A controversial policy proposal that would curtail residential development outside the Beltway in Prince George’s County, whether it moves forward or not, is yet another example of real estate interests and local lawmakers not seeing eye to eye.
County Council Chair Tom Dernoga, D-District 1, along with three other members of the 11-member council, on Sept. 26 introduced County Resolution 83, which proposes capping the number of residential building permits the county government could issue — outside the Capital Beltway, most especially — on an annual basis from 2024 to 2029. Dernoga says it’s to control sprawling developments, which outpace the county’s ability keep up with key infrastructure and services. The development industry is roundly against it, saying it would chill growth and exacerbate the housing crisis, echoing similar concerns raised about local legislators’ recent moves to regulate rents and restrict townhouse development.
Who’s right? Maybe both. It’s far from clear whether or how they might compromise or reconcile their views.
The county council’s planning, housing and economic development committee, on which Dernoga sits, is scheduled to consider the proposed resolution at its Oct. 16 meeting. Dernoga told me he’s “agreed that the resolution needs further discussion” and that it won’t pass out of committee Monday, though what happens thereafter isn’t settled.
Specifically, the proposal would cap residential building permits in 2024 to 2,800 countywide, allocated disproportionately across three major geographical sections of the county called “transportation service areas,” or TSAs. Dernoga said that number has an empirical basis, being the annual average of the number of building permits issued for new construction over the last 20 years. TSA 1, inside the Beltway for the most part, though bulging beyond in some places, would be allowed 2,100 permits. TSA 2, representing the middle of the county, more or less, would be allowed 670 permits. And TSA 3, representing the county’s western and southern outskirts, would be allowed only 30 permits.
