Frederick Housing, Health, and Education Committee Meeting – September 18, 2025
Frederick Housing, Health, and Education Committee Meeting – September 18, 2025
The Housing, Health, and Education Committee met on September 18, 2025, at 10:00 A.M. to discuss three workshop items: the geographic applicability of an Affordable Housing Overlay, the permit process and fees for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), and an informational update on the Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit (MPDU) fund. Councilmember Shacklet was absent; Councilmember McShane arrived late. The committee received public testimony and set next steps for further research and draft proposals.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Jim Smursall (community member with long‑standing interest in affordable housing) recommended creating a map of all city‑supported housing projects, color‑coded by affordability period end dates. He also suggested using the adaptive reuse section (804) of the zoning code to allow R20 density on former industrial properties, provided 60% of units are for low‑ and moderate‑income households.
- Ann Ryan (Frederick Housing Solutions Task Force) urged the committee to consider creating 75 new units over the next year affordable to households earning under $25,000/year. She cited the Hope Village project in Baltimore as a model using a mix of private money and government incentives, and called for the committee to actively seek solutions rather than stating the problem is too difficult.
Discussion Items
- Affordable Housing Overlay: Geographic Applicability – President Nash and staff presented examples of overlays from other cities (compiled by Clara). The committee agreed the overlay should be citywide, but debated whether to include non‑residential zones (e.g., general commercial). Councilmember McShane favored limiting the overlay to zones already permitting residential development to keep the policy focused and achievable. Councilmember Kazembe argued for including adaptive reuse of commercial properties to increase land availability. Gabrielle (Planning Department) noted that most residentially zoned land is already developed, suggesting that a floating zone for 100% affordable projects (e.g., LIHTC) could be a separate tool. The committee decided to move forward with a discussion draft of an overlay for the next meeting (in four weeks) and to gather developer input at the next HHE meeting (with Daniel Adams from Frederick Builders Association).
- Accessory Dwelling Units: Review of ADU Permit Process and Fees – Zach Kirshner presented the fee structure: total fees for an ADU under 800 sq. ft. are just under $10,000, including city impact fees (water, sewer, parks) and county‑imposed fees (library, school). Councilmember McShane questioned whether the fees are a barrier, noting that for a simple conversion (e.g., basement) the fees could be a significant percentage of project cost. Others noted that construction costs ($100,000+ for a basement conversion) are a larger barrier. The committee agreed to proceed with a community survey to identify barriers and to revisit fee reduction during the ADU rewrite. Parking requirements were also identified as a barrier.
- Moderately Priced Dwelling Units – Information Only – President Nash provided an update on MPDU fund expenditures: a $200,000 grant to Habitat for Humanity (condominium project on West All Saints Street) and $2 million to The Junction (rental project). Presentations from recipients are scheduled for the Government Operations Committee on October 2 (Junction) and October 16 (Habitat for Humanity). Councilmember Kazembe expressed interest in further funding for homeownership projects. No action was taken.
Key Outcomes
- Affordable Housing Overlay: The committee will work toward a discussion draft of an overlay text amendment, to be presented in four weeks (approximately October 16). Councilmembers are to provide their preferred model or starting point to Clara by next Friday, September 26. The committee will also hear from the Frederick Builders Association at the next HHE meeting (date not specified but likely two weeks later).
- ADU Fees and Process: The committee will launch a community survey (via communications team) to assess barriers to ADU construction. Fee reductions will be considered during the upcoming ADU rewrite. No immediate action on fees was taken.
- MPDU Update: Informational only; formal presentations from grantees will occur at the Government Operations Committee on October 2 and October 16, 2025.
- Public Comment Follow‑up: The GIS department will work with the housing department to create a map of city‑supported housing projects, as suggested by Jim Smursall.
Meeting Transcript
Calling to order the um Housing Health and Education Committee meeting for September eighteenth, twenty twenty-five. Let's please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Councilmember Shacklet will not be here today at all. Councilmember McShane is running late, and so we have three items on the agenda other than the minutes. So we have um a presentation from Habitat on the um two hundred thousand dollar grant, and then one from the junction. Oh, I don't see anyone here from the junction. They're not presenting at all, so letters that I can speak to this, Madame. Okay, sure. Thank you very much. So President Nash will speak to the Again, this is informational about funding that was provided to both um Habitat for Humanity and the junction for MPDUs. So it's part of our work to consider the MPDU program. Um an update as to the funding they received and what the funding has been used for if it has been used yet. So just for the public's sake, I wanted to sort of provide that context. We have invited those recipients to present, and that those presentations are forthcoming in October. So there will be additional information, but we but we put this on the agenda because a couple of reasons. We've had a lot of conversations about the MPDU in lieu of program in its entirety. We've had a lot of conversations about the use of the funds and the uh acceptable uses of the funds, and we covered that in our last meeting two weeks ago. We did we began that discussion. And then we've also had discussion about the expenditure of the funds, so and the timeliness and what those funds are being used for. So sort of three different uh tracks. Uh and so this is that third track, and it's informational today because we wanted to make sure that we put it on the agenda to provide the information that has been thus received. Uh we will follow up with the Lucas Village recipients. We have not been able to receive an update from them yet, so we're gonna follow up on that and where that project is. Uh but I did want to just make sure that everyone knew they had been included and they have been invited uh to to present as well. So uh it's informational only today, madam chair, because we wanted to just provide the information in your backup so that everyone had a chance to read what was submitted uh so far. Um but other than that, I think that's probably unless there are additional questions or uh direction for that specific topic area, we can probably move on. But that was really the the genesis of having it on the agenda for today. Thank you very much. I actually do have just uh a relatively quick question. So the um the the funding comes from the um MPDU fund itself, right? And one of them is this 200,000 um grant to habitat for humanity, and my understanding is that that project on West All Saint Street um is actually a condominium project, so the people will actually own those homes, correct? And then the two million dollar um for the junction, and maybe I'm misunderstanding this, but are those are rentals, correct? Those are rentals. So I'm just gonna be very clear that um uh when when we have this conversation more in depth, um I would consider possibly providing more funding for um the purchase condos. Um again, I understand that the costs on those were much higher because of the supply chain demands and the you know COVID and and just kind of everything. The the amounts on those were were pretty significant, significantly higher than expected. So as we have that conversation, I'm just gonna note to Habitat maybe don't hesitate to make a request that I might support. We'll do it next. Um it will be on the agenda. I'm sorry if you can't hear don't don't don't hesitate to make a request that um you know could change things. So um excuse me. Yes. I just want to remind these letters or as the EGT committee, but the presentations from recipients will be at the government ops committee because it relates to um an update on MOUs contracts. Um those will be on October 2nd for the junction project and October 16th, off the top of my head. Um thank you for Habitat for Humanity, and that will be at the government operations committee at 2 p.m. And that will be for both of them. Yes, correct. Okay. So my comments stand. Okay.
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