Montgomery County introducing a bill that would change the R-60 zoning near metro stations

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn't this make these lots, even if they have a SFH on them already, more valuable?

potentially but imagine how neighborhoods would look during a transition. One family sells to a developer who puts up a 4 unit apartment building with no parking and on another lot a developer puts up 4 small houses and on another lot a developer puts up 4 townhouses. Part of the value is the aesthetics.

meanwhile all these new builds have no parking and your streets are now littered with 4 times the cars. Now if a developer comes in a makes it look great and high-end sure but the county probably won't allow that seeing they are pushing affordable housing

You're over-valuing aesthetics. The market doesn't place a premium on it. If they did, then the DC rowhouse condo conversions wouldn't sell. Instead, they have been in hot demand for the last 20 years. Location, location, location.

I'm really interested to see what happens in the west portion of Chevy Chase, close to Wisconsin Ave: 46th Street, Leland, Elm, Willow, etc. Those houses are very close to the Metro. I can only imagine that the fight between the County and Town will be epic.

Making an edit to my original post - I said "Connecticut" when I meant to say "Wisconsin"

[Anonymous]

County politics watchers: what do you think are the chances that Jawando is able to get this passed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:County politics watchers: what do you think are the chances that Jawando is able to get this passed?

And to add: what are the chances he's able to remove single family zoning from the entire county, as he's stated is his plan?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:County politics watchers: what do you think are the chances that Jawando is able to get this passed?

And to add: what are the chances he's able to remove single family zoning from the entire county, as he's stated is his plan?

How long is his term? Wish he move on to state or nation office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:County politics watchers: what do you think are the chances that Jawando is able to get this passed?

And to add: what are the chances he's able to remove single family zoning from the entire county, as he's stated is his plan?

How long is his term? Wish he move on to state or nation office.

He doesn't have state potential let alone national. While just the name isn't an absolute deal breaker you have to be a pretty brilliant person to over come name stigma in this country (like Obama) and he doesn't come off as nearly as smart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This exactly. Nobody with income wants to live in those kinds of dumpy neighborhoods.

That is exactly the point. There's a lack of middle housing in MoCo, especially in downcounty MoCo. There's not much available between scattered MPDUs and $1.5mm homes.

[Anonymous]

There is NO lack of affordable housing. There is a lack of close in McMansions for the middle class

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is NO lack of affordable housing. There is a lack of close in McMansions for the middle class

I don't know what you consider "affordable" but it must be a much higher bar than a lot of other people can clear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A bill is being introduced to allow R60 to have multi family units

Jwando suggests that having 4 units on a lot is more affordable than one.

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/government/multifamily-zoning-proposed-near-metro-stations/

vote them out maybe they should work on opening schools and saving businesses than destroying any value this county might still have

Don't be daft. Multi-family housing in Georgetown, Glover Park, Tenleytown, Woodley Park and countless other fast-appreciating areas has never hurt those areas. Besides, this proposal could open up more possibilities for long-time residents to age in place (so that they can keep paying MD and MoCo taxes!). I live in one of the communities impacted in Bethesda and am eager to see what type of incentives the County will offer to existing property owners to convert their single family homes to duplexes, triplexes or condos. There are already plenty of them in this area.

[Anonymous]

This is a good thing, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are the impacts for owners of the new built and the old houses? It already costs 90k for small lots. The new built houses sell from 1.7 M. Will the proposed change make the land go higher or lower? For any new houses on market, who wants to purchase them, if you will be surrounded by cars?

Pray tell, where in MoCo can you buy a lot for $90K that is a mile or less from metro?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the impacts for owners of the new built and the old houses? It already costs 90k for small lots. The new built houses sell from 1.7 M. Will the proposed change make the land go higher or lower? For any new houses on market, who wants to purchase them, if you will be surrounded by cars?

Land value will go way up for existing SFHs in the newly re-zoned areas. Profit potential is much higher for developers when they can build a couple units on a single lot. Parking will get more difficult. Too bad, y’all live near the Metro. Park in your driveway.

DC solved the high price for land issue thru the Homestead limitations. Assessed value can only go up by so much each year and senior residents get even stronger protections from big increases in property taxes. I think it’s a smart policy to deal with the rapid increase in land value.

https://otr.cfo.dc.gov/page/homesteadsenior-citizen-deduction

The density is coming, so prepare for it. My suggestion is to organize residents to strengthen Homestead exemptions, particularly for seniors.

Thank you for the advice. I looked at the link you provided. Fascinating to see DC offers exemptions for senior citizens at much higher income levels than does MoCo.

"The Tax Year 2018 total federal adjusted gross income of everyone living in the property or cooperative unit, excluding tenants, must be less than $134,550 for 2020"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone who grew up four house From a train station in a single family zoned neighborhood it is bullshit.

Why I had folks park in front of my house, block my driveway picking up folks. I recall one guy parking in my actual driveway waiting.

Bringing more folks in why?

All you need is to “Holla for a Dolla” like NY

Your town needed meter maids and tow trucks

Oh no worries, MoCo has that aspect covered. They need to put the Chief of Parking Enforcement in charge of reopening the schools!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am trying to envision where these multifamily homes would fit on the current tiny lots that are near most red line metro stations. I live near Rockville. The lots of like 1/4 acre. No one is putting 4 small houses there unless they buy up several homes.

I live in Bethesda within one mile of a metro stop, in an original 1930s home on a 6,000 square foot lot. Developers are now putting up 6,000 square foot homes on the same lots. These homes could easily be reconfigured as duplexes or three-level condos. I hope to redevelop my property in the same way and am encouraging other long-time residents to do the same. The bonus for MD and MoCo is this bill could stop the outflux of high-income households from MD, which would be a huge positive for the state and the county. They need to incent the retired homeowners!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am trying to envision where these multifamily homes would fit on the current tiny lots that are near most red line metro stations. I live near Rockville. The lots of like 1/4 acre. No one is putting 4 small houses there unless they buy up several homes.

I’m thinking they aimed at 4-four unit buildings, where each floor is a 1,000 to 1,500 sqft apartment.

This. Or a developer will try to acquire two adjoining lots and build 4-6 attached high-end townhouses with parking under each house. Starting price would be $1m+ if walkable to Rockville Metro or pushing close to $2m in Chevy Chase or Bethesda. Height limitation will be increased so they can build a four-story townhouse.

These new homes will fit in with existing neighborhoods, they are designed not to stand out.