Frederick Public Works Committee Meeting on Housing Solutions Fund and MPDU Program – July 28, 2026
Frederick Public Works Committee Meeting on Housing Solutions Fund and MPDU Program – July 28, 2026
On July 28, 2026, the City of Frederick Public Works Committee convened to discuss a proposed ordinance creating a Housing Solutions Fund and to hear presentations from housing community representatives on the Moderately Priced Dwelling Units (MPDU) program. The meeting was a workshop with no formal votes taken.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the July 14, 2026 meeting were approved by unanimous consent.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Ryan Trout, city resident: Commented as a former municipal housing director and lead of Frederick County's MPDU rewrite. He urged the committee to understand the payment-in-lieu option's role in leveraging state and federal funds, noting that during the county's analysis, fee-in-lieu funds often produced five to eight times more affordable housing than if MPDUs had been built (mostly through LITEC rental developments at 60% AMI). He recommended pairing MPDU requirements with meaningful incentives, such as a property tax abatement model used in Chattanooga, and suggested evaluating the payment-in-lieu fee and incentive program together. He also advised that to build more starter homes, the city should address regulations, fees, pre-approved plans, and creative financing.
Discussion Items
- Housing Solutions Fund Ordinance Concept: Councilmember Charlie Jackson and Councilmember Shackleford discussed the draft ordinance. Shackleford requested percentage allocations for the six categories of allowable uses (e.g., administrative costs, LITEC projects, home repair assistance). Councilmembers debated whether to set percentages in the ordinance or have the director propose annual allocations for council approval. Councilmember Jackson expressed opposition to tying a fixed percentage of the city budget to the fund, preferring flexibility. The committee also discussed whether the fund could include a
Meeting Transcript
The United States of America and to the Republic or one nation under Godissible with liberty and justice role. Great. And with thanks to Ms. Ambush for her work. Approval of minutes is the first item up. Is there a motion to approve? I move to approve. And I'll second. All in favor? So passes. I I would note that the document in the backup and that we're looking at today is conceptual. It thanks to Ms. Jackson, it sure looks a lot more polished, but from a concept standpoint, it's just the start, and I wanted to make sure that we could start our discussion today prior to having the uh city legal team and staff take a look at it. So we're in early times with this. So again, it it looks pretty advanced, but it's just the starter for our discussion. Um that I spotted in my review of this is uh uh section nineteen five oh two generally under purpose B number three, lower income housing needs. And I I think, and again, this is for discussion, that it might be helpful if we said to provide rental assistance, comma, including eviction prevention and uh deposit assistance, comma for lower income households. So just to make sure we have some specificity there. And again, that language can change. This is just a s the start of our discussion. But with that being said, uh council members, did either of you have any thoughts about this concept document? And just so that I have some starter guidance from you all on that. Yes, thank you for this. Thank you. Um Ms. Jackson for this as well. I think I stated previously before in regards to this is a pretty encompassing list. I would like to see percentages on this. So one is if we're if we're looking at these are not listed in any order in regards to this this number one, two, three, four, five, six. Let's pretty much listen in terms of just topics, correct? Yes. Yes. So of course I know there's administrative costs. Um, and I know that some of this also uh will be not necessarily um I guess the other part of it is what has to come before this council and what latitude liberty does the director have. I guess the other part of it is what has to come before this council and what latitude liberty does the director have. I mean that also probably needs to be spelled out. Like I would say, for instance, this is the Lightek project of four million dollars. Does the director have the opportunity to sign off on that or does that come before council? Is there is there a I know there are certain amounts in terms of our purchasing policy? I know there is. So that that may answer my question as well. So I know from our purchasing standpoint, I have to check that. This may not be this is not a purchasing issue. So those so does Director Campbell have the latitude to say, you know, three million dollars goes to a project um on North Market Street. Will he have that latitude or does that need to come before the council for approval as if differentiating between housing support for persons with disabilities? And and I guess the other question would be I know we're having a conversation around rental licensing fund, which has not been finalized and where that goes, because then we're talking about some of these because it would be interesting to see like how much home repair assistance do we have, how much is not allocated for that, but what's the need in terms of the cost of that? Are we talking about $500,000? We're talking about $200,000. I don't know, Eric, I know you're here. I'm just saying, you know, and we have housing advocates here who are who are with us, but I'm just kind of brainstorming in some terms of some of these conversations of the of the amounts which we're talking.
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