Prince George’s County Council Chair Tom Dernoga (D-District 1) recently introduced a bill aiming to increase the speed of development near transit hubs and slow down suburban sprawl while addressing infrastructure deficiencies.
Part of his concern is that the infrastructure costs of new development are not offset by new revenues.
“Even though that’s the policy, it has not been implemented,” Dernoga said. “Actually, we’ve been sprawling all over the place, which has put us behind in road construction — we’ve got road congestion all over the county. We’ve got fire stations we don’t have money to build, we have schools we don’t have money to build.”
His bill, CR-83, is co-sponsored by Council members Calvin Hawkins (D-At Large), Eric Olson (D-District 3), Jolene Ivey (D-District 5), and Edward Burroughs III (D-District 8).
Council Vice Chair Wala Belgay (D-District 6) also recently introduced CR-81, which is sponsored by every member of the Council excluding Council members Mel Franklin (D-At Large) and Sydney Harrison (D-District 9).
According to a video Blegay’s office posted, the county has not been following the priorities of Plan 2035 as there is no enforcement mechanism.
Development within the beltway has been primarily multi-family dwellings. Blegay’s district now has the most townhomes, while the 7th District, located primarily in the Beltway, has the second most.
Her proposed bill would establish a Plan 2035 Implementation and Infrastructure Task Force, including four community members and a member of the Department of the Environment. Blegay has also successfully sponsored bills to limit development projects at Frank’s Nursery and on Bowie’s Church Road during this Council term.
Members of Maryland’s building and development industry don’t see things the same way as Dernoga. Lori Graf and Casey Anderson, both with the Maryland Building Industry Association (MBIA), believe that easing development within the Beltway is a better strategy than reducing development outside the beltway. However, Dernoga said that he was willing to scrap the proposed cap within the beltway to spur the development process if need be.
“This is a wrong-headed “resolution” that will make Prince George’s County a model example of how low government propagates and worsens the housing crisis. Even worse, it will likely cost the county millions of dollars in revenue,” said Tom Coale of MBIA. “Arbitrarily limiting housing units is not a growth strategy.”
George Mason University professor emeritus Dr. Stephen Fuller provided his opinions via a phone interview with The Informer. He also provided a detailed report showing data on housing and demographics in Prince George’s County.
One key statistic he pinpointed is that Prince George’s senior population is increasing at more than double the county’s growth rate, while the number of households headed by millennials and Gen Xers is growing slower than the county as a whole.
“In order to drive the Prince George’s economy forward so it’s more competitive with their neighbors, the county needs roughly 5,000 new housing units built per year for the rest of the decade. How to spread those units around and where they should be remains the question,” Fuller said.
“Prince George’s needs a mixture of housing options, including rental housing and townhouses. Less than one-third of the housing is rental, which could house both retirees who’ve sold their homes for equity and younger folks entering the workhouse. Only 16% of the properties are townhouses,” the professor continued. “Townhouses are great for the middle market.”
Fuller argued that the county needs “more worker-friendly households.”
“The Washington area has a significant shortage of housing affordable to workers in entry- and mid-level jobs,” he said. “We need to link the availability of housing in a variety of sizes, price, and styles to meet the needs of the economy.”