That is five minutes to Medical Center Metro and five minutes from Rockville Metro here. I've been car free for 30 years and as Henry Ford apined, those who think they can are probably right and those who think they can't are probably right also. This plan builds great opportunity for people like me when I was employed and now in retirement where I am struggling to stay in Bethesda in a group house. I support this housing package with recommendations for changes to make it more practical for builders and property owners, homeowners who live on edges of corridors and corner lots and some of the other recommendations made by earlier folks here. I want to speak to two issues that I think are left out of the debate out of the focus here, and that is relationships and aspiration. We know today in our very troubled world that we have that relationships are what people rely on in times of struggle, trauma, whether that be natural disasters or disasters created in our government. So what we have here, and I have been a resident in Potomac as a child, is a neighborhood that becomes less diverse and the relationships are affected by that. So and the aspiration that others have as was expressed here earlier by an aerospace engineer, is true. People who can afford, but struggle to, to live here, will simply look elsewhere to live where the struggle is less. Why struggle? Building relationships among a greater diversity of people builds trust and lessons fear. The residents, the people that are in need of this plan not include the people who need housing, but the people who have housing in existing neighborhoods. And I wanna show you Mike Curriculum-Bite here by a young man in the second grade, done many years ago. I won't read it to you, but a second grader did this. So that's your time. Okay, Bruce Adams-Sun wrote this. Thank you. And it was only because he had chance to see me in his neighborhood that he would look to me and not a lawyer for this. Thank you. Thank you. Next have Ms. Simontov. Hi, thank you so much for giving me the time to speak today. My name is Breitzimontov. I've living in Camp Mel for about eight years now and I am married with four children. I stand here today not just for my family but also for my friends and neighbors who live in the Camp Mill community who could not be here today. So I wanted to say first that I feel this is personal. If these rezoning amendments go through my way of life as in Orthodox Jew will cease to exist here. My family depends on being within walking distance of our synagogue, kosher market, and our close-knit community. Resoning wood displays families like mine, making it impossible to maintain our religious practices and traditions. So, who really pays for all this? So we've seen how these projects can financially burden local communities. The Penn South Cooperative in NYC is a prime example. Originally, kept affordable through a tax abatement program, residents face soaring property taxes when the program expired. That they were left scrambling for relief and ultimately the financial burden shifted to the homeowners. So I ask you, are you being clear and consistent with your data? Can you truly say these policies are fair and unbiased? Have you looked to our history or to what happens now? Have you seen where else this has been implemented? Here's an example. The Mountain View was meant to school district's teacher housing project in California only this year. What started as a $56 million project, skyrocketed to $90 million due to mismanagent and reckless spending, despite the massive budget, many teachers still couldn't afford to live there. And now the project is under audit for mismanagement Someone here previously mentioned the Minneapolis 2040 plan. It was designed to increase housing Exancity by allowing by allowing multi-unit buildings in a single-family neighborhood But instead of making housing more affordable it actually increased property values so that made the housing actually less affordable. They displaced low income residents, ignored local concerns, and they faced legal battles, which ultimately forced the judge to have the parts basically scrapped in 2023. So after doing a lot of research, I thought maybe I could just find this data that the council is coming up with. How can we make these plans actually thrive? Yet after hours of research, I still couldn't find anything. So I attended Natalie Fonny Gonzalez's open house on March 5th regarding more housing now package. She stated that the data being used for these policies comes from official sources, not from Google or public websites. So what did I do? I called the Office of Public Information, which redirected me to 311, which then set me to the county council's office again. Then they gave me the number for the council's attorney. Leave who I believe is the name? But my call was never returned. So this is not just about buildings and tax incentives. It's about people. Communities are more than numbers on a spreadsheet and policies that ignore people and that the impact that will do more than harm than good. So before making any decisions that we shape our neighborhoods, we deserve transparency, accountability, and policies that truly work. Rush solutions do not solve problems. They only create new ones. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next we have Mauricio Vesquez. And you'll be speaking for five minutes because you're also beginning to build two-twenty-five. Thank you, Council President. Good afternoon, everybody. My name is Dr. Mauricio Vesquez, Executive Director of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Montgomery County. I'm here today to voice my strong support for the more housing now package. As someone who cares about the economic vitality and quality of life here in Montgomery County, I recognize that housing is at the heart of both. We're facing a severe housing shortage, and while this initiative alone will not solve every problem, it is a critical step in the right direction. Montgomery County is home to over 400,000 housing units, yet only 65% of residents own their homes according to the US Census Bureau. That means more than a third of our community has no choice but to rent, often struggling with high costs and limited options. The median monthly rent is almost $1900, while the median mortgage payment is almost $3,000. For many working families, these costs are simply unaffordable. The reality is that we're not building enough housing to keep up with demand and the consequences are clear. Rising home prices, increasing rental costs, and more people being forced out of their communities where they work and contribute. We're losing young professionals, teachers, first responders, and middle class families because they cannot afford to stay. This is not sustainable in Montgomery County. While no single policy will solve the housing crisis, more housing now moves us in the right direction by encouraging the development of attainable housing options for middle-class residents. It promotes thoughtful growth and expands opportunities for home ownership and rental affordability. One of the key benefits of ZTA-2502 is its focus on expanding housing options along Mayor corridors where residents will benefit from proximity to public transportation, including bus routes and train stations. We know that transportation and housing are deeply connected. When people live near to real-life transit, they boost transit use, save money, reduce their commute times, and contribute to a more environmentally sustainable community. By allowing for more housing along key corridors, this amendment supports Smart Growth, reduces transit conjection, and helps people live closer to their jobs. This is especially critical for our workforce, including teachers, first responders, and others who deserve to live in the communities they serve. Not acting is the most expensive choice we could make. Without policies that encourage housing development, the affordability crisis will worsen. More people will struggle to find homes, commutimes will increase, and the mobility will decline. Beyond affordability, housing development is a powerful economic driver. More construction means more jobs, more local business activity, and increased tax revenue to fund public services. Right now, we're also facing economic uncertainty due to shifting federal employment policies. Strengthening our housing market will provide economic resilience, attracting new residents, supporting local businesses, and fostering a more dynamic economy. We require policies that attract new businesses, generate employment opportunities, and support our workforce. The county needs to construct an estimated 41,000 homes by 2030. However, a third of its land is designated for single-family homes. In contrast, multi-family homes are occupied as small portion of the county's land. Notably, more than half of the county's household reside in townhones or apartments, and predominantly minority groups make up this population. We have gardener's strong support for the more housing now packaged for minority communities which now collectively comprise over half the county's population. We cannot afford to wait. Housing is not just about buildings, it's about people, families, and the future of Montgomery County. By supporting more housing now, we're making a commitment to a more inclusive, economically strong, and sustainable community. Thank you for your time and consideration. Great. Stanley, you are next. You have five minutes. You're also speaking on Bill 2-25. Thank you, Madam President. Brian Anlu, I'm wearing multiple hats today, so I hope you'll forgive my somewhat disjointed testimony. First, I'm here on behalf of the Department and Office Building Association in support of Council Bill 225. Aoba commends the sponsors for taking the steps to address the county's housing supply issues in the ailing office market. The most recent county economic indicators report shows that the office vacancy rate is approaching 20%. This rate is only going to increase as long-term leases expire and employers continue to reassess their office space needs. The federal government is not helping either. Last week GSA canceled thousands of commercial leases, millions of square feet of office space, and more are planned by September. As you all know, they also plan to list hundreds of federal properties for sale. If all these cancellations and sales are completed, there will be an even bigger glut of commercial office space on the market driving office property values down even more. In my written testimony, you'll find a graphic that illustrates the county's current office market. It shows several privately owned office properties declining in values by as much as 30 to 70%. These aren't properties in a suburban office park somewhere. They're right on Metro. Wayoba has a member property that lost 70% of its value in Bethesda. So while property tax abatement may seem like a lot to some, I would point out that these properties are already producing diminishing returns for the county. A 2023 report by RCO found that every 10% decline in office values results in approximately $14 million less in revenue for the county. For these reasons, a year of urgency, the Council's a pass, Council Bill 2022. With that, I'd like to put on my individual hat on, and also my realtor hat. I'm a lifelong resident of the county, and I'm supporting Zoning Text Amendment 2502, because I've seen firsthand the impact that the housing shortage has on buyers. Last summer, I represented a MCPS teacher client who was hoping to buy her first home for her and her elderly mother and younger sister. Despite putting in several offers at or slightly above the list price, she lost out three times on three different homes to buyers with more cash on hand who could afford to bid 15 to $25,000 above list. And so I support the, I strongly support the ZTA. I would simply ask a small change that you reduce the master plan right of way with from the greater of 100 feet to at least 80 feet. That would allow me to build multi-unit workforce housing at my childhood home in Silver Spring. It's a 1950s era home that is functionally obsolete. It has small bedrooms, small closets. I guess people had less stuff back then. And so, really without this option, the only thing that I could do with that home right now, it's valued at about 400,000 in the present state that it's in. It's in seriousurious repair. The only thing I could do with that home is I could gut it for about $200,000 and list it closer to the market value of 700,000. That's what newly renovated single-family homes are selling for nearby. With this ETA, if it's expanded slightly, as I said, I'd be able to build up to three units on that property, selling at roughly $500,000, some of the math might change depending on some of the decisions you all make. But with that, that's going to be somewhat more affordable to the client that I, as I mentioned, I've represented last year. And we'll be able to keep her here instead of displacing her to Frederick or beyond. And so with that I urge council to support more housing now. