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The District Council for Montgomery County, Maryland, hereby finds that since March 6, 1928, the effective date of the first Montgomery County Zoning Ordinance, and continuing to date, there has existed within the county the practice of converting single family residences located in single family zones to use as multi-family residential uses; that during World War II and immediately thereafter there existed a severe housing shortage in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, including Montgomery County, Maryland; that during the above-referenced period the housing shortage was appreciably abated and remedied by the acts of owners of single family residences, many of which were located in single family zones, in converting said single family residences to multi-family residential uses; that while it is established that conversions from single to multi-family residential use were conducted throughout the county, it is further established that the majority of the structures converted were located in Takoma Park, Maryland; and that the conversions of single to multi-family residential use were encouraged by and conducted with the knowledge and tacit approval of the City of Takoma Park and the Maryland- National Capital Park and Planning Commission, the state agency and body corporate which until October 1951, was vested with the power, duty and responsibility for the enforcement of the zoning laws in Montgomery County, Maryland and the City of Takoma Park. The county council further finds that in February 9, 1953, because of its inability to ascertain which residences located in a single-family zone were lawful uses, nonconforming uses or unlawful uses, the City of Takoma Park passed Ordinance No. 1166 which implied in part, that single family residences converted to multi-family use in contravention of the zoning ordinance would be deemed lawful if the owners of said residences registered them with the City of Takoma Park; that the original owners and the transferees of the owners of the single family residences converted to multi-family residential use have continued to operate such use in reliance upon the representations of the City of Takoma Park that such uses were lawful, if registered; that purchasers who have paid the higher market value and taxes incident thereto for income producing property have relied upon representations by the City of Takoma Park that such uses were lawful, if registered. The county council further finds that there continues to exist a serious shortage of dwelling units in Montgomery County; that the past conversions of single family residences to multi-family residential use have provided and continue to provide a source of low and moderate income dwelling units in the county; that some of the single family residences converted to multi-family residential uses are owned by senior adults whose livelihood is largely dependent upon income from the rental units. The district council recognizes that because the records concerning zoning enforcement prior to October 1951 transferred to the county from the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission do not provide data sufficient to determine the scope of the problem of conversions to unlawful multi-family uses and because the data offered by the City of Takoma Park merely reflects the number of owners who voluntarily registered with the city and excludes all other possible conversions, there exists no adequate means of determining which residences have been unlawfully converted to multi-family residential use subject to prosecution under the zoning ordinance. Moreover, the county council recognizes that equitable principles argue for the protection of owners of properties and their transferees located in Takoma Park who relied upon representations from city administrators that the conversions to multi-family residential use were lawful, and for protection of owners of properties located in Takoma Park and elsewhere in the county who, absent evidence of enforcement by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission or by the county, assumed that theirs was a lawful use. Therefore, the county council enacts this text amendment as a means of establishing uniform standards and criteria for remedying the problem of unlawful conversions from single family to multi-family residential uses and, in so doing, incorporates the concepts of equity necessary to protect those who should be deemed faultless. Further, the county council finds that the date of January 1, 1954 represents the demarcation ending the period of encouragement and endorsement by government officials for conversion of single family residences to multi-family residential uses and that owners who converted prior to that date did so under color of law and should be held harmless. The council also recognizes that enactment of this text amendment requiring phase-out of all post-1954 conversions, and phase-out no later than 10 years from the effective date of this text amendment of pre-1954 conversions, may create practical difficulties or unusual hardships. It is the council's intention to develop and consider a legislative mechanism such as a special exception or use variance for those properties so affected to be considered for continuation. Such a mechanism to continue such uses would include a public hearing and a determination that such continuation would not be detrimental to the use of surrounding properties or the neighborhood.