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(a) Establishment. The Department must establish a productivity housing program.
(b) Purpose. The purpose of the program is to promote the construction of housing affordable to households with incomes at and below the area-wide median income level. The construction of that housing is intended to:
(1) allow households with incomes at and below the area-wide median income level to have greater housing choices in the County;
(2) increase the availability of housing for those workers whose income cannot support the high cost of housing that is located close to the workplace and as a result, are increasingly priced out of housing opportunities;
(3) assist County employers in reducing critical labor shortages of skilled and semi- skilled workers by providing housing that will be accessible to the workplace; and
(4) reduce traffic congestion by shortening commute distances for employees who work in the County but who otherwise must live outside the County.
(c) Relationship to other affordable housing programs. The program is intended to complement the moderately priced housing program under Chapter 25A and other County programs designed to promote affordable housing.
(d) Regulations. The County Executive must adopt regulations under method (1) to administer this Article. These regulations may include setting maximum sale prices and annual rent limits after adjustments for inflation, establishment of sale price and rent ranges, the range of income-eligible households that will be served, foreclosures, waivers, income eligibility standards, notice to the Department of sales and rentals, and other relevant matters. The regulations must set a range of sale prices for productivity housing units which do not exceed 175 percent of the sale prices set for comparable moderately priced dwelling units under Chapter 25A. (1996 L.M.C., ch. 25, § 1.)
(a) Agreement. If the developer of a productivity housing project has obtained approval for a special exception under Chapter 59 and all necessary regulatory approvals from the Planning Board, the Director and the developer must execute an agreement ensuring compliance by the developer and any successor in interest with this Article. The agreement must incorporate the staging plan for the construction of productivity housing units, the mix of dwelling unit sizes and types, and the selling price or annual rent for each unit. Where appropriate, the agreement must reflect conditions required as part of the special exception and other regulatory approvals.
(b) Certification of director as prerequisite to issuance of building permit. After an agreement is executed under subsection (a), before a building permit is issued the Director must certify to the Director of Permitting Services that the requirements of this Article have been met. (1996 L.M.C., ch. 25, § 1.)
(a) Staging plan. The staging plan for all dwelling units in a proposal must be arranged so that productivity housing units will be built before or along with other dwelling units.
(b) Enforcement. If productivity housing units are not built before or along with other dwelling units as provided in the staging plan, the Department of Permitting Services may withhold any later building permit applicable to the project until the productivity housing units contained in the staging plan are built. (1996 L.M.C., ch. 25, § 1.)
(a) Sales; control period. The sale price of a productivity housing unit is controlled under this subsection for 10 years after the date of original sale. During the control period, a productivity housing unit must only be sold to an individual with a household income that does not exceed the area-wide median income.
(b) Resale price during control period. Except for foreclosure proceedings, a productivity housing unit constructed or offered for sale under this Article must not be resold during the applicable control period for a price greater than the original selling price plus:
(1) a percentage of the unit's original selling price equal to the increase in the cost of living, as determined by the Consumer Price Index.
(2) the fair market value of capital improvements made to the unit between the date of original sale and the date of resale;
(3) an allowance for closing costs which were not paid by the initial seller, but which will be paid by the initial buyer for the benefit of the later buyer; and
(4) a reasonable sales commission.
(c) Resale price after control period ends.
(1) For the first sale of a productivity housing unit after the applicable control period ends that exceeds the allowable price specified under subsection (a), the seller must pay to the Housing Initiative Fund one-half of the excess of the total resale price over the sum of:
(A) the original selling price;
(B) a percentage of the unit's original selling price equal to the increase in the cost of living as determined by the Consumer Price Index;
(C) the fair market value of capital improvements made to the unit between the date of original sale and the date of resale; and
(D) a reasonable sales commission.
The Director must adjust the amount paid into the Housing Initiative Fund in each case so that the seller retains at least $10,000 of the excess of the resale price over the sum of the items in subparagraphs (A)--(D).
(2) The Director must find that the price and terms of a sale covered by paragraph (1) are bona fide and accurately reflect the entire transaction between the parties so that the full amount required under paragraph (1) is paid to the Fund. When the Director finds that the amount due the Fund is accurate and the Director of Finance receives the amount due, the Director must terminate the controls imposed by this section and execute a release of all restrictive covenants.