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next we have Ms. Kenneban. Good afternoon. I'm Sharon Kenneban, President of Northwood Four Corners Civic Association. ZTA-2502 affects two corridors alongside our community, University Boulevard and Colesville Road. With little time to respond, we're relying on our community survey responses on the University Boulevard corridor plan. Respondents were open to greater housing density on a less intensive scale. 42% support duplexes and 15% support triplexes, and contrast one-third opposed any higher density. ZTA-2502 limits development to 40 feet, 41 percent of survey respondents approved heights of no more than 40 feet. A majority support current setbacks. One of the measures sponsors assured us ZTA-2502 applies to individual lots with setbacks, not assembled parcels of several lots. Developers may prefer by right redevelopment under the corridor plan over the optional method under ZTA-2502, lessening its impact. Along the three and a half mile University Boulevard corridor, that plan estimates up to 4,000 new residential units, while the more modest scale housing density under CTA-2502 is half that estimate county-wide. The Carter plan affects too many properties, more than 200 single families out of 1,600 households. The ZTA-2502 map covers a more reasonable 66 homes. ZTA-2502 limits up-sowning solely to properties with corridor frontage as more sensitive to height, setback requirements, and density. Yet the issue of deconfliction arises, which of these proposals controls the outcome for our neighborhood. Parking is a hot button issue. On street parking near the carters already limits passage to a single lane, forcing drivers to the curb to avoid oncoming cars. Adding housing density without requiring parking will produce congested, unnavigable streets. The carter plan will reduce travel lanes on both our carters, likely adding to congestion and cut through traffic. Less traffic capacity while adding housing density is counterintuitive. With so little time to adopt policy, we can't comment on the 15% workforce housing requirement or the AMI standard. Most home values on our two corridors range from the mid 400s to 500s. Will more expensive housing replace naturally courting affordable homes. The University Boulevard Carter Plan and to a lesser extent, ZTA-2502 prioritized higher density development without addressing infrastructure limitations, traffic congestion and parking shortages. Finally, we need much more clarity on issues where the two proposals involve different and perhaps conflicting requirements. Thanks for this opportunity to testify. Thank you very much. That concludes all our in-person testimony for this bill. We now have a number of folks virtual and we'll start with Dan Wilham. Can you hear me? Yes, Mr. Wilham, we can hear you. Good. I'm Dan Wilham, President of the Greater Cultural Citizens Association. GCCA supports CTA-2503. Mr. Wilham, actually, if you could, you're very soft. Oh, sorry about that. Oh, okay. Oh, there you go. Perfect. You found it. Anyway, GCC supports the ZTA 2503 to allow commercial to residential conversion in all zones and to provide for expedited approval where the commercial property has been more than 50% vacant for a long period of time. While not addressing the proposed legislation transportation impact taxes should not be required since they have already met that requirement when they refer a spill. In a like manner, the developments should not be subject to LITR test and requirements. GCCA supports Bill 2-25 to establish payment and will of taxes for commercial residential conversions. However, the proposed 25-year tax waiver period is too long rather we support the 10-year period. GCCA supports modifications to ZTA 2502. The justification for this program is that people can't afford single family detached houses, but then the proposal is to build multi family units, not single family detached houses. Many, there are many houses throughout the county that sell much less than a $1 million single-family detached house. We think housing for the very wealthy areas should be excluded. For example, typical houses in the east part of the county are around 600,000. Also, why not include attached houses when determining median price houses? Based on the previous point, GCCA feels that 148,000 annual income for a couple is much too high to be covered with work force housing program and thus to be eligible to receive government benefits. County ones should not be used to help people buy houses and wealthy communities like Potomac and Bethesda. GCCA poses increasing, including controlled major highways since this category of roads does not have buildings facing them. Also, some segments of the roads identified with the ZTA are actually one lane or two lane service roads. The ZTA also needs to clearly exclude development on front and on front and service roads. GCCA agrees with the ZTA that site plan approval is required to give the public an opportunity to comment on the conversions. Space needs to be provided. On-site parking for at least two vehicles since on-site parking is generally not allowed on boulevard and possibly downtown streets. The requirement is needed to provide recoup residents from bonding family units, building parking and adjacent neighborhoods. It should be realized that public transit is poor in some of the areas. Thank you very much. Thank you, Ms. Wilhelm. Next we have Alianne Tobias. I dare to tell you, thanks for the opportunity to testify. only an Tobias? Hi there, Halleer. Thanks for the opportunity to testify. I'm Leanne Tobias of the Springfield Civic Association in Bethesda. SCA represents 650 homes and 1700 residents. SCA appreciates more housing now. It's significantly better than RC, but this legislation needs substantial amendment, additional study and more public input, including the following changes. Prohibit chaining to explicitly eliminate from up-zoning all parcels that do not entirely front-on-carriages, including lots to the rear of corridor fronting parcels, quarter lots and lots that front on-side streets. Ensure that single-family neighborhoods are not overwhelmed by on-street parking and traffic increases, the cost congestion and reduce emergency response times provide two parking spaces per unit on site. All vehicle access for up zone parcel should be directly to and from the corridor, not from neighborhood streets. And the amount of permitted up zoning on a corridor should be linked to mass transit capacity. I'm the largest my neighborhood in Springfield, River Road in Massachusetts Avenue, racks sufficient mass transit for projects larger than a single family life. And act robust environmental controls, including non-disturbants of mature tree canopy, minimum tree canopy standards, and mandatory stormwater management requirements that are non-wavable. An addition provides for triplex standards for stormwater management. Reject the planning department's recommendations to eliminate site plan reviews or to reduce site plan reviews to administrative reviews by planning staff. Full site plan reviews are needed to tailor projects to community needs and to also to ensure transparency. Conduct additional studies and revise legislation to address fiscal and res J issues. Thermal fiscal impact analysis is needed to ensure that infrastructure needed for upzoning and tax abatements for office to multi-family conversions, to not unduly strain county resources, especially in light of federal job and budget cuts. Noah and anti-displacement protection should be enacted to address raise-jake concerns. And finally, provide more notice, time and opportunity for public comment. Send written notice to affected homeowners for them that they are proposed for up zoning, conduct additional public hearings, and keep the record open for at least 30 days after hearing. Thank you, Ms. Tobias. Thank you. Next, we have Ms. Sherryiss and she'll be speaking for five minutes. She's also speaking on ZTA 25-03. Thank you. I am Sherry Stysel Weiss, president of the Luxemanners Citizens Association, representing almost 900 households in Luxemanner, Windomir, and the Oaks. Luxemanner is bounded by executive Boule executive Boulevard old Georgetown Road in I-495. In 2021, Hurricane Ida resulted in an extraordinary amount of water falling within our community and the resulting damage cost to property was in the millions. Had a person or pet been in their basement at the time of the storm, the force of the water entering those homes would have been deadly. As a result of this incident, the US Army Corps of Engineers is conducting an ongoing hydrologic and hydraulic study and FEMA is reviewing flood zone maps. Seven properties have been identified along Old Georgetown Road with potential to be workforce housing sites under ZTA-2502. We anticipate several vacant buildings along executive will be opportunities for conversion to workforce housing under ZTA-2503. We appreciate your responding to our residents' concerns by narrowing the legislative focus to workforce corridors and eliminating by-right development. We urge you to continue to require public input through site plan review before the planning board in development decisions. ZTA-2502 is problematic for property owners who currently reside along these seven proposed properties for additional density development. Climate adaptation standards are not addressed. There are no standards for three or four unit multiplex buildings. We concur with the planning board recommendations for zone changes, ZTA changes, or other enforceable mechanisms that will require control of stormwater runoff. We also agree that stringent standards are needed to support the cap. Stormwater management waivers must also be banned. We concur with the planning committee recommendations to assess the potential need for co-changes, ZTA changes, and other enforceable mechanisms, as appropriate, for new more stringent standards regarding stormwater management. Doing so would go a long way in mitigating stormwater quantity, flooding, and water quality negative impacts. Tree canopy regulations must be maintained. Applicants who trigger this law prefer to pay the offsite fee rather than replace the trees they have removed on the site as a result of their development. Reduction of tree canopy provisions is currently outlined in this ZTA are highly problematic for a community that is already flood prone. We agree with the planning board for code changes that would lessen the treat canopy loss. Our neighborhoods has narrow streets dating back to the 1930s. Currently, both Tilden Middle School and Luxemander Elementary School are located along these streets, resulting in parking challenges and massive traffic backups during and after school hours. We understand the logic in the proposal to reduce the parking spaces from two to one to assist in stormwater management for impervious surfaces. However, this reduction in parking will only contribute to more parking and traffic congestion on our neighborhoods and weighted streets. Both CTAs are lacking in provision to address traffic. Old Georgetown Road has failed intersections along our community. The newly built Woodward High School is across the street from the proposed blue zone. Recently added bike lanes along Old Georgetown Road have added to the confusion and congestion and have effectively removed a lane of traffic from both sides of Old Georgetown Road. The proposed BRT route, which will effectively take away yet another lane of traffic on Old Georgetown Road, takes away the notion of a three lane roadway in front of the proposed workforce housing sites. We are trying to get our minds around how all of this and new curb