Anne Arundel County state lawmakers have introduced a bill to encourage developers to build more affordable housing in a county that boasts one of the highest average prices for single-family homes in Maryland.
The bill would allow the County Council to offer exemptions or credits to the mandatory impact fees for workforce housing projects. The county imposes impact fees to pay for road and other infrastructure improvements needed to sustain growth.
Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold lobbied the county?s General Assembly delegation to support giving breaks to developers who bring affordable housing to the county, and said the legislation would make the fees more progressive.
“Right now, for a single family home, it?s about $4,400,” he said. “That?s the same fee regardless of the price of a home.”
Maryland Association of Realtors lobbyist Mark Feinroth said eliminating impact fees would go a long way toward keeping more homebuyers in the marketplace.
“Workforce housing is a problem in every part of the state,” he said.
Feinroth said rising property taxes, shrinking supplies of available developable land and increasing resale values on existing homes will only tighten the housing market.
In December, the average selling price of a home in Anne Arundel County was $412,385, down 3.97 percent from December 2005’s average selling price of $429,499, according to data compiled by Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc.
“In jurisdictions that are most focused on the military base realignment, like Aberdeen and Fort (George) Meade, those are the places that are going to be much more difficult in the future,” Feinroth said.
Leopold also will consider an impact fee increase to offset the areas most affected by the influx of military jobs.
“We have a looming financial tsunami in the county, which is going to require our ability to keep pace with growth,” he said. “We?ve got enormous infrastructure needs and all that requires additional resources.”
Freshman Anne Arundel Del. Pam Beidle, who previously served two terms on the County Council, said she still believes builders should receive more incentives to build smaller homes, “and more money for rehabbing older homes that would help revitalize older communities.”