(d) Limits on rents. Unless the unit was previously sold under subsection (c), any productivity housing unit built or offered for rent under this Chapter must not be rented for 20 years after the date of original rental at a rent greater than the rent allowed for productivity housing units under this Article and applicable regulations. Rent may include parking but does not include utilities when they are paid by the tenant. Different rents must be set when utility costs are paid by the owner and included in the rent. During the applicable control period, a productivity housing unit must only be rented to an individual with a household income that does not exceed the limits set under this Article.
(e) Foreclosure. If a productivity housing unit is sold in a foreclosure proceeding begun by a lending institution, the Director must terminate the productivity housing controls and execute a release of all restrictive covenants if all the proceeds of the sale, if any, that must be paid to the Housing Initiative Fund have been paid. If a foreclosure sale of a productivity housing unit occurs during the applicable control period, any price paid at the foreclosure sale that exceed the price established under subsection (b) plus any reasonable costs and fees of foreclosure must be paid into the Housing Initiative Fund. If a productivity housing unit is foreclosed after the control period, subsection (c) applies. If the unit sold was a rental unit, the Department must calculate the sale price that would have been permitted at the date of original rental as if the unit had been originally offered for sale.
(f) Bulk sales. This section does not prohibit the bulk sale or transfer of all or some rental productivity housing units if the buyer is bound by all covenants and controls on the productivity housing units. (1996 L.M.C., ch. 25, § 1.)
(a) Covenants.
(1) This Article applies to the owner, any successor in interest, assignee, or other person with a legal or equitable interest in the productivity housing unit. Before recording the plat for a productivity housing project, the owner must execute and record covenants assuring that:
(A) the restrictions of this Article run with the land; and
(B) the covenants are binding on the owner, any assignee, mortgagee, subsequent purchaser, and any other party that receives title to the property.
(2) Covenants executed to satisfy paragraph (1) must be senior to all instruments securing permanent financing.
(b) Later deeds. The grantor must state, in any deed or instrument conveying title to a productivity housing unit, that the unit is subject to this Article until the restrictions are released under Section 25B-21 or other provision of law.
(c) Violations.
(1) The Director of Permitting Services may deny, suspend, or revoke any building or occupancy permit upon finding a violation of this Article.
(2) The Planning Board may revoke any previously approved preliminary plan of subdivision, sketch plan, or site plan, upon finding a violation of this Article.
(3) Any violation of this Article is a Class A violation. (1996 L.M.C., ch. 25, § 1; 2016 L.M.C., ch. 8, § 1.)
Notes
| * | *Editor’s note—2006 L.M.C., ch. 23, § 3, amended by 2010 L.M.C., ch. 11, § 3, states: Effective date; Applicability; Expiration. (a) This Act takes effect on December 1, 2006. The County Executive must submit all regulations necessary to implement Article V of Chapter 25B, inserted by Section 1 of this Act, to the Council by October 11, 2006. (b) Article V of Chapter 25B, as inserted by Section 1 of this Act, does not apply to any development for which an application for a local map amendment, development plan, project plan, site plan, or preliminary plan of subdivision was filed before December 1, 2006, unless the applicant voluntarily includes workforce housing units in that development. Cross-reference: § 59-A-6.18, Workforce housing. |
In this Article, the following words have the following meanings:
(a) Area-wide median income means the latest published income level determined to represent the median income for the Washington area by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, adjusted for household size.
(b) 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 designated by regulation.
(c) Date of original sale means the date of settlement for purchase of a workforce housing unit.
(d) Date of original rental means the date that the first lease of a workforce housing unit takes effect.
(e) Department means the Department of Housing and Community Affairs.
(f) Developer means a person or other legal entity that seeks to develop a housing project.
(g) Director means the Director of the Department or the Director’s designee.
(h) Dwelling unit means a building or part of a building that provides complete living facilities for one family, including at a minimum facilities for cooking, sanitation, and sleeping.
(j) Workforce housing project means a housing or mixed-use project where dwelling units are sold or rented to households with incomes at or below 120% of the area-wide median income under an agreement between the developer and the Director.
(k) Workforce housing unit means a dwelling unit in a workforce housing project that is subject to rent limits or sales controls under this Article.
(l) Program means the workforce housing program. (2006 L.M.C., ch. 23
, § 1; 2010 L.M.C., ch. 11
, § 2; 2018 L.M.C., ch. 3, §1.)
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