cuts and additional residents will be able to use old George Tenn Road for travel. Utility infrastructure issues must be addressed in both proposed ZTAs. WSSC infrastructure is dilipidated and needs to be replaced to support all of this development. Our community has endured multiple pipe failures and this really needs to be addressed in recent years, Ross sewage pipes that are located along the old farm creek behind executive Boulevard and Luxemann or elementary school have leached Ross sewage into our creek throughout the community. Both ZTAs must have amendments that proactively address utility infrastructure prior to allowing any additional development to occur. There must be ZTA 2503 amendments to address school utilization and enrollment to require a converted office building to address school capacity When a feeder school in the cluster is at least at 85% capacity, coordination between MCBS and planning is critical in communities. Thank you very much. Next we have Mary Kohler. Good afternoon. My name is Mary Kohler and I'm testifying on behalf of Montgomery Housing Alliance. As the council is well aware, the county must significantly increase housing production to meet housing targets over the next several years. ZTA-2502 is an important first step toward expanding opportunities for more diverse housing typologies along certain county corridors. This is a critical aspect of the blueprint for the county's future set forth in Thrive 2050, a future that fosters communities with better access to jobs, transportation, parks, public spaces, and affordable attainable housing. To achieve these goals, we must update zoning policies to allow more of the housing we need in more places in Montgomery County. Housing, especially meaningfully affordable housing, remains one of the county's most pervasive and persistent challenges. Nearly half of Montgomery County renter households are housing cost burden paying over 30% of income toward housing costs. A quarter paid more than half of their incomes toward rent. The county must also work to ensure more equitable access to affordable homeownership opportunities, allowing more households and especially households of color to build generational well. We applaud ZTA-2502 sponsors for recognizing that among the tools needed to address these complex challenges, we must update land use policies to allow more homes in a variety of types and sizes to be built in more places. We encourage the council to consider expanding the ZTA to amplify its impact by including rail stations in addition to major county corridors and by applying the measure to corner lots on transit corridors. These additions would generate even more homes with access to jobs and economic opportunity. We also encourage the council to ensure that the ZTA reduces barriers to development and helps assure certainty for builders. This critical effort to expand allow allowable housing types must align with the development industry's expertise so that development is feasible and effective. Additionally, the county must increase assistance for home buyers so they can benefit from updated zoning policies. We strongly support the efforts of the more housing now at co-sponsors to double investment in the Down Payment Assistance Program. In addition to the Workforce Housing Fund, this investment must reflect new money, net new money in the county budget. Measures to increase overall housing productions, such as ZTA-2502, are important steps to reduce the housing shortage. We urge you to continue to combine them with other tools that address deeper housing need among low income households such as prioritizing affordable housing in the county budget, supporting rental assistance and prioritizing preservation of naturally occurring housing. Naturally occurring affordable housing. We applaud the council for the hard work you have done and continue to do to address housing need. We welcome any opportunity to work with you further on these issues and especially on CTA-2502. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next I think we're going to Paul Jarosinksky. Yes I'm Paul Jarosinksky. I represent the Chair in Homeowners Association as its president. We're a 606 unit homeowners association in Oli, Maryland. We are county master plan community that includes single family detach tones, town homes and MPDUs. I am coming in on our opposition to ZTA-2502 as well as polypill 2-25. Due to time restraints, a few points are only in my written submission. While this new plan is less intrusive than the original HSI plan, it still starts the ASAHSI process where the council is redefining and downgrading the meeting of single families under the virtue of ZTA. This plan will replace naturally occurring affordable housing with much smaller market rate housing. It will further decrease the most popular style of living in Montgomery County, further driving up the cost of the detached homes remaining. Instead you should be building and offering these multiplexes and failed malls, vacated spaces, and new communities where there are 100,000 units already in the planning development pipeline. The current plan is an indiscriminate county-wide plan that paints blue boxes on existing streets throughout the county without regard for existing master plans. Ajacent communities and infrastructure, especially with the increased congestion expected from having more cars accessing the county's commuter routes between traffic signals. In specific regarding the cherry wood, you have designated several acre plus lots adjacent to our community for up community for upsetting. Using your FAR of 1.25, each of these single house lots could be converted to 50 plus apartment units. Not only would this cause a traffic nightmare on Georgia Avenue, the only North South Carter in the county, but all the water from that new impervious service would run downhill into Cherrywood homes. This is poor planning. Cherrywood is also concerned about a developer buying some of the lots in Cherrywood that would likely be flooded. While Councilmember Friedzen has said this can't happen, Jason Saturian, a land use attorney, has said there's no language in the ZTA that prevents this chaining from happening. This emission needs to be corrected. Cherrywood moves one of the first H&WAs to recommend converting near-empt empty commercial buildings to affordable housing, the only real housing shortage in Montgomery County. Outside the federal allows some deportations, this makes sense if it is conformed to the current standards of greater than 50% of affordable housing for a 15-year pilot. The current council proposal of only 15% of affordable housing for a 25-year pilot is a bad deal for taxpayers. We concur with the RISJ impact statement that this plan could undermine the category to provide future public goods and services and that this is particularly harmful to bi-packed community members. We do not support the pilot bill for this reason. We understand that a fiscal analysis of this proposal won't even be ready for review until March 18th. With the HSI, no council member could name any HOA with board directors for that organization endorsed the application of HSI within their community. Similarly, despite the claim that the community was involved with the development of its new proposal, we cannot identify any HOA at the press release, although we could identify representatives of the developer groups. Can you name any established community where the government body has endorsed this plan adjacent to their community? We also question the overall rationale for rushing this plan forward at a time of historic downturn in the economy. The federal, state and local governments are all over budget. The state of Maryland's projecting a loss of 29,000 federal jobs and the state fiscal deficit has been up to 3.3 billion. I see many of the portion of the state deficit will pass over to the counties. In addition, the federal government is still playing deportations that will further decrease housing demand. All these changes will link result in fiscal short falls and a downturn in the real estate market. Now it's a particularly inopportune time for another gift to developers. We join Mark Elrich and Lil Joana when asking the council to acknowledge the unprecedented current fiscal crisis to pull these proposals and weigh in six months until the dust settles at the federal level. Housing could be tremendously different after the layoffs and deportation. Lastly, your main concern about the perusal misreportation of the market rate housing situation that counting by the claims staff and some members of the council as an excuse to attack single family detached housing is the most popular form housing for several reasons. It is not racist as a playing director claims and the target on those developments or the playing director needs to be removed. It is a discipline to keep telling county residents that the average cost of a home was over a million dollars and Signuate the residents in an income of three hundred forty thousand dollars to buy a home thousands of homeless are sold every year to people They can considerly less than three hundred forty thousand Media prices of standard real estate term which Details the average wire for a home in county according to rocket.com Um, a media price for a home in February 25 was $6.15 down from $6.50 last summer. Currently there's a house for sale and we will run for $35 million. When this house sells it would greatest skew the average price of a home for that month, but not the median, which is why the median is the main price indicator. Let's stop trying to demoralize and mobilize the residents in their area They don't know the difference between the meme and the media when it comes to real estate. Statistics. Thank you. Next we have David Foreman who's also speaking for five minutes and also speaking on ZTA 25-03 I'm David Foreman and live in Bethesda. I represent the Citizens Coordinating Committee on Friendship Heights, a coalition of 18 community organizations in Southwest Montgomery County serving about 20,000 residents. We commend the council on some of the more housing now proposals such as increased funding for workforce housing and the conversion of vacant office buildings to housing. However, the ZTA for up-zoning along certain corridors should be withdrawn, pending a more detailed assessment of ongoing federal job and spending cuts, the completion of necessary impact studies and revisions addressing numerous comments and questions from Connie residents. and spending cuts, the completion of necessary impact studies, and revisions addressing numerous comments, the questions from county residents and civic groups, including the Coordinated Committee. Community organizations of residents affected by the ZTA were not involved in developing this legislation. It appears to have been drafted in coordination with lobbyists and sprung on the public with insufficient time for analysis. Nevertheless, citizens have been able to submit testimony pointing out important unanswered questions, errors in the data on which the proposal relies, and likely unintended consequences. Some of these are outlined in our lengthy written testimony. The hearing today, three or five minutes of testimony per speaker, plus a few so-called listening sessions, is inadequate to answer, that is to actually respond to the questions and solve the problems. Nor is having a busy person, presumably a staff member, read written comments at the last minute when the proposal is set in stone. This is why community involvement in developing legislation is essential. If the community is involved from the beginning when the legislation is being devised, then problems can be identified and solved, assumptions can be researched, impeccas studies can be performed, and the person's most affected can respond. It is especially inappropriate to pass this legislation now. As you are aware, current actions in the federal government are likely to have drastic effects on Montgomery County's economy, including on its housing situation. The assumptions on which the more housing now legislation is based are likely to change. The proposal to build multiplexes on major thoroughfares is severely flawed. Most of the promoted housing will be expensive market rate housing for which this legislation is not needed. It will produce only a small number of workforce housing units while causing disruption and problems for neighboring residents. The problems and questions are so numerous and diverse that a few minor amendments would not fix its problems. Therefore, legislation for up-soning a log-specific corridor should be withdrawn, pending a more detailed assessment of ongoing federal job and spending cuts, the completion of necessary impact studies, and revisions addressing numerous comments that questions from county residents and civic groups, including the Citizens Coordinating Committee on French Appheits. