Subject
title
Housing Needs Assessment Special Presentation
end
Department
Housing and Community Development
Recommendation
Staff recommend that the Mayor and Council read the Rockville Housing Needs Assessment and Market Scan (Attachment A), Land Use Assessment Memo (Attachment B), and Priority Tools Recommendations (Attachment C) for the City of Rockville and hear the presentation to further the goal of producing and preserving affordable housing.
Discussion
The City of Rockville engaged HR&A to develop a Housing Needs Assessment and policy recommendations to support attainable housing development. The project objectives included:
• Identify and analyze housing needs within the city using both quantitative data analysis and input from residents and stakeholders about what issues matter most to them.
• Conduct financial analyses of the Moderately Priced Dwelling Units (MPDU) program to increase program effectiveness within the changing context of the Rockville market.
• Propose policy solutions that promote affordable and attainable housing within the City for renters and homeowners alike.
• Identify high opportunity areas for redevelopment and rezoning.
The analysis examines the residential market within the municipal boundaries of the City of Rockville, Maryland. This analysis includes comparisons to peer markets including North Bethesda, Bethesda, Hyattsville, and Silver Spring.
HR&A conducted community engagement roundtables, community surveys, and attended key
community events. They performed an analysis of existing housing market conditions, owner and tenant cost burden, and real estate development in Rockville and developed an interactive tool to identify parcels with development potential. HR&A also performed a feasibility analysis of the existing MPDU program and of alternative policy and economic conditions scenarios to be used in the MPDU rewrite process. Finally, they provided recommended tools to promote adequate and affordable housing supply.
Mayor and Council History
Housing is one of the Mayor and Council’s five focus areas. In June 2024, a high-level briefing was presented outlining the city's housing crisis and policy landscape. Later in 2024, there were three work sessions on the city’s housing strategies, during which conducting a Housing Needs Assessment was approved by the Mayor and Council as one of the strategies.
Next Steps
Staff will take the findings and recommendations from the Housing Needs Assessment and integrate them into ongoing and future housing initiatives. Staff will also bring back additional work from HR&A in December for a work session on the City Code Chapter 13.5, Moderately Priced Housing rewrite.