Montgomery County Council Planning, Housing & Parks Committee Work Session - October 12, 2026

The Montgomery County Council Planning, Housing & Parks (PHP) Committee met on October 12, 2026, from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Council Hearing Room, 100 Maryland Avenue, Rockville, Maryland. Committee Chair Andrew Friedson presided; Councilmember Will Jawando and Council President Laurie-Anne Sayles took part in the discussion. The work session covered three items: an Office of Legislative Oversight (OLO) report on code enforcement, an OLO report on government programs that subsidize home modifications for aging in place, and a briefing on state-designated Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) areas.

Discussion Items

Code Enforcement (OLO Report 2025-06)

• OLO researchers Gabriela Monson-Reynolds and Dr. Elaine Bonner-Tompkins presented OLO Report 2025-06. They found that the county housing code generally aligns with the National Healthy Housing Standards, but includes exterior building requirements aimed at minimizing visual blight, such as tall-grass rules and exterior paint maintenance.
• OLO found that DHCA relies on three code enforcement processes: complaint-driven inspections, mandated multifamily property inspections, and proactive inspections. OLO also found that DHCA did not use standardized inspection checklists, did not consistently use available enforcement tools, did not charge required reinspection fees, only partially complied with Bill 19-15 annual reporting requirements, and classified too many multifamily properties as compliant under Executive Regulation 5-17 AM.
• OLO reported that DHCA collected $9.1 million in landlord-tenant fees in FY25, compared with a $6.2 million budget for code enforcement. Data showed code inspections increased 37% between FY19 and FY23, most 311 complaints in FY24 were for single-family properties, the share of code enforcement service requests resolved within 60 days increased 6% between FY18 and FY23, and citations issued to multifamily properties increased from 307 to 754 between FY19 and FY24.
• OLO also found that contemporary racial inequity in code enforcement likely appears as underenforcement in Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities, driven by a complaint-driven process that directs resources to single-family and predominantly white communities, a code that emphasizes exterior blight, inconsistent use of enforcement tools, and limited abatement resources.
• DHCA Director Scott Bruton and Division Chief Nathan Bovale responded with FY26 data: 37 housing code inspectors and 6 supervisors; about 115,000 rental units, including about 85,000 multifamily and 30,000 single-family units; about 80,000 unit inspections, including roughly 14,000 scheduled inspections and 65,000 complaint-based inspections; about 2,300 multifamily notices of violation covering more than 15,000 violations and 466 citations; and about 3,400 single-family notices covering about 12,000 violations and 750 citations.
• DHCA highlighted improvements since 2023, including revised standard operating procedures, an updated code enforcement application, reinspection fees implemented in May 2026, integration of troubled and at-risk property regulation with rent stabilization, and a new collaboration with the University of Maryland National Center for Smart Growth. DHCA reported a 78% decrease in units in troubled properties and a 69% decrease in units in at-risk properties between FY24 and FY26.
• OLO recommended developing a code enforcement strategic plan with community stakeholders, improving disaggregated data collection, revising the multifamily property classification methodology, and considering nine secondary recommendations, including increased multifamily staffing.
• Councilmember Jawando raised concerns about staffing allocation: 16 of 37 inspectors are dedicated to multifamily, while the remaining 21 are split among upper county, down county/ADU, and Takoma Park teams. He questioned whether the county has enough multifamily inspectors, whether the inspection cadence is appropriate, and whether those measures are tied to clear goals. Chair Friedson called for a written strategic plan with metrics and accountability rather than informal continuous improvement alone. Council President Sayles praised DHCA's responsiveness and outreach to people of color, noted tight budget constraints, and urged maximizing the effectiveness of existing inspectors.
• DHCA agreed to provide written responses to committee questions and a proposed engagement and strategic-plan framework within 30 days.