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next we have Catherine Hopps and who is also speaking for five minutes and speaking to ZTA 25-03 and built two-25. My name is Catherine Hopps. I live with my family on Green Acres Drive in Silver Spring. I'm testifying to express my opposition to provisions of more housing now. We need more affordable housing in Montgomery County, but there are major problems with the proposed zoning tax amendments and tax abatement. As a residence of the Hill and Dale neighborhoods since 1997, these are my concerns. So any tax amendment, 2503. We enjoy having retail and services within walking distance of our home. Children have been able to walk to 7.11 for snacks and adults to pick up a carton of milk, and we have been able to drive up to drop off our cleaning on our way to the office for years. We enjoy the convenience of having our cars serviced at the Hill and the El, walking home while the cars in the shop. These retail establishments are in a strip classified as NR. We don't want to lose walkable retail. We want Hill and Yale to remain a walkable community for all its residents. Bill 225. It allows a full 25 year property tax abatement for conversion projects if a minimum of 15% moderately priced dwelling units is provided. This provision was not designed to benefit the overall county. The Office of Legislative Oversight has found that bill 225 would likely benefit land lords and residents who can afford market rate housing more than residents in need of affordable housing and widen housing disparities. Wired MPD use just required as per area master plans. A 25 year property tax abatement is fiscally irresponsible, especially now. With 80,000 federal workers, residents of Montgomery County, three quarters of whom are facing layoffs, we know belt tightening will be required. One neighbor in our block lost her federal job last week. Two other neighbors also in our block put their house on the market in fear of their employment outlook. Our county cannot afford such an overly generous tax abatement. CT-A-2502 is alarming from many of the Hill and El-Mabrahood. If ZTA-2502 applies to service roadways, it would negatively impact our neighborhood. New Hampshire Avenue, from Rupert to McSini, would become a very congested roadway. This is just five blocks from key middle school and six blocks from Crest Haven Elementary. Any area frequented by many children. Thank you for keeping in mind the needs of all your constituents. Thank you. Next we have Debra Cornblot I'm better. Miss Berder, I think you're muted still. I'm going to go ahead and get the address. Ms. Berger, I think you're muted still. Can you hear? Yeah, I can hear you. Okay, great. I can hear you. Can you hear me now? Yes, we can hear you now. Okay, perfect. Thank you. I'm Deborah Carmel Berger. I'm here as a homeowner who lives in the Oaks and will be directly directly affected if you allow the buildable area named zero Old Georgetown Road near the corner of Old Georgetown and Locksey. The homeowner who lives in the oaks and will be directly affected if you allow the buildable area named Zero Old Georgetown Road near the corner of Old Georgetown and Luxe in the oaks community. First, there will be an issue with the storm water management. The retaining pond is built to sustain the 30 houses in our community, not more. The infrastructure will be compromised. There could be flooding without the proper drainage. Where were the water from the new homes go? They can't be diverted into the pond. There's no room. Another structural issue will be the structural integrity of the retaining wall. WSSC and the county and the state would all have to work together to find a new location for the water to be drained. This wall is so important to the safety of our community to keep the water flow away from the houses, which one of them is my house. Also, the wall is attached to the state wall. It will have a domino effect. You cannot remove it without damaging the other wall as they're all connected. The gas lines in our community can be affected. Also, everyone in our community pays a yearly fee for the underground utilities that should not be compromised. These private underground utilities are important for our community to exist. Interior retaining walls could be adversely affected with the changing of the grading. The nearby homes could be affected with grading changes, infrastructure issues, the water issues, and the wall issues, which are all significant. These reasons alone should educate people why this is not practical for this narrow piece of land to be built on. Now, as if that weren't enough, there would also be the disruption to the traffic, which the flow on Old Georgetown Road is already crowded. They have already added a bike lane and there's a dangerous merging traffic area near the highway. The BRT, the bus rapid transit, is slated to remove another lane from Old Georgetown which will make it a two lane road for the traffic. The traffic itself is already a problem and it may be used as a cut-through. There are problems with the traffic flow and crowding. On this section of Old Georgetown Road 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 the sidewalks as their only walking path from the communities, all the communities nearby, Luxemann or Windermere and the Oaks. There's no room for the housing with a sidewalk as well. To sum up my testimony, as a homeowner directly impacted by the possibility of this, I need to say it does not seem reasonable. It's not a good idea for this narrow piece of land which currently has a large brick retaining wall for safety to be built with the infrastructure problems, the grading issues, the water problem, drainage, the underground utility, the structural integrity of the wall connecting to the state wall. Thank you very much for removing this narrow piece of land with a brick wall attached as a possibility. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next we have Laurie McGilare. Thank you. Good afternoon, Council President Stewart and Council members. My name is Laurie McGilare and I live into come apart. I appreciate the opportunity to provide comments today. And while I support more affordable housing in the county and the provisions for converting vacant office space to housing, the Workforce opportunity fund, and increased homeowner assistance program, I believe the proposal needs more thought and refinement to avoid unintended consequences. I'm here today in large part because I learned about the ZTA from a neighbor who was very upset. In fact, it tears. The financial home was included on the map. You feel singled out as one of only four homes on the frontage road on the Decombe Park section of New Hampshire Avenue. As a minority low-income single senior, she's deeply worried that the change will increase her property taxes and make it unaffordable for her to stay in her home. This must be avoided. There are precious few places for low-income seniors to live in the county, not to mention the disruption of leading a long time home. In Tacoma Park, we're working really hard to keep low-income seniors in their homes. The village of Tacoma has volunteers like my husband, who do small-home repairs, and we've helped seniors apply for low-income weatherization and energy efficiency programs, both of which my neighbor has benefited from. There's something wrong if after trying so hard to stay in our home, my neighbor will be forced out because of unaffordable property taxes. They can room for higher income workforce housing and middle income units, doesn't seem like they're right balance if it means losing existing low income residents. I strongly urge the council to look at how parcels for work for housing development were identified. It's a little patchwork, especially for parcels with single-family homes. Single-family homes along busy streets are often some of the more affordably priced houses, and yet the bill provides no protections for existing low-income single-family homeowners. I encourage the council to envision how redevelopment might work given this patchwork. There are areas where only one, two, three, maybe four residential lots are included on a stretch of roadway despite being part of a subdivision only the few lots, running the roadway are included. So it may make sense to look at a different and more equitable configuration. I also wonder how many workforce housing units the ZTA will produce if the minimum is 15% of units are only one of three triplex units. I'm not sure how many units are required in a duplex. So I strongly recommend the council exclude homes occupied by low income residents and exclude residential areas with less than five parcels. Finally, I was surprised and disappointed that effective property owners were not notified directly of the change. So I urge the council to slow down, make sure affected property owners are informed of the ZTA and ensure that current low income residents are affected. Thank you. Next we have Rebecca Wood. Good afternoon council members. My name is Rebecca Wood and I'm a resident of Kemp Mill. I've been a resident here for 16 years. I strongly oppose the Workforce House ZTA not because I don care about affordability, but because this proposal was pushed forward without input from me, my neighbors, or our local civic associations. That is not how a democratic process should work. I take issue with being paid to this, someone who does support affordable housing, simply because I oppose this flawed plan. I care deeply about responsible development that this CTA forces high-density housing into established suburban neighborhoods like Camp Mill without considering the consequences. Our roads are already congested. Our schools are over capacity and our neighborhood was never designed to handle this level of density. What's more frustrating is that we were never asked. The council didn't engage the people who live here and it shows if they had they know we support smart housing solutions. What's it consider infrastructure schools and real community input but not a rushed agenda. I urge you to reject this ETA, listen to the communities it will impact, respect the people who you were elected to serve, and we deserve better. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next, we have Brenda Freeman. Thank you. Can you hear me? Yes. Good. My remarks are about the process of creating thrive in more housing now. Both proposals treat homeowners as spectators. Rather than treating us as prospective partners in the process, we are being treated in ways that cause dissension because you are ignoring the impact of development on our property, our lives, and our communities. In other words, County Council and Planning Board treat homeowners as expendable. Sure we can attend meetings and submit testimony. The problem is that nothing we say a do is treated as valid, but used to check the box on public comment. I am not opposed to development but the one-sided effort to give developers and hedge fund owners what they want comes at the expense of homeowners. In addition, the Council in Planning Board is a closed system. Not only are residents views excluded, such as the overwhelming support for the People's Council, but our recommendations to the county executive, he is also excluded. So let's talk more about the more housing now proposal whose proponents did not bother to share it with other council members or with the residents. In other words, this is a side deal that appears to be in a Balkanized Council. This is not represented to government. The voters elected you to govern on our behalf so representation should extend beyond paid lobbyists and others who work on behalf of the real estate industry. Because in Thrive and MHN, the emphasis is on rentals rather than moderately placed occupied owner dwellings, the apartments and money makers for developers that are then subsidized by home owners. Time does not permit me to talk about the increase in taxes and the fact that the council could have given property owners and prospective buyers a break by having developers pay construction costs rather than treating homeowners as a piggy bank for them. