10400 Detrick Avenue
Kensington, MD 20895
(240) 773-9000 (Phone)
(301) 949-4690 (Fax)
(301) 949-5326 (TTY)
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10400 Detrick Avenue |
Montgomery County seeks remedy for housing crisisHigh prices lead to overcrowding, dangerous conditions in single-family homes by Kristina Gawrgy The complaints strike a similar tone in every neighborhood: single-family homes that have too many people living in them. Sometimes, there are so many cars parked along the street that other residents can’t find a spot. Piles of garbage tend to collect in the yards. Neighbors worry about the risk of fire and the effects of the ‘‘problem houses” on property values. It’s a scene that seems to be playing out more often in Montgomery County, one of the most affluent jurisdictions in the nation, but one facing the problems of an affordable housing crisis. The average price of a single-family home in the county is $540,000, according to Park and Planning data. That is $200,000 more than the average price about five years ago, putting home ownership out of reach for many. ‘‘The only way for people to buy a house is to have multiple people helping to pay the mortgage,” said Kevin Martell, a county housing code enforcement supervisor. Homeowners become landlords, renting out rooms and basements to others who need a place to live. The situation has put the pressure on county government: On one hand, officials don’t want to force people out on the streets, but they also have an obligation to respond to complaints and enforce county code to ensure public safety. When County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) recently met with the Connecticut Avenue Estates Civic Association, a 600-home community in Wheaton, residents complained about homeowners paving over front lawns to accommodate personal and work vehicles and the extra trash that is generated from many people. ‘‘We recognize [overcrowding] as a problem and we are trying to figure out how to get a solution that is legal and humane,” Leggett said. The county has created a task force to address the question, but in the meantime, residents and civic associations in particular have brought specific issues to county code enforcement and have continued to lobby officials about the problems. Barry Wides, president of the North White Oak Civic Association, said the issue with overcrowding isn’t that there are too many people living in a single-family home, but that when laws are broken, the safety of the residents and the entire neighborhood are put at risk. ‘‘Our issues are fires and other things that are a danger to the residents if the laws are not followed,” Wides said. ‘‘There are overcrowded units that result in subdividing in ways that create ingress and egress that make it difficult for people to escape.” A look inside For Cecilia, 22, and her husband, Jose, 26, it has not been easy finding affordable housing that is also safe for their 1- and 3-year-old children. Cecilia, who would not give her last name for fear of being targeted by county officials, knows that the conditions she lives in are not ideal. She, Jose and her two children share one mattress in a small room in the basement of a Silver Spring home. The makeshift apartment includes a small stove, sink area and refrigerator; a basement door leads to the outside. The basement apartment was the best option for Cecilia and her family when they were looking for an affordable and clean place to live, she said through a translator provided by Casa of Maryland, an organization that advocates for immigrant workers. Cecilia, a Mexican immigrant with a sixth-grade education, is taking English classes at Casa of Maryland in order to find a job. Jose works in construction. They pay about $700 a month for the apartment. Since they are undocumented immigrants, they cannot apply for any of the county’s affordable housing options. However, the housing problem is not limited to undocumented immigrants, said Rick Nelson, director of the Department of Housing and Community Affairs and co-chairman of the Montgomery County Affordable Housing Task Force. ‘‘When we go in and do code enforcement inspections, we don’t know whether they are documented or not,” he said. ‘‘We don’t ask, so it’s hard to give a breakdown, but I do know that in many cases, the people are gainfully and regularly employed.” Tedi Osias, a spokeswoman for the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County, which operates the county’s voucher program, said that since there so many people who qualify for affordable housing and so few openings, people must be finding alternatives. In August 2006, Osias said HOC received 17,000 household applications for the housing choice voucher program during the annual five-day application period; however, the turnover each year only allows for a few hundred openings. ‘‘Where are all those families going?” Osias said. ‘‘... We just have to make some assumptions that obviously people are moving in with relatives or doubling up or in one way or another, finding a way to keep them and their families sheltered.” The problems Although residents acknowledge those who need to share single-family homes, they say they also have to look out for the safety and appearance of their community. Elaine Parreco, a White Oak resident, said she’s concerned about safety hazards, disruption to neighbors and the appearance of the neighborhood. Areas dominated by rental properties appear ‘‘sloppy” because tenants don’t have the same stake in the area as homeowners, she said. ‘‘Transient people in a single-family area creates this feeling ... of you don’t know who is here,” Parreco said. Aside from property-value concerns, neighbors fear the threat of fire. A blaze occurred last year at a residence that had been targeted by neighbors with complaints about overcrowding and code violations. A Wheaton homeowner was also cited for code violations after a house fire during the spring. County fire officials say overcrowding can cause safety issues for tenants, the homeowners and surrounding neighbors. Rusty Rothenhoefer, assistant chief with Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service who has seen several single-family homes converted into multiple unit dwellings, said conversions are often not up to county code with wiring and construction. Sometimes, the apartments do not have adequate exits or smoke detectors. Martell said he receives several complaints a month about overcrowded dwellings. County officials follow up but often have little recourse under the law because tenants say they are related and it is difficult to prove otherwise. However, when Martell checked on a house on Tilton Drive in Silver Spring in September, he found evidence suggesting that most of the people living in the home may not have been related, such as a coin-operated washer and dryer and hotplates and kitchen accessories in the basement. The basement bedrooms were not big enough and not close enough to the floor to be used as a safe exit, and the bedrooms were also not licensed as rental units by the Department of Housing and Community Affairs. The owners were cited in September for trash in the front and backyards, weeds on one side of the house, unlicensed basement rentals and overcrowding. A woman who identified herself as the daughter of one of the owners of the Tilton Drive home said the owners would not comment on the violations. Since the initial citation, Martell said the homeowners appear to be keeping it up to code. |
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©2007 Housing Opportunities Commission, All Rights Reserved. Information current as of 4/21/2008. |
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