Aging in Place Home Modification Programs (OLO Report 2025-12)

• OLO's Leslie Rubin presented a review of 18 state and local government programs that subsidize home modifications to support aging in place. OLO's recommendation was to consider design changes that could expand participation, such as opening programs to renters or rental property owners, removing the primary-residence requirement from the first tier of the Design for Life program, or lowering the HARP age limit.
• Montgomery County has two programs. The Department of Permitting Services (DPS) implements the Design for Life program, a property tax credit with no income, age, or disability limits. It provides 50% of costs up to $2,500 at the accessibility level, and 100% of costs up to $3,000 or $10,000 at the visitable and livable levels. Annual funding is capped at $100,000 for the accessibility level and $500,000 split between the visitable and livable levels. Since FY15, the program has issued about $65,608 in accessibility tax credits, $9,000 in visitable credits, and $810,000 in livable credits, using roughly 11% of available funds. The accessibility level currently requires the property to be the owner's primary residence.
• The Home Accessibility Rehabilitation Program (HARP), implemented by DHCA, funds up to $35,000 in home modifications per project and does not require participants to pay upfront. HARP has income limits of 80% of AMI or below, with priority at 50% of AMI or below, and is open to homeowners aged 65 or older or households with a permanent disability. Since the program began, it has renovated 254 properties using $2.4 million of the $3.1 million available; 59% of participants had incomes at or below 30% of AMI.
• DPS Director Rabia Sabeakan and Division Chief Gail Lucas described actions taken after the committee's previous briefing: expanding eligible accessibility features, adding residential condominiums as eligible properties, simplifying the online application process, and increasing outreach. They also said DPS is considering incorporating visitability and accessibility provisions into the next county building code cycle, following approaches used in other jurisdictions such as Prince George's County.
• Chair Friedson expressed strong support for treating accessible housing as a broad public benefit and questioned restrictions that exclude rental properties, require owner occupancy at the accessibility level, or may discourage landlords from making accessibility improvements. Councilmember Jawando supported raising the Design for Life accessibility tax credit to 75% of project costs up to $10,000, keeping the $100,000 annual cap, and removing the primary-residence requirement. DPS noted that, in practice, it does not ask whether an applicant is owner-occupied, but the stated policy still contains the restriction.
• The committee reached consensus to move forward with legislation this year, with Council staff directed to begin drafting a bill.

State-Designated Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Areas Briefing

• Planning Department Deputy Director Robert Kronenberg and Division Chief Carrie McCarthy briefed the committee on applications to be submitted to the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) for state TOD designation of four downtown areas: Wheaton, Silver Spring, Bethesda, and Friendship Heights. The proposed boundaries generally follow existing central business district and sector/master plan boundaries, narrowed to commercial and mixed-use areas zoned for redevelopment.
• Benefits of state TOD designation include eligibility for the state TOD capital grant and revolving loan fund, additional points in low-income housing tax credit and state agency project applications, and priority advocacy with MDOT. The designation does not preempt local zoning or mandate a certain type of development.
• North Bethesda (White Flint) and Rockville previously received TOD designations; the four new applications are separate. DOT Deputy Director Haley Peckett said DOT fully supports all four designations and that DOT is using a $250,000 state grant from the TOD fund for North Bethesda planning and outreach.
• Council staff flagged that under the 2026 Maryland Transit and Housing Opportunity Act, the four areas would automatically become state enterprise zones once designated as TODs after October 1, 2026, unless the local government elects in writing not to designate them. The council resolution accompanying the applications should state whether the council supports or opposes the enterprise-zone designation for each area.
• OMB's Gary Nelvin said enterprise-zone tax credits involve shared state and local revenue costs, and recommended assessing revenue impacts before moving forward. He said typical fiscal impact statements take two to three weeks and this one could be more complicated. The chair asked OMB to provide, within 48 hours, a timeline for completing a fiscal impact analysis.
• Follow-up questions were directed to MDOT about whether the council can opt out at the time of TOD designation and later opt in to enterprise-zone status, and whether the council can make different enterprise-zone decisions for different areas. Council President Sayles expressed support for the TOD designations, particularly in Wheaton and Silver Spring, and asked that Glenmont be considered among future TOD areas. Planning staff noted other future possibilities include the Purple Line corridor, Germantown MARC, and additional Metro or MARC stations.

Key Outcomes

• DHCA will provide written responses to committee questions and a proposed strategic-plan and engagement framework within 30 days, including staffing capacity and allocation data.
• The committee agreed to draft legislation this year to increase the Design for Life accessibility tax credit to 75% of project costs up to $10,000, retain the $100,000 annual cap, and remove the primary-residence requirement. HARP expansion and funding will be explored separately.
• For TOD, no formal vote was taken. The council will seek follow-up answers from MDOT on enterprise-zone opt-out and opt-in timing and per-area decisions; OMB will provide a timeline for a fiscal impact statement within 48 hours; and a broader discussion on enterprise-zone tax policy may be referred to the full council or the Government Operations & Fiscal Policy Committee.