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next we have Alaina Stein. Hi, thank you so much for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Elana Stein, and I am speaking as a long-term resident of Camille. It's where I was raised and where I'm currently living with my husband and raising our children. And I strongly oppose the proposed workforce housing zoning text amendment. But ZTA threatens the safety, security, and character of our existing community. The increased density that this amendment proposes will bring higher traffic congestion, more parking challenges, and greater demands on already overburdened community resources, such as emergency services and schools, and roads that are already congested with traffic. I'm specifically thinking about the number of times I have turned onto our cola from the University Boulevard only to come to a standstill because of the traffic. I don't understand how we could possibly be considering adding thousands of residents just blocks nearby. I appreciate the need for additional affordable housing in our community. However, rather than forcing high-density housing into or immediately adjacent to residential neighborhoods like Camp Mel, the county should look to commercial areas that already have the infrastructure to support an increase in population. Encouraging responsible development in these areas would be a much more effective way to address housing needs without disrupting well-established communities, well-established suburban communities. Drastic changes to zoning and density risk eroding the character of our neighborhood creating instability rather than strengthening our community. This plan prioritizes a top-down vision over the needs of our community. Many residents, as you've heard today, many residents and business owners feel unheard, and the plan fails to reflect a balanced approach that considers all stakeholders. Thank you so much for your time and for the opportunity to testify today. Okay, thank you. Next we have Sheree Branson. Good afternoon. My name is Sheree Branson. I am the second vice president for the Montgomery County branch of the NAACP and I'm here to testify on this behalf. The NAACP is always stood for economic fairness, social justice and meaningful housing opportunities. In reviewing the target areas proposed to be affected by the CTA, we believe that some of the county's most racially, ethnically, and economically diverse neighborhoods will be adversely affected. Therefore, we cannot support the ZTA. Not only do we believe that this proposed ZTA sets a dangerous precedent of using zoning laws to undermine single-family neighborhoods, but we also believe that this ZTA will not likely significantly increase the amount of desperately needed affordable housing. Although the ZTA mentions affordable, excuse me, mentions workforce housing, we note that it does not embrace the workforce housing policy goals expressed by the Montgomery County Department of Housing and Community Affairs, which include an increase in availability of housing for county public employees and other workers who cannot support the high costs of housing. Assist county employers in reducing critical labor shortages of skilled and semi-skilled workers by providing housing and reducing traffic congestion, good fortune, commute time. This BPA is not likely to accomplish any of those goals in a sufficient volume to provide a meaningful number of housing opportunities for county residents. By increasing the density, we know that what is likely to happen is the potential demolition of existing single family homes in those very neighborhoods. In exchange for this increased in single-family neighborhoods, the ZTA would require the developers to set aside 15% of their dwelling units for workforce housing. Without substantially increasing the share above 15%, this ZTA will not achieve this purpose and will actually exacerbate the existing affordable housing shortage. By eliminating existing housing, triggering gentrification and thereby displacing current residents. The OLO has noted that if redevelopment makes affordable communities attractive to higher-world households, residents in those communities, especially renters, could be displaced as housing costs rise from an influx of wealthier households moving into redeveloping communities. We cannot support this CTA because we believe that we will not create any people affordable housing. And it will have a devastating impact on our current residents. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next we have Alicia Simmakovich. That's right. Yep. All right, you can go. Thank you. Yeah. My name is Alicia Simmkevich. And I'm the father of two in Kent Mill. Thank you for allowing me the time to speak today and thank you to everyone else here who testified today. I'm going to keep this comment pretty short because unlike someone who publicly assumed earlier that we all have time for meetings, even Zoom meetings on Tuesday after dudes are complicated for everyone here. The thing is, this seems to be the only way we can express how we feel. And with that in mind, I'm testifying in opposition to the plan, has been expressed again and again today. There were no surveys or efforts made outside of this meeting together input with those impacted by these plans. Democracy in action matters. Hearing from those impacted is important. And how can the residents impacted not be asked about these plans? As the vast majority of speakers expressed today, I've de-concerts about the plan, overall, beyond the traffic concerns, everything else that people betchaed. But who is this actually helping? Is it developers or us the residents? And during an economic downturn when people are leaving federally off, the time is not now for a play like this. Again, I'm shocked by the lack of research and input for residents who will be most impacted by this play. But yeah, thank, thank you for your time and thank you for making this open session. Thank you. Next we have Tim Vogel. Hi, can you hear me? Okay. Tim Vogel and I'm a homeowner, 30 year resident of Bethesda. I live in Kenwood Park and that's a neighborhood of about 600 households and I'm a member of the Kenwood Park Community Association Task Force on these ZTA proposals. I'm not against the policy goals here but I'm completely against the current process that was followed. You've heard that time and time again today. It was not transparent following on the heels of the attainable housing strategy, fiasco where there was so much input collected by the council from residents to turn around and just drop something like this 117 page legal text red line of the zoning code on residents without again any input, any collaborative process is unacceptable. I would ask that you pause the process, Take it off the table, let's explain the goals in plain language, let's link them explicitly to the changes that are in the proposed zoning text amendment and address all the concerns that have been raised around. The size of these buildings, the safety of these buildings, the impact of these buildings, the infrastructure to support them. One big thing it hasn't been addressed is how you're gonna ensure that these buildings are actually workforce priced. There's nothing in the zoning text amendment, 2502 itself, that addresses the pricing, the sale or resale of these homes. As best I can figure out, there's a cross reference to chapter 25b, which is a different section of the zoning code. It's not reflected in any of your changes. That's a very convoluted and cumbersome process. In order to be eligible to buy a home, you've got to pass certain income and other requirements. If you're a workforce member of the workforce, you're only allowed to buy homes based on the size of your existing household not for future growth there's 20 year price controls on the prices of which the homes are sold prices at which they can be resold the county has obligations for monitoring developers of obligations for reporting there's enforcement mechanisms the county is right first refusal if you want to resell your later date, the amount of money you could make on a resale is capped at something like 15% of the appreciation over that time period. I mean, the provisions under chapter 25b for rent and price controls of the workforce housing. There's been no discussion of that whatsoever. And if it's not your intent to utilize those procedures and those mechanisms, then there's nothing else in place to make sure that any of this housing is priced for the workforce. So I really feel that's one thing I think was completely missing from zoning tax time at 2502, completely missing from the debate today, which is exactly what are the mechanisms going to be to enforce and ensure that these homes are priced so that the workforce can afford them. We really need a lot more discussion on that. So I would encourage you to just pause this whole thing, engage a community, and let's try to move forward together. Thank you very much. Thank you. For this ZTA, those are all the public comments we have. This public hearing is now closed. We will now move on to item five as the public hearing on Zoni Text Amendment 25-03, expedited approvals, commercial to residential reconstruction. This DTA would create a commercial to residential reconstruction use, providing expedited approval process for that use, and allow reallocation of the FAR in certain employment zones. A planning housing parks committee work session is scheduled from March 24th, 2025. Those wishing to submit material for the council's consideration should do so. By close of business, I'm March 24th, 2025 and the council will continue to accept correspondence after this date. As a reminder of our public hearing testimony guidelines, your comments must be limited to issues relevant to public hearing topic for which you are testifying in our appropriate for a public meeting. You will hear a tone when your time is up and we appreciate everyone abiding by there a lot of time. Our first group is Jennifer Martin, Lauren Smith, excuse me, Tendai Ushi, Lucy Friedman, Weston Henry. And Ms. Martin, we'll start with you as soon as you're at your place. Good afternoon. I'm Jennifer Martin, president of Historic Tacoma. Speaking in support of the proposed workforce housing zoning text amendment related to conversion of commercial properties, Historic Tacoma's mission is to preserve the heritage of Tacoma Park and to improve the livability of our community. We have many educational programs, activities, research and archival work and we engage in educating the public about the value of historic preservation, promoting public policies that foster preservation of historic resources, preserving the architecture and physical environment of the Tacoma community, and working with the greater community to revitalize business areas. We help Tacoma Park continue to be a welcoming, vibrant, and livable city that honors our history and celebrates our diversity. More workforce housing is certainly needed throughout the county. We strongly support converting underutilized commercial space on major thoroughfares for this purpose. The proposal marks a significant improvement over the initial attainable housing plan, which presented serious risk of harm to establish single-family neighborhoods, especially those in designated as historic districts. Council members, Freightson and Fanny Gonzalez are to be congratulated for their response to residents' concerns. Adaptive reuse of commercial space enables us to minimize the impact of development on the environment, avoid resident displacement, and maintain the architectural character of existing neighborhoods. Such conversions are expensive, and this proposal wisely provides financial incentives and expedited review as encouragement. By focusing attention on areas with road capacity, this plan considers some infrastructure needs. Historic Tacoma is particularly pleased that the New Hampshire corridor into Colapark and area that we in our city leaders have been seeking to improve has been identified as a target area for new affordable housing. We have several requests of the