Baltimore County Group To Recommend Affordable Housing Improvements
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A new affordable housing workgroup will suggest ways to improve Baltimore County's continuing efforts to expand equitable access to affordable housing.
"We remain committed to meeting our moral and legal obligation to expand access to quality, affordable housing across Baltimore County," Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski said in a statement. "I want to thank the county employees, community leaders, and industry representatives who are coming together to help shape our ongoing work to ensure access to quality housing for every resident of our county."
The county committed to creating 1,000 affordable housing units by 2027 as part of the 2016 Conciliation Agreement and Voluntary Compliance Agreement between Baltimore County and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. With more than 506 approved affordable housing hard units created, the county has achieved more than 50 percent of this goal so far, according to the statement.
The workgroup will review the progress to date, examine challenges and make recommendations to ensure the goal is met by 2027. Its first meeting will be held via WebEx at 3 p.m. on May 4.
Click here for the group's schedule of meetings.
The group members are:
- Stacy L. Rodgers, County Administrative Officer
- Izzy Patoka, Councilman, Baltimore County Council, District 2
- Drew Vetter, Deputy County Administrative Officer
- Terry Hickey, Deputy Director, Housing and Community Development
- C. Pete Gutwald, Director, Department of Permits and Inspections
- Steve Lafferty, Director, Department of Planning
- James R. Benjamin, Jr., County Attorney, Baltimore County Office of Law
- Marsha Parham-Green, Executive Director, Baltimore County Office of Housing
- Dr. Karen Bethea, Set the Captives Free Church
- Kara Beverly, Community Leader
- Ryan Coleman, Randallstown NAACP
- Greg Countess, Maryland Legal Aid
- Leslie Dickinson, Disability Rights Maryland
- Jim French, The French Companies
- David Gildea, Smith, Gildea, & Schmidt
- Bryen Glass, Lochearn Improvement Association
- Ned Howe, Enterprise Community Development
- Derick Johnson, At-Large Planning Board Member
- Dan McCarthy, Episcopal Housing
- Marsha McLaughlin, Community Planning Expert
- Amy Menzer, Dundalk Renaissance
- Chris Mudd Venable LLP
- Gloria Nelson, Turner Station Conservation Team
- Klaus Phillipson, ArchPlan Inc.
- Dan Pontious, Baltimore Metropolitan Council
- Patrick Stewart, Pennrose Development
- Jayson Williams, Mayson-Dixon Companies
- Justin Williams, Esquire, Rosenberg Martin Greenberg, LLP
The group will submit a report to Olszewski by December.