Montgomery County Council passes ‘missing middle' housing plan

Washington Post

22-07-2025

The Montgomery County Council voted Tuesday to enable multiunit homes to be built on certain lots previously zoned for single-family homes, an effort to address a 'missing middle' housing shortage for middle-income residents in the wealthy Maryland county.
The zoning change, part of a larger package of bills known as More Housing NOW (New Options for Workers), will allow for duplexes, triplexes, townhouses and small apartments along certain corridors. The change is intended to amp up Montgomery's supply of housing units, particularly for residents — such as firefighters, nurses and teachers — who can't otherwise afford to live in the county that is lined with spacious mansions in some parts.
Home to 1 million residents, Montgomery is one of the nation's 30 wealthiest counties in the country, according to a Stanford University database. The average price for a single family detached home in the county last year was $1.02 million, according to a letter the bill's sponsors wrote to their colleagues in January, making homeownership out of reach for even relatively well-off professionals.
The bill's sponsors, Andrew Friedson (D-District 1) and Natali Fani-González (D-District 6), included a provision in the zoning change that requires triplexes to include at least one unit affordable for people earning up to 120 percent of the area's median income, which is $157,500 for a family of two and $196,500 for a family of four as of April, according to a county report.
For properties with more units, at least 15 percent of those homes must be affordable for that bracket of earners. Duplexes are exempt from the requirement, the sponsors said.
Before a jeering audience, where some residents held signs depicting the council members with wrecking balls over their heads, the council members who supported the legislation said it's an important step toward creating more places to live that are accessible to more residents in Montgomery.
'The status quo isn't working for the workforce, for economic competitiveness or for fulfilling our values as an inclusive and welcoming community,' Friedson said, before the 8-3 vote. 'Progress doesn't require perfection, but it does require doing something, even when it's hard, especially when it's hard.'
'To say that we want more housing, and to say that we want more affordable housing, yet let's not do anything is not a solution,' Fani-González said. 'We are giving people choices.'
Council members Will Jawando (D-At Large), Sidney Katz (D-District 3) and Kristin Mink (D-District 5) voted against the package.
Policies geared toward creating more missing middle homes have grown in popularity across the country and, in the D.C. region, are part of a larger push to build 75,000 additional housing units by 2030 — a target laid out by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.
But the policies have also yielded strong opposition from homeowners concerned about how more residents in their suburban neighborhoods could change their character and strain local government resources like stormwater management, roads and schools.
Missing middle housing policies introduced in both Arlington County and the city of Alexandria in 2023 have led to lengthy legal battles filed by homeowners opposed to those plans that are still ongoing.
Montgomery County has explored the idea of allowing for higher density in areas zoned for single-family homes for years, meeting with opposition each time.
The new zoning change, which goes into effect on Nov. 1, was born out of discussions involving the county's planning experts last year, Friedson and Fani-González said.
The impacted corridors are mostly concentrated in the county's southeast quadrant around Bethesda, Silver Spring, Glenmont and Wheaton, according to a planning department map. A property owner must submit an application to the planning board to take advantage of the change so planners can assess the impacts on resources, Fani-González said.
Jawando said he opposed the bill because of the public outcry and how high the financial bar still is for workforce housing, keeping these potential new units out of reach for some residents who still do not earn enough to afford those homes.
'I've listened intently to residents around the county and I've heard loud and clear,' Jawando said. 'Our residents have asked us to be more nuanced, more thoughtful and more diligent in the approach.'
He noted that many of these affected lots are more modest properties facing busy streets and occupied by residents who are already struggling to keep up with rising taxes and other costs of living.
Some residents against the plan launched an aggressive opposition campaign, passing out fliers, staging protests and speaking at meetings, where they argued that the zoning change would cause currently quiet streets to become overcrowded while not necessarily creating enough affordable housing for those who really need it.
For Paula Bienenfeld, a homeowner in the Seven Oaks area of Silver Spring, the plan is simply unfair.
The county's ritzy Potomac neighborhood is virtually unaffected, while the areas already responsible for bearing the brunt of the county's density will be tasked with handling more, Bienenfeld said after Tuesday's vote.
'All the high density development is being kettled down into the Silver Spring area and Wheaton,' she said. 'They talk about equity but this is like the opposite, it's all kettled into the areas that are already hyperdense. To me, that's a big concern. If you want equity, it should be spread over the whole county.'
The plan drew support from some local nonprofits and affordable housing advocates, who described it as a potential lifeline for young professionals eager to graduate from apartment living but not yet wealthy enough to own single family homes. Many noted that any increase in the housing supply is a good thing for the market as it will help balance supply with demand.
'We are selling out our working families, the people who make this county run and the kids who taxpayers paid to educate, kids like me 20 years ago who can't afford to stay here anymore,' Dan Reed, Maryland policy director for Greater Greater Washington, a nonprofit focused on housing and transportation equity, said after the vote. 'The council took a brave step today, but it's a first step and we have a lot more work to do.'