council as you move forward. First, as others have said, the plan must ensure that any new development is compatible with the surrounding neighborhoods. Scale of new buildings should accommodate the size and placement of existing neighboring homes. For example, while lengthy story town homes generally can fit comfortably next to detached smaller houses, massive apartments do not. Second, we urge you to give residents directly affected by any new development opportunities to help shape those plans. It appears that the Development Review Committee will be the initial reviewing body. This committee should be required to notify the affected residential property owners that there is a development application when the time is scheduled for the review and an invitation to comment. Residents must have a say in the future of their communities. We do believe with careful attention to details, this text amendment proposal can provide the improve the livability of our county and make it a welcoming and affordable home for future residents. Thank you. Thank you very much. Lauren Smith. Yes, my name is Lauren Smith. I'm supportive of the legislation. I'm an owner of a historical building in Dürerwood. Right now we've had many problems trying to get the rezoning of the project done. I was told by the parking plan, I need to wait for the shady government master plan, which we did. did a little, they did a tweak to it but it was not enough to make the project viable and financially. So we waited again for the next update at the master plan which is now more viable for the project to move forward. But we still have problems with the financing because most lenders will not lend money on the only lend money to purchase or if you have building permits but in the sweets spot between the zoning where you have the the site plan this The preliminary plan the sketch plan all that kind of stuff nobody wants to touch it because it's so toxic basically Because nobody knows what's gonna happen at the end of the process So with this product with this new process that you were trying to put in place would definitely help the project. We still have plans that we have to have approved by the parking planning all that concept so it's not a give me or an act that. But rather than a year process maybe that can get down to the six months or so and then get the project moving. The project's been vacant for probably 40 years, and it's been sitting there for various reasons. Also Montgomery County environment, not environment. Code enforcement is on the project because it's a vacant building. That's another problem. The other vacant buildings, they want the, Montgomery County Code enforcement want the buildings upkeep, they want them livable basically, but no owner is gonna do that if there's no plans going forward. And the properties get locked up on this role of everything going on. One last thing I'd like to say is I've sitting here for a couple hours now, trying to do that. I appreciate everything that you have a hard decision ahead of you. But I always look back, you know, people I've done real estate for a little while, but I always look back, you know, 100 years ago, all these people here that are against the project, if the 100 years ago you had all the farmers here, none of the farmers will let any of these people live here in Montgomery County, because they had to give up all their land, they had to have the roads increased like Rockville a pi-q-speed two lane road is now 16, probably on the plans for more or 12 lane road eventually. But you have to do something and I applaud you for doing something. Thank you. Thank you. Next we have Tendayushi. Good afternoon. My name is Tendayushi and I am from Harvestintercontinental Church in Ooni. I am a member of AIM and I'm here today to testify as an individual in support of the more housing now bill. I would like to start by thanking Council members, Gonzalez, Friedzen, and many others for co-sponsoring this bill. And I'm really here to talk on behalf of people in my church, Sammy, Grace, Fatima, who has not been invited to come and testify, but they all live in Montgomery County and continue to talk about their struggles of not being able to save enough money year after year to purchase a home. The more housing now bill is particularly good for Samy Fatima and Grace at my church because they are young professionals, they are younger professionals and this bill focuses on smaller workforce housing along the transit corridors. In addition, I think this bill has a potential to encourage younger skilled and professionals to remain in Maryland and contribute to the economy. We've sat here for about 3, four hours and we've had a lot of debates about people who feel that this bill would change the current environment. I tend to agree that 10-15 years ago, the people that I against it were probably in the same situation as Fatima, Sammy and Grace. And somebody had to make concessions for them to be able to buy their first home in Montgomery County. So I still support this bill. It may need work as we have had from the different people. But I support it. I think we have to start somewhere. I also wanted to advocate for home ownership assistant programs to prioritize people from marginalized communities. Because the housing discrimination has been perhaps the largest contributor to the gap in generational wealth generation. So I thank you for the opportunity to support, to testify. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next we have Lucy Freeman. Yes. Hi, I'm Lucy Freeman and I live in the town of Somerset, and I'm here with AIM in support of more housing now. When I moved to Somerset in 1719, that's 17, 1975, it was the neighborhood of federal workers, psychiatrists who weren't well-paid, social workers, journalists, teachers. This is no longer true. The house behind me and the house across the street from me, both small houses, have been bought by developers who are planning to build five and six bedroom houses which will sell for three or four million dollars and maybe more and maybe they won't sell. But I would so much prefer to have a duplex or a tripex behind, triplex, behind me and across the street from me with work for housing. For many years, I worked for the Montgomery County Public Library, so Bethesda, Quintet Brook Aspen Hill, Long Bridge, Chubby Chase, and Pulseville. I knew librarians living far out who had these long commutes to try to get to work at the library. Now this is even tr. Picture driving from only to the Little Falls Library, which is on Massachusetts Avenue, in the traffic. That librarian I know has now retired, you know, too much driving. Now this, where just the staff, where do the staff at Little Falls Library, the teachers at West Lane Middle School, the staff at the Firehouse at Wisconsin and Bradley, where do they live? When West Park was up for development, there was a proposal to build a new library at the Little Falls Library with affordable housing above it. The same plan has been proposed for the Chubby Chase Library and housing at the Bradley Wisconsin Firehouse. We need housing for jobs and residents inside the Beltway Need Services, Teachers, Library SAF, Fire Police. It's time for the council to approve affordable and attainable housing, more housing. Now for more workers, more income to come into the county and more young adults and people in their 20s and 30s and 40s, being able to have a home. So I ask you to please approve more housing now. And I wanted to add as a retired librarian, I am strongly supporting building affordable housing over libraries. You know, this didn't work before at Little Falls, maybe someday at will. It's up before Chevy Chase. Can you imagine how nice it would be to walk into a library? I pick out a book or a video and then go up and elevate it to your apartment. Thank you for the opportunity to be here. Thank you. Next we have Weston Henry. Good afternoon. My name is Weston Henry. I have former property manager. I am also studying urban planning at Georgetown University. I will be late for class today. I would like to address concerns about traffic and resident market stability. In order to do so, I need to quickly touch on the county's demographics. The county's total population has remained remarkably consistent since 2021, with less than a 700 person gap between our high and low in that period. We haven't seen year-over-year population growth greater than 1.5 since 2015. However, that does not mean that our current population looks the same as it did in 2015. Over the last decade, the population over the age of 65 is increased by 20%, While the total number of residents aged 0 to 19, 20 to 34 and 35 to 54 have all decreased, not only is the percentage of the population, but by total numbers. In other words, more families and prime age workers are leaving the county than are moving in. Side note, this is why school enrollment declined for this academic school year. Over 16% of our populations over the age of 65, ARP studies have shown that on average, Americans decide to quit driving at the age of 75. Clinical studies have shown that most seniors overestimate their driving skills, making it hard to see the warning signs that they should start planning for life without driving. Studies have also shown that most seniors quit driving due to an unverse medical event or accident that forces them to admit they can no longer drive safely. We will see a significant reduction in the number of cars on our roads, but the people that are about to quit driving likely don't know this yet. So they are unlikely to advocate for policies that make mobility without a car possible. Since 2015, the county has lost somewhere between 8,000 and 15,000 of its working-age population, depending on if you define working-age starting at 16 or 18 or 20, and whether you think retirement age starts at 55 or 65. Much of this workforce has moved to Frederick County, which has increased its population by about 39,000 since 2015. A 16% increase. Many of these residents would love to reduce their commute times by moving to Montgomery County unless we build more housing, these people will be directly competing with our federal workers for housing. Assuming we tore down a single family house on every one of the roughly 24,000 parcels and replaced with the two over two. The overall stock of single-family housing would increase by 4%. The average household size in this county is 2.7 people. That means the best-case scenario is that 19,500 people residents from Frederick could have their housing needs by missing middle housing. That still leaves another 19,500 of those 39,000 Frederick residents eager to move closer to work, which is why we also need an aggressive office residential policy. To answer these Frederick workers move to new housing rather than displacing our federal workers. Thank you. Thank you and hopefully you'll get to class soon. Thank you. Great. All right, those are all the in person. Folks, we have for this panel, we have two people who are on Zoom with us. The first is Stacey Silver. Good afternoon. For the record, my name is Stacey Silver with a law firm of Lerturally and Brewer, and I'm here today on behalf of NAAP DC Maryland. As a member of NAAP's Board of Directors and Charity of Chair of its Leadership Committee, I'm writing to express NAAP's strong support for the more housing now package of legislation. NAAP represents hundreds of companies that have been involved in creating the most innovative, sustainable mixed-use developments among Humry County and the region. Our members have the breadth of experience of working in multiple jurisdictions. The more housing, now family-able legislation sends a strong message to the community, housing providers, and the equally important financial institutional market that the County Council understand the need for creative solutions to attract investment to the county. The proposals are limited scope, practical, and the pilot will serve as the catalyst for attracting much needed capital, essential to getting individual housing communities built in Montgomery County. We commend the council's sponsors for their leadership in this effort. We have a few suggested changes. We suggest that ZTA 25-03 and pilot built 2-25 also applied a one-story retail where such property is located within a half mile of metro stations. Encouraging redevelopment of vacant one-story retail near