The following words and phrases, as used in this Chapter, have the following meanings:
Age-restricted unit means a dwelling unit, the occupancy of which is conditioned on at least one resident being age 55 or older.
Applicant means any person, firm, partnership, association, joint venture, business entity, or any other entity or combination of entities, and any transferee of all or part of the land at one location.
Area median income means the median household income for the Washington, DC metropolitan area as estimated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
At one location means all adjacent land of the applicant if:
(1) The property lines are contiguous or nearly contiguous at any point; or
(2) The property lines are separated only by a public or private street, road, highway or utility right-of-way, or other public or private right-of-way at any point; or
(3) The property lines are separated only by other land of the applicant which is not subject to this Chapter at the time of any permit, site plan, development or subdivision application by the applicant.
Available for building development means all land:
(1) Owned by, or under contract to, the applicant;
(2) Zoned for any type of residential development to which an optional density bonus provision applies;
(3) Which will use public water and sewerage; and
(4) Which is already subdivided or is ready to be subdivided for construction or development.
Closing costs means statutory charges for transferring title, fees for obtaining necessary financing, title examination fees, title insurance premiums, house location survey charges and fees for preparation of loan documents and deed of conveyance.
Commission means the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County.
Consumer Price Index means the latest published version of the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Core Based Statistical Area (CBSA), as published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, or any similar index selected by the County Executive.
Control period means the time an MPDU is subject to either resale price controls and owner occupancy requirements or maximum rental limits, as provided in Sections 25A-8 and 25A-9. The control period is 30 years for sale MPDUs and 99 years for rental MPDUs, and begins on the date of original sale or rental. If a sale MPDU is sold within 30 years after its original sale, and if (in the case of a sale MPDU that is not bought and resold by a government agency) the MPDU was originally offered for sale after March 1, 2002, the MPDU must be treated as a new sale MPDU and a new control period must begin on the date of the sale.
Date of original sale means the date of settlement for purchase of an MPDU.
Date of original rental means the date that MPDU rental covenants are recorded on the property.
Department means the Department of Housing and Community Affairs.
Designated agency means a non-governmental housing development agency or nonprofit business entity designated by the County Executive as eligible to purchase or lease MPDUs under Section 25A-8, following standards established in Executive regulation.
Director, except as otherwise indicated, means the head of the Department of Housing and Community Affairs, or the Director’s designee.
Dwelling unit means a building or part of a building that provides complete living facilities for one household, including at a minimum, facilities for cooking, sanitation and sleeping.
Eligible household means a household whose income qualifies the household to participate in the MPDU program, and who is eligible to buy or rent an MPDU during the priority marketing period.
Housing Initiative Fund means a fund established by the County Executive to achieve the purposes of Section 25B-9.
Low income means levels of income within the income range for “very-low income families” established from time to time by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the Washington metropolitan area, under federal law, or as defined by executive regulations.
Moderate income means those levels of income, established in executive regulations, which prohibit or severely limit the financial ability of households to buy or rent housing in Montgomery County. Moderate income levels must not exceed the “low income” limits set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to determine eligibility for assisted housing programs.
Moderately priced dwelling unit or MPDU means a dwelling unit which is:
(1) offered for sale or rent to eligible households through the Department, and sold or rented under this Chapter; or
(2) sold or rented under a government program designed to assist the construction or occupancy of housing for households of low or moderate income, and designated by the Director as an MPDU. When such a dwelling unit is designated as an MPDU, the income limits and other requirements of that particular housing program must apply during the compliance period for that program rather than the requirements set forth herein. If the compliance period for that program is shorter than the MPDU control period, the MPDU requirements must apply for the balance of the MPDU control period, unless the Director determines that the affordability term of the other program is equivalent to the MPDU requirement.
Multi-family dwelling unit means a dwelling unit in an apartment, condominium, or mixed-use building type.
Optional density bonus provision means any increase in density under Chapter 59, in a zoning classification that allows residential development, above the amount permitted in the base or standard method of development, whether by exercise of the optional provisions of Chapter 59 or by any special exception or conditional use.
Planning Area means one of 37 subareas of the County defined in the earliest planning documents by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission and whose boundaries have not changed over time.
Planning Board means the Montgomery County Planning Board of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.
Priority marketing period is the period an MPDU must be offered exclusively for sale or rent to eligible households, as provided in Section 25A-8.
Single-family dwelling unit means a single-family detached dwelling unit or single-family attached dwelling unit, such as a townhouse or duplex. (1974 L.M.C., ch. 17, § 1; 1976 L.M.C., ch. 12, § 1; 1976 L.M.C., ch. 35, § 2; 1978 L.M.C., ch. 31, § 1; 1979 L.M.C., ch. 21, § 2; 1980 L.M.C., ch. 63, § 1; 1982 L.M.C., ch. 6, § 11; 1984 L.M.C., ch. 24, § 28; 1984 L.M.C., ch. 27, § 19; 1989 L.M.C., ch. 27, § 1; 1994 L.M.C., ch. 29; 1996 L.M.C., ch. 13, § 1; 1996 L.M.C., ch. 20, § 1; 1998 L.M.C., ch. 12, § 1; 2001 L.M.C., ch. 14
, § 1; 2001 L.M.C., ch. 25, § 1; 2002 L.M.C., ch. 16, § 2; 2002 L.M.C., ch. 27, § 1; 2004 L.M.C., ch. 29, § 1; 2016 L.M.C., ch. 8
, § 1; 2018 L.M.C., ch. 3, §1; 2018 L.M.C., ch. 20
, §1; 2019 L.M.C., ch. 23, §1.)
Editor's note—2004 L.M.C., ch. 29, § 2, states in part: "The amendments to Chapter 25A made by Section 1 of this Act which extend the control period for sale and rental MPDUs do not apply to any MPDU for which a sale contract or rental agreement was signed before April 1, 2005."
2002 L.M.C., ch. 27, § 2, states: Applicability. The requirements of Chapter 25A, as amended by Section 1 of this Act, do not apply to any subdivision with more than 34 but fewer than 50 units at one location if the applicant applied for a preliminary plan of subdivision before this Act took effect [January 9, 2003], unless the applicant agrees that the requirements of Chapter 25A as amended should apply to that subdivision.