Building equity : the evolution and efficacy of Montgomery County's moderately priced dwelling unit legislation

Abstract

This thesis describes the history of Montgomery County, Maryland's Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit (MPDU) law. Passed in 1973, it is the oldest inclusionary zoning legislation in the country. The law emerged out of three policy streams-land use and density, fair housing and desegregation, and workforce housing and economic development-that coalesced in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Advocates for affordable housing appealed to widely held values in their effort to pass the MPDU legislation. The law stipulated that 15 percent of all units constructed in subdivisions of 50 units or more must meet the county's definition of affordability. Among the county's goals was the equal distribution of units across the county. Because the county left provision of the affordable units to the private sector, the county had little control of where units got built. In addition, a sewer moratorium limited growth in the county for most of the 1970s. As a result, housing prices appreciated rapidly, further increasing demand for affordable units. The 1980s saw many MPDUs delivered, and the county made several important changes to the law to keep the implementation in line with the original policy goals. The 1990s saw a decrease in units delivered as the areas of the county.where units were required became built out and the size of planned subdivisions fell. As units' control periods expired during the 1990s, fewer new units were coming on line to replace them. Today, only about 1,900 units are controlled. The county is currently considering additional changes to the law to ensure the delivery of future MPDUs.