Metro presents significant opportunities for redevelopment and further the county goals of encouraging higher residential densities near transit. We also suggested the ZTA and pilot apply to vacant hotels to encourage revitalization and housing production on these dark commercial sites. In addition, currently the pilot bill requires all projects to go through the expedited approval process at Parkham Planning. In and Burtley, this results in a slow down and duplication of efforts for those projects that have previously received planning board approval or our legacy protected. As such, we suggest that this type of project be able to submit to DPS evidence of highly compliance. We commend the council on thinking creatively and introducing legislation that concretely will make a difference. While more can be done, the housing now family of legislation demonstrates the council's commitment to encouraging investment and economic development in the county. We ask that the council support this legislation. Thank you. Thank you. Next we have Stu Simon. Hi, I'm Stu Simon. I've lived in Montgomery County for 32 years and raised my family here. I'm speaking today on behalf of the Montgomery County Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions, McVax. We're comprised of representatives from 60 faith communities across the county. Thank you, council members, Freedson and Fannie Gonzalez for developing the housing, the more housing now package. We strongly support this housing package. I'm not sure if you can see my video. Well, I don't know. Okay. now package. We strongly support this housing package. I'm not sure if you can see a link video. We can still hear you. I'm just your sign. But we're for strengthening it further as best by the Montgomery for all written testimony. When I, okay, where's the video, starting video, okay. When I moved to a condo complex eight years ago in your downtown Bethesda, we were able to become a one car to bike family using much less energy and emitting far fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Over the past six years on my walk to downtown Bethesda, I'm watching the majority of inexpensive cottages along the Leland Avenue get torn down and replaced by McVanchins because the street is single family only zoning this has to change. Mending land use policy is critical to meeting the county and states targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the form of vehicle emissions and home heating and cooling. Providing much more multifamily housing, your transit stations and commercial areas allows people to be on leash from their dependence on cars. In favor of, happier, walkable, and bike-able communities. Multi-family housing is inherently reduces energy use by 30% or more as the energy loss from one unit goes into the neighboring unit instead of lost into the air. And the more places that become available for multi-family housing, the lower the cost to develop those areas due to decreased developer competition for otherwise scarce slots. The facilitating conversion of commercial buildings and multi-family housing is a creative shortcut and I amend the legislators for that. We need to design a better future, we need to do it now. In addition to helping provide more affordable housing for our children and our current county workforce, we need to be prepared to take in climate refugees. Due to increased fire as floods, heat and water shortages in the coming decades, estimated that 10 to 15 million Americans around the country will be forced to leave their homes in search of more livable housing. We need to think to the future. Without more affordable, multifamily housing around transit and commercial areas, people will continue to be forced to move to new, distant, car- developments built on newly raised forests, the last thing we want. Currently, there are numerous single-family only zoning blocks within one mile of current and future transit stations. We spend, we all of us spend hundreds of millions of dollars on transit systems, but then zone much of the area around them a single-family only housing. This is unconscionable. Let's support more housing now now. Thank you. Thank you very much. Those are all the folks we had signed up for that public hearing. This public hearing is now closed. Moving on to item six. We have a public hearing on subdivision regulations amendments 25-01 administrative subdivision expedited approval plan. This SRA would create an administrative subdivision process for a commercial to residential reconstruction expedited approval plan, a planning housing and parks committee work section scheduled for March 24th. 2025, those wishing to submit material for the council's consideration should do so by the close of business on March 24th, 2025 and the council will continue to accept correspondence after the state. As a reminder of our public hearing testimony guidelines, your comments must be limited to issues relevant to public hearing topics for which you are testifying and are appropriate for a public meeting. You will hear a tone when your time is up, and we appreciate everyone abiding by their a lot of time. We have one speaker who is virtual for this public hearing. It's Catherine Denby. Hello, my name is Catherine Denby, and I'm going to speak to this and also to 25, a 1 and a 2, but I was put in this category. I'm here to oppose the more housing now package. While we all share the gold and sharing of vibrant and sustainable Montgomery County, the proposal is deeply flawed, both in its substance and more specifically in its process. It prioritizes the interests of real estate developers over those of existing residents, disfigures infrastructure limitations, threatens to irreversibly alter the character of our neighborhoods without meaningful community input. First, this plan describes the principles of careful community driven planning that have long guided Montgomery County's development. Traditionally, master plans are created with robust input from residents, ensuring that growth is balanced, strategic, and aligned with local needs. Instead, more housing now bypasses the established process in favor of an arbitrary upzoning scheme that lasts clear boundaries and disregards neighborhood planning efforts. As written, it retroactively changes the zoning for homeowners who made significant investments based on existing regulations, effectively rewriting the rules after the fact. This is a breach of trust. Second, this plan does not sell the affordability crisis, it exacerbates it. This proposal is marketed as a solution for workforce housing, yet it is riddled with leopold that allowed developers to maximize profits without delivering meaningful affordability. Duplexes in many new housing types will have no affordability and requirements at all, and even for larger projects, the minimum standard of 15% workforce housing is woefully inadequate, particularly when compared to state proposals requiring 30% or more. Worse is planned risk-fueling gentrification and displacement, replacing existing naturally affordable homes with new market rate units that will be priced far beyond the reach of many current residents. Third, Montgomery County's infrastructure is already under strain and this plan will make it worse. Our road schools and emergency services were designed for current density levels, not for a sudden influx of multi-unit dwellings, and formerly single-family lots. The lack of clear infrastructure planning means that tax players will never believe they are the financial burden of expanded services, increased traffic, congestion, and in-biola impacts like stormwater runoff and tree lost. Simply, upsowning neighborhoods is not create infrastructure, it only creates chaos. Finally, this is yet another giveaway to develop a tax pay or its expense. The payment and lieu of taxes provision to cost Montgomery County millions of lost revenue for the streaming our budget at a time when the state is facing a fiscal crisis and significant federal job losses are expected in our region. Why should we grant 25 years of tax breaks to developers who are only required to provide the bare minimum in affordable housing? Who benefits from this plan? Developers and their investors. Who loses the residents? I urge you to reject this poorly conceived plan. Instead, the council should work with communities to craft policies that truly address affordability while respecting the principles of smart sustainable development. We need a strategy that balances growth with infrastructure capacity, ensures affordability for those who truly need it and preserve the character and livability of our neighborhood. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for multitasking as well. Ms. Demby, thank you. That is it for this public hearing. This public hearing is now closed. Moving on to item seven is a public hearing on expedited bill 2-25 taxation payments in lieu of taxes, affordable housing amendments, this bill would establish a minimum payment in lieu of taxes for certain conversions of high vacancy commercial properties to residential use, establish the amount of the payment in lieu of taxes, and generally amend the law governing payments in lieu of taxes. A joint government operations and fiscal policy committee, an economic development committee work session scheduled for March 27, Health and Health and Health submit material for the council's consideration should do so by the close of business on March 24th, 2025 and the council will continue to accept correspondence after this date. As a reminder of public hearing testimony guidelines your comments must be limited issues relevant to the public hearing topic for which you are testifying and are appropriate for a public meeting. You will hear tone when tone when your time is up and we appreciate you're going to abide by their lot of time. Our speakers we have in person today, we have Abe Shuckman, Alan Davis, Patricia Harris, Vince Bias, and Tellema and Lisa Blackwell Brown. Mr. Shuckman, we'll start with you. Good afternoon, Council President Stewart and members of the County Council. Thank you for the opportunity to submit this testimony. My name is Abe Schuckman, I'm the CEO of Housing Unlimited. We provide permanent affordable housing for a very low income adults and mental health recovery. We've been out of for 31 years. But first on a personal note, I grew up in Montgomery County. I'm a Churchill high school graduate. My wife and I have raised two boys, twin boys. We've lived near the Caulfield Community Center. And we're very proud of the fact that, I believe that area is representative of the goals of this package. In other words, we're a wonderful vibrant community of market rate, single family housing, town homes. And we also have affordable apartments. And we all but the Rosemary Hills, Lipensville Park. So I think just on a personal note, I think there's a very significant subset of Montgomery County that hears deeply about a vision of economic and racial integration and we're making it happen over in Silver Spring by the Caulfield Community Center. On a professional note, at Housing Unlimited, we serve people below 15% of AMI. So we know about the difficulties of creating affordable housing. Over these 30 years, we've purchased 92 scattered site homes and serve over 250 people. We have 200 people in our waiting list and so I'm keenly aware of the need for additional affordable housing in the county. So I want to first strongly applaud the MHA and MHA and package, package's commitment to expanding pathways to affordable Homo- including the doubling of the home ownership assistance program from $4 million to $8 million. The need for affordable housing, for affordable home ownership is great. And I just want to say we're so fortunate to have habitat for humanity, Metro Maryland as a community partner and invaluable partner. I will say that to round out the package, I respectfully request the Council to consider one additional element to be added to the package and that's for our hardworking renters. And some months ago the county council unanimously approved, it was really wonderful, a supplement to the rental assistance program. And I can't tell you much. I appreciated that and our tenants appreciated that. And we'd love for you to extend that into FY26. Great. Thank you. Thank you. Next we have Alan Davis. No, we don't have Alan Davis. Okay. Next we have Patricia