As the County Council looks at reforming its affordable housing program, the people who live in some of the affordable units at Avenel weigh in on the proposals.
30 YEARS
Residents were generally opposed to extending the control period to 30 years from the current 10-year control period. "I think that’s an awful idea," said Mary Garner, a paralegal at a Montgomery County law firm.
"You’ll never have the opportunity to sell your house at market [price]," said Barbara Norris, who owns a moderately priced dwelling unit (MPDU) in Avenel.
Currently, if the owner of a MPDU stays in the unit for 10 years, he can then sell the house at market rate. He gets to keep the first $10,000 in capital gains and then must split the rest 50-50 with the county.
By extending that period to 30 years, said some owners, they will make the program unattractive to many prospective buyers.
Thirty years was picked because it is a nationally recognized average for when a house requires major maintenance, said Council member Nancy Floreen (D-At large). However, residents say that affordable units are those on the lower end of the scale and need maintenance sooner.
"There are the basic, low-line houses that the builder can put on the market," said John Gibson, who owns an MPDU in Avenel.
Gibson thinks that at 30 years, people who live in them would have no incentive to keep them up or do any maintenance. "Nobody would ever want to improve the home," Gibson said.
"We’ll be renting our entire lives," Norris said.
"It’s going to be your lifetime residence," said Mario Wawrzusin. "I can live with 50 percent, but not the 30 years."
ALTERNATIVE AGREEMENTS
"I don’t think they should bend over backwards for the developers," said Yancey Garner, a federal police officer who lives in Avenel.
Garner did not like many of the alternative incentives given to developers in the proposal. He was against Floreen’s proposal to allow developers to refurbish an old house in exchange for building a new unit.
Floreen said it is necessary to introduce some flexibility into the program.
However, Garner sees an opportunity for abuse, where developers could choose a house that is already "naturally affordable," resulting in no net gain to the program. "If you were a builder, you could go and find some of the old World War II bungalows," he said.
He also opposes the idea of relaxing environmental and zoning restrictions.
"That’s the problem. They’ve been giving the developers all these exceptions and waivers," Garner said. "Why would we want to give more control over to the builders in Montgomery County?"
The residents acknowledged that their perspective might be different if they were still on the waiting list to get into an affordable unit.
They favor expanding the program, but they question the cost. "I support them, if they’re done in an ecologically sound manner," said Mario Wawrzusin.
<1b>— Ari Cetron