Alderperson Schandelmeier, Gay, Tierney: Annapolis bill would support workforce housing development | COMMENTARY – Capital Gazette

Apartments, double deckers, and town houses: They are all residential homes. They are smaller than detached single family units and split the high cost of land among multiple families, lowering the cost of each home. They are all traditional examples of workforce housing. They are all homes that the members of the Annapolis Housing and Human Welfare Committee have and currently are living in.

These housing types let us have safe, comfortable and affordable places to call home, let us represent the communities that we love, and let us make friends, work, and play here in Annapolis. They are also now illegal to build in most of our city. It is only possible to build these in a few areas, usually after long, drawn out, and expensive processes. O-40-22 seeks to help fix that.

Annapolis’s housing market is broken. Like most places in the U.S., government policy prevented housing supply from keeping up with demand. This problem is exacerbated by current zoning only allowing the construction of the most expensive housing type when new building occurs. Annapolis is one of the worst jurisdictions in the U.S. in terms of housing cost to income ratio. 2020 data provided by the Annapolis Housing Affordability Task Force Needs Assessment Study Report shows that when it comes to housing cost ($459,118 in 2020 according to Zillow) compared to median family income ($83,948 in 2020 according to the U.S. Census Bureau) Annapolis (5.47) is higher than Boston (4.9), Portland, Oregon (4.8) and Washington, D.C. (3.8).

Now, we can feel readers’ eyes glazing over. We threw out a lot of numbers. What do they mean? If the average Annapolis family saved their entire income from 2015 to 2020, they could afford to buy in Annapolis. That’s no spending on vacations, health care, transportation, food, or on rent, and without any taxes reducing their salaries; just squirreling away 100% of the family income.

No one does that, but surely families renting here can at least afford to buy a home with a down payment and a mortgage in around that same time? No. The average Annapolis rent is $2,033. According to the National Association of Counties, nearly 20% of families in our area spend more than 50% of their income on housing. With rents that high, saving for a down payment becomes impossible for many families.

According to Redfin, in 2022 the average home price in Annapolis has skyrocketed to $625,175. The goal posts keep shifting, with home prices rising four times faster than incomes. Housing costs are driving out the kids who grew up here, young families getting their start, and families wanting to retire in place.

How will O-40-22 help address this crisis? The goal of the bill is to allow less sprawling housing development in most areas of the city if it is constructed for families earning below 100% of area median income. These are the workers who keep Annapolis running: Our teachers, firefighters, city employees, food service workers, retail employees, health care personnel, and more! These are the folks who all through 2020 we praised with big signs, stickers, and Facebook posts saying, “Thank you, essential workers!”

Unfortunately, our current housing policies show that those “thank yous” were hollow. “Thanks for working here and keeping us functioning, now go back to your home outside Annapolis that your wages can actually afford.” This bill will enable these workers to live in the community where they work, but only if housing construction is commensurate with housing need and population growth.

The increased density that this bill allows is essential. Denser housing costs less per unit than larger detached homes on more land. It allows projects that have less expensive units to pencil out in the ledgers, meaning homes actually get built. This adds to our housing stock and applies critically needed supply to our housing shortage.

The housing market is a market after all; prices are dictated by supply and demand. These encouragements to build and distribute smaller homes like triplexes and apartments at below current inflated market costs will help a lot of families that are being left behind and driven out.

Is this a silver bullet that will cure all housing affordability problems for everyone right away? Of course not. But it is an essential policy step that moves the needle in the right direction: a direction with years of thoughtful deliberation and data analysis.

Letting the perfect be the enemy of the good exacerbates the intentional historical policies that have led to the pervasive racial and economic divides within our city. We are taking the chance to act upon what the council has talked about for years: housing affordability. We will meet the moment and make Annapolis welcoming to all.

Democrats Brooks Schandelmeier, DaJuan Gay and Eleanor Tierney are members of the Annapolis City Council.

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