“We’ve done a fantastic job telling people where they can’t build… we never finished the equation.” (Jake Day, Secretary DHCD)
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| Housing Director Hickey (Baltimore County) and Secretary Day (right) share a word about development at a GGW event on Tuesday (Photo Philipsen) |
Relatively new is an understanding that this crisis is not only a problem for those who can't find the right housing for their needs but ripples through all kinds of aspects affecting the well being of the State as a whole. For example, by becoming a fiscal and an economic development problem. This is how it came that Comptroller Brooke Lierman had a study conducted which made big waves in the fall of last year. It showed that for 12 straight years, more Marylanders have left the state than moved in, in an accelerating trend. The study led Secretary Day to state that "we have a people problem" and need to attract a lot more young talent.
Increasingly, there is a focus on the impediments standing in the way of new housing, namely a patchwork of zoning rules, local veto points, and well‑intentioned but restrictive smart‑growth policies.
Baltimore County's Lutherville Station development, planned for many years but stalled due to local obstruction, has become an infamous poster-case for how people's fears -combined with current rules- can prevent housing even in most obviously suitable locations, such as Lutherville where several acres of former mall land sit mostly fallow right next to a train station. (I reported about this case before here and Baltimore County's planning fallacies here). Urban style redevelopment near transit has been an explicit goal of many administrations, even under Governor Hogan. However, there are still plenty of rail stations around which not much happened. This appears to change under the Moore administration which puts previously unseen pressure on the issue. A recent positive development was announced in Friendship Heights for the former 20+ acre Geico campus.
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| Maryland housing production 2000-2024 |
Naturally, opposition to relaxing zoning and growth restrictions comes from both, conservatives and progressives, as well as from local government- always keen on maintaining almost exclusive rights to zoning. Another Baltimore County development case, the Red Maple development illustrates how hard it sometimes is to agree where more housing is appropriate. Steeped in environmental, historic and equity issues, the centrally located development on a wooded open space in a sensitive area was stalled for many years. After lengthy court battles it had recently begun moving forward but was just now temporarily halted again.
“Affordable housing is really important. Where that housing is is also important.” (State Senator Mary Washington)Homes for America, the developer, has promised not to disturb the site’s small wetland and will preserve about half of the total land for open space. The developed was alleged of causing additional stormwater runoff and adverse environmental impacts. In response the developer will stabilize a hillside, plant additional trees, address existing drainage issues and will build a 100-year flood tank to capture rainwater.
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| Maryland Housing Secretary Jake Day, Gov. Wes Moore and Kenneth Naylor with Atlantic Pacific Cos., discuss future development in the Capitol Heights area near its Metro station. (Photo by Danielle J. Brown/Maryland Matters) |
As Secretary Day puts it in a talk to housing advocates organized by Greater Greater Washington "Those who want to keep everything as it is are just as motivated as we are. It won't be easy" [to pass all these bills]. But we are "ready to fight for the unpopular" if it is the right thing and "makes Maryland better". The odds are not too bad because this year even the Maryland Association of Counties (MACO) vowed cooperation in solving the housing problem. (Michael Sanderson, executive director for the Maryland Association of Counties says he is trying to find a "middle ground").
In Maryland's 2026 legislative session, the Moore-Miller Administration has introduced an aggressive "Housing Growth and Affordability Agenda" focused on increasing supply and reducing regulatory barriers. The slew of bills under consideration includes these:
Maryland Transit & Housing Opportunity Act (HB 894): Targets Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) by eliminating parking minimums for housing within a quarter-mile of rail transit. It also delays the collection of certain impact fees until construction is complete to improve project feasibility.
Starter and Silver Homes Act of 2026 (HB 239): Aims to expand housing for young families and seniors by preempting local zoning that prohibits smaller, more affordable options. It limits minimum lot sizes to 5,000 square feet and allows townhomes in areas currently zoned only for single-family detached houses.
Housing Certainty Act of 2026 (HB 548): Establishes "early vesting" rights for developers, ensuring that if local zoning rules change after a permit application is submitted, the original rules still apply to that project.
