Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich attended the Village of Martin’s Additions Council meeting on October 17th to address–and affirm–concerns over the Montgomery Planning Board’s Attainable Housing Strategies Initiative. Following a series of Listening Sessions throughout the county, and a growing number of complaints from residents, Elrich’s perspective was much-needed and the discussion spanned almost 90 minutes.
With a background in zoning and studying traffic, citing a 1980’s Silver Spring mega mall project that he helped fight off, Elrich is a supporter of the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance that prevents development from negatively impacting transportation, schools, and other critical services. Like residents have expressed, Elrich says that the proposed Attainable Housing plan has not done the necessary analysis of the impact on traffic, schools, environment, etc.
Elrich also counters the following:
- the argument that Attainable Housing prevents segregation
- the Planning Board’s assumptions about a projected housing crisis
- the belief that residents are “privileged” to live in single family neighborhoods
Watch to see all of Elrich’s comments on the Attainable Housing plan, and his discussion with the Village of Martin’s Additions Council members.