Harris. Good afternoon. Pat Harris with Lerturally Embroer. Here on behalf of URW, the owners of the Westfield Montgomery Mall, to express our very strong support for Bill 225, and our appreciation to the sponsors, council members, Fannie Gonzales and Friedsen and the co-sponsors for initiating this bold, meaningful and most importantly needed legislation. The development history of the Montgomery Mall highlights the importance of the bill. Back in 2018, you are W recognized the challenges facing regional malls and commenced efforts to introduce multifamily residential as well as additional retail to the mall to create a truly mixed environment and to enhance the sites of rural vibrancy. In 2020, URW obtained preliminary plan and site plan approval for 779 residential units, including 117 MPD use. The vast majority of these residential units, 715, were located on the vacated Sears store parcel, where there was once a thriving two-story nearly 200,000 square foot Sears building. For a variety of reasons, but primarily because of the economic challenges confronting multi-family residential construction, the development never occurred. These economic challenges included construction costs, supply chain issues, labor shortages, and an ennemica equity market. Meanwhile, a large vacant department store stood empty. As a result of the pandemic, the retail market has permanently changed. For Westfield, Montgomery, this means that the current retail GLA is more than adequate to continue to reinvent the retail experience and that any additional retail space must be done judiciously and targeted. URW will be seeking a modification of its approvals to decrease the amount of additional retail and to add 129 units, including additional NPTUs, with the hope that at some point this project will be economically viable. Unfortunately, however, the challenge is that the multifamily construction industry has faced for the last four years, not only exist, they are now worse. The current chaos in the market due to tariffs and political instability has only amplified the uncertainty of the interest rates available labor and material costs. I cannot overstate how difficult it is for a multifamily development project to pencil out right now given the current economic and political climate. Bill 225 will make the difference in whether certain projects end up moving forward and delivering needed residential units. The bill encourages this construction and needed housing, including NPDUs at less than the current NPDU rental rate, and results in higher property values for properties that may have otherwise not redeveloped, thus providing a higher tax year for the county upon the expiration of the pilot. If the county council is serious about delivering needed housing in affordable units, we strongly urge your support. Thank you. Next we have Vince Beis Good afternoon, Council President Stewart and Council members. I am Vince Beasi with the law firm of Lurch early in Brewer on behalf of a number of clients with interest in Bill 225. I'm here this afternoon to express our strong support for the bill and to recommend several important revisions for your consideration. Bill 225 is an important piece of legislation that will make a critical difference in whether certain residential projects, particularly multifamily projects, pencil out and actually proceed to construction. As you know, for the past five years, the industry has confronted labor and supply shortages, increasing material costs, and a lack of available equity for financing. These factors have caused many to put their projects on hold. Unfortunately, this economic uncertainty is only worsened. A reprieve from property taxes for 25 years will change the bottom line of many pro-formas and could prove to be the difference between a project being put on ice or moving forward. Thus, we applaud your efforts to help ensure that needed housing in the county will be constructed. Our recommended revisions to the bill for your consideration are as follows. First, the bill applies to vacant commercial buildings but the companion legislation legislation, ZTA-25-03, restricts commercial to retail or office. We recommend that the pilot apply to any non-residential building. There's no reason that residential development should not be encouraged on the site of a vacant hotel or health club, any more than on the site of a vacant office building or retail building. Second, the bill should not require that a property be vacant at the time of application for the entitlement. If the project is not availing itself of the expedited review provided by ZTA 2503. Generally speaking, most entitlement processes take approximately two years and no public policy is served by having building sit vacant during this period. An owner who has determined that his or her site is no longer viable for non-residential use will strategically time their pursuit of entitlements to coincide with the anticipated vacancies. We recommend that the vacancy requirement apply at the time and owner makes an application for the pilot. Third, for purposes of clarity, we recommend the addition of language providing that the pilot applies to any residential project or the qualifying vacant commercial property is part of a larger assemblage. Finally, there needs to be a mechanism by which projects relying on the pilot are assured that the pilot program will remain valid. Comparable to section 52-24 AG regarding the sunset provisions provided for the Womada pilot program. We appreciate your consideration of these recommendations and we will submit and writing a more detailed discussion of our proposed recommendations. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Biasi. Next I head Anne Tellema. Just making sure, nope, okay. Lisa Blackwell Brown, you are up. Thank you so much. Good afternoon, Council President Stewart, Council Vice President Jawondo and members of the Montgomery County Council. My name is Lisa Blackwell Brown. I'm Secretary Chaijura for UFCW Local 1994, McGeeo. I am here today to testify an opposition to expedited bill 2-25. While we appreciate the council's efforts to address the urgent need for affordable housing, expedited bill 2-25 unfortunately does not meet the needs of our community. First, by exempting 100% of the real property tax for 25 years, this bill would deprive Montgomery County of a significant source of revenue. Property taxes are a critical funding stream for essential public services, including but not limited to schools, public safety, infrastructure, maintenance, and community programs. The long-term loss of this revenue would inevitably strain the county's resources and could lead to service reductions or increased taxes elsewhere to make up for the shortfall. Secondly, the bill sets the affordability requirement at only 15% of units as affordable to households earning 60% or less of the area's median income. This is about 85% market rate housing. This threshold is too low to meaningfully address the housing crisis in Montgomery County where their need for truly affordable housing, particularly for low and moderate income families, far exceeds the proposed targets. Moreover, we already have moderately priced dwelling unit requirements in this county. Additionally, the bill lacks sufficient mechanisms to ensure that developers comply with the affordability requirements. Over the long term, without robust enforcement and oversight, there is a real risk that property owners could fail to meet the affordability standards while continuing to benefit from the tax exemption. Furthermore, the bill does not require owners to demonstrate a significant public benefit beyond meeting the minimum affordability threshold. Also, the lack of a fiscal impact statement is concerning and telling. Lastly, McGio is aware of the OLO report, concluding that this bill could have a negative impact on the racial equity and social justice in that converting high vacancy commercial properties into residential developments has the potential to accelerate gentrification and displacement in vulnerable communities. Without stronger protections for existing residents and more inclusive affordability requirements, this bill could exacerbate economic inequality rather than alleviate it. We urge the Council to oppose better yet withdrawal expedited bill 2-25 and in its place explore alternative approaches that balance affordable housing with the imperative to protect public revenue and maintain strong affordability records. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. All right. That are all the folks we have signed up. Thank you for sharing your feedback on this item. This public hearing is now closed. Now moving on to item eight is a public hearing on a resolution to approve supplemental appropriation 25-33 to the fiscal year 2025 operating budget. My government Government Department of Health and Human Services, state opioid response, for grant 1.1,299,883 dollars. The source of funds is a state grant. Council action is tentatively scheduled for March 18th on 2025. Those wishing to submit material for Council's consideration should do so by the close of business today, which was 15 minutes ago. Still have time. There are no registered speakers for this hearing. The public hearing is now closed. Item number nine is a public hearing on a resolution to approve supplemental appropriation 25-23 to the FY 25 operating budget, Montgomery County Government, Department of Health and Human Services, Behavioral Health Crisis Stabilization Center, and Mobile Crisis Team Pilot in the amount of $2,960,000, $323,000, $2,000, $2,000, $2,000, $2,000, $2,000, $2,000, $2,000, $2,000, $2,000, $2,000, $2,000, $2,000, $2,000, 323, sorry, over $2.9 million. Council action is dendtably scheduled for March 18, 2025. Those wishing to submit material for council's consideration can do so. Today, there are no registered speakers for this hearing. This public hearing is now closed. Item 10 is a public hearing and action on a resolution to approve the FY24 National Polluting Discharge Elimination System Municipal Separate Storms to a System Permit Financial Assurance Plan. Council action is scheduled immediately following this hearing. There are no registered speakers for this hearing. The public hearing is now closed. We will now move on to the action portion of this item. I am not seeing anyone wishing to comment on this or ask any questions. So I will ask is there a motion to approve the FY24 National Polluting Discharge Elimination System and Useful Separate Storm Suer System Vermitt Financial Assurance Plan? So moved. I council member, council member, council member, council member, welcome, welcome. Second, all those in favor, please raise your hand. And that unanimous of those here and those on Zoom, we still have Council member, Maken, Luki hanging in on Zoom. Item 11 is a public hearing and action on a resolution to approve supplemental appropriation 25-49 to the FY25 operating budget, Montgomery County Public Schools, Blueprint, Career Advising Program, in the amount of over $2.1 million, the source of funds as MCPS is restricted fund balance, council action is scheduled immediately following this hearing. There are no registered speakers for this hearing. The public hearing is now closed. We will now move to the action portion of this item. Not seeing anyone wishing to speak. Is there a motion to approve supplemental appropriation 25-49? Council vice president, Jawanda move, council member, sales, seconded, all those in favor, please raise your hand. And that is everyone here. Next is item 12, a public hearing and action on resolution to approve supplemental appropriation 25-50 to the FY25 operating budget Montgomery County Public Schools, Blueprint Community Schools program, in the amount of over $2.2 million, source of funds as MCPS is restricted fund balance, council action is scheduled immediately following this There are no register speakers for this hearing the public hearing is now closed We will now move on to action portion of this item not seeing any public any Anyone wanting to speak or ask questions is there a motion to approve supplemental Approxiation 25-50 council vice president juwando move council member bum, second to all those at favor, please raise your hand. That is unanimous here. That is it for our afternoon, early evening session. The Council will now be in recess until 7 p.m. Thank you, everyone.