Bring Back Main Street (HB 1137): Requiring certain counties to allow multifamily developments and mixed-use developments as a permitted use on certain parcels or lots; prohibiting certain counties from imposing certain restrictions, requirements, or limitations on permitted developments; authorizing certain counties to require a permitted development to have a certain percentage of available floor space dedicated to retail uses and to include on-site parking;
Fair Housing and Housing Discrimination (HB 0573): Authorizing the Department of Housing and Community Development to adopt certain regulations related to affirmatively furthering fair housing; providing that certain discriminatory housing practices may be committed without intent; prohibiting a person from acting in a certain manner that has a discriminatory effect; and providing that certain conduct necessary to achieve certain nondiscriminatory interests does not constitute a certain violation.
Tenant Protections & Transparency (HB 80): Requires landlords to disclose all mandatory fees to prospective tenants before a lease is signed and prohibits undisclosed fees.
In Maryland's 2026 legislative session, the Moore-Miller Administration has introduced an aggressive "Housing Growth and Affordability Agenda" focused on increasing supply and reducing regulatory barriers. The slew of bills under consideration includes these:
Maryland Transit & Housing Opportunity Act (HB 894): Targets Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) by eliminating parking minimums for housing within a quarter-mile of rail transit. It also delays the collection of certain impact fees until construction is complete to improve project feasibility.
Starter and Silver Homes Act of 2026 (HB 239): Aims to expand housing for young families and seniors by preempting local zoning that prohibits smaller, more affordable options. It limits minimum lot sizes to 5,000 square feet and allows townhomes in areas currently zoned only for single-family detached houses.
Housing Certainty Act of 2026 (HB 548): Establishes "early vesting" rights for developers, ensuring that if local zoning rules change after a permit application is submitted, the original rules still apply to that project.
Bring Back Main Street (HB 1137): Requiring certain counties to allow multifamily developments and mixed-use developments as a permitted use on certain parcels or lots; prohibiting certain counties from imposing certain restrictions, requirements, or limitations on permitted developments; authorizing certain counties to require a permitted development to have a certain percentage of available floor space dedicated to retail uses and to include on-site parking;
Maryland Generational Housing Act of 2026 (HB 1538): A Republican-sponsored bill that would require local laws to authorize at least one internal and one external Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) on certain lands, regardless of existing density limits.
Fair Housing and Housing Discrimination (HB 0573): Authorizing the Department of Housing and Community Development to adopt certain regulations related to affirmatively furthering fair housing; providing that certain discriminatory housing practices may be committed without intent; prohibiting a person from acting in a certain manner that has a discriminatory effect; and providing that certain conduct necessary to achieve certain nondiscriminatory interests does not constitute a certain violation.
Tenant Protections & Transparency (HB 80): Requires landlords to disclose all mandatory fees to prospective tenants before a lease is signed and prohibits undisclosed fees.
Rights of Unhoused Individuals (HB 104): Prevents law enforcement from ticketing or arresting individuals experiencing homelessness without first offering them available shelter.
Retaliatory Downzoning (HB 1517) protecting certain qualified projects by requiring a local jurisdiction to allow the density of a certain qualified project to exceed the density otherwise authorized; and permitting a certain qualified project to consist of certain types of developments with certain density limits under certain circumstances.
A discussion of the housing crisis including positions of Secretary Day, Comptroller Brooke Lierman, Preservation MD CEO Nicolas Redding and Land Use lawyer Tom Coale can be heard on this Maryland Now podcast.The path forward should not consist in throwing out protective measures but in removing restrictions in areas where housing development should happen, for example near transit or in highly walkable population centers. Innovation and creativity are urgently needed in design, production and policy to address the combined housing, economic development, climate and sustainability crisis. As much as immediate action is needed, it is also necessary to maintain the long view including our natural environment, the demographics of an aging population and the shifting ways how we work.
Klaus Philipsen, FAIA
Related: Zoning reform bills in Baltimore City: Housing Regulations to be Relaxed in Baltimore City
