Let me tell you about an uncle of mine. He is one of the most kind-hearted people you’ll ever meet, and he has practiced family medicine for over 40 years. He is one of very few doctors in his area who accepts Medicare and Medicaid patients, and because such patients are not profitable like those with private insurance, he is also one of the poorest doctors you’ll ever meet. He chooses to devote the majority of his practice to providing health care for low-income patients because it’s the right thing to do. He still makes a living off of it, meager though it may be.
Keep this tidbit in mind as you read on. I promise it’s relevant.
Today, the Howard County Council discussed CR89-2019, a currently tabled resolution that would convey a 1-acre parcel comprised of Old Route 108 to the developer of Dorsey Overlook, LLLP. Keeping this resolution tabled impedes the Dorsey Overlook affordable housing development project from proceeding.
The facts and history are as follows: Dorsey Overlook is an 82-unit affordable housing development at the corner of Route 108 and Columbia Road, consisting of 66 affordable units and 16 market-rate units. The original affordable housing concept was met with resistance from the community, so the project morphed into an age-restricted 55+ development with a higher number of units. The community pushed back on this too, so the developer went back to the original affordable housing concept. Today, the development site along Old Route 108 consists of five structures that, with the exception of a church, have been abandoned and are currently used for controlled fires by the Howard County Department of Fire & Rescue Services. In 2018, at the behest of Howard County’s Department of Public Works, the County Council closed Old Route 108 because they did not want the county to continue maintaining a road that serviced only one property. DPW then required the developer of Dorsey Overlook to purchase the road in order for the project to move forward. Dorsey Overlook LLLP does not want or need this road, and they will not be building any units on it, so the parcel is being sold at below market value.
Makes sense to me. DPW is requiring the developer to buy a road they don’t need or want. If you call me up begging me to buy that rusted 1980s K-car in your driveway that even Carmax rejected, I ain’t paying Kelley Blue Book for it.
For whatever reason (side note: we actually do know the reason), upon the introduction of CR89-2019, District 1 Councilmember Liz Walsh decided that the developer is getting a “handout” and that the property is worth much more, because it could be used for all sorts of other purposes. A park, road improvements, a greenhouse for growing hydroponic tomatoes, maybe? And yet, two budget seasons have gone by with zero proposals or funds for anything related to this parcel of land. Perhaps the craving for gazpacho has passed