Speaker numbers apply only to this recording. Names come from transcript evidence. “Possibly” marks uncertain attribution.
On April 21, 2026, the Charles County Board of Commissioners held two public hearings. The first addressed PILOT agreements for affordable housing, and the second covered 21 local legislative proposals for changes to the county code.
Staff from Community Services, Planning, Economic Development, and Fiscal Services presented the work of the Affordable Housing Pilot Work Group. They detailed a shortage of approximately 1,200 affordable housing units for households earning 30–80% of the Area Median Income. The three recommended projects (Eagle Point Phase 1, Lendville Crossing, Pineway Village) would provide 289 affordable units, meeting roughly 25% of the identified deficit. The total annual tax abatement for the three projects over the 20-year PILOT term is $388,127.
Acting Deputy County Administrator Danielle Mitchell presented the process for the 21 submitted proposals. Residents were given three minutes to present their proposed additions, deletions, or modifications to the Charles County Code.
Charles County Government presents the Board of Commissioners. Good evening, Commissioners. We're going to begin this evening's session with a roll call. Commissioner Bowling. Present. Commissioner Coates. Commissioner Stewart. Commissioner Patterson. Present. And Commissioner Collins. Commissioner Collins. Thank you. Commissioners, the next item on your agenda is your first public hearing for this evening. Commissioner Collins, if you want to read the statement. Good afternoon, everyone. The purpose of this evening's session is to hold a public hearing on pilot work group summary of projects for funding consideration. If it pleases the commissioners, I will dispense with the reading of the public notice. For the public, when it's your turn to speak, please state your name and address clearly for the record. Statement should relate to the subject matter of this identified hearing. Statement should be brief to the point and limited to three minutes or less. Proper language is required at all times. Additionally, please understand that this is a public hearing, which means that this is the commissioner's opportunity to hear directly from the public. This is the public's opportunity to speak. Consequently, the commissioners will not be entertaining questions or debating the issue. The commissioners do reserve the right to extend the time frame or to continue the hearing until another date. With that stated, we will now begin the public hearing. Good evening, Commissioners. Dina Barclay, Director of Community Services. And just to introduce my colleagues here, Joel Binkley sitting next to me, planning supervisor, planning growth management. Mark Thompson, Chief of Commercial Development for Economic Development, and Jake Dyer, Director of Fiscal and Administrative Services. So as you recall, we're coming back to you today for the public hearing portion of our process in the pilot agreement for affordable housing. And I do want to be transparent that both of the developers who submitted projects are with us here this evening. PAX development and impact development. And if they signed up to speak, they will not be presenting. They're just going to get the same three minutes as the public as well. So did want to let you know that they were available tonight. So the first slide, it basically is what is affordable housing. Some of this may look familiar to you. We repurposing some of our slides from our previous presentation to you. But this is the definition of affordable housing that we used in our work group, providing critical economic stability, improved health outcomes, and better educational opportunities for residents while fostering stronger, more productive communities. Affordable housing reduces financial strain, allowing households to afford necessities like food and health care, decreasing homelessness and supporting local economies through job creation and increased consumer spending. So when folks have more disposable income by reducing their housing costs, they have more income to spend on other things, necessities as well as community activities and amenities for themselves. The affordable housing shortage key impact. Oh, is that your slide? I'm sorry. Yes, I keep it. I'm going to keep reading this one because I would have started. The key impacts for affordable housing shortage, uh lower increases excuse me, has lower levels of discretionary household income, uh, lower levels of business investment, and lower economic well-being. Thank you again, Commissioners, um, for your time today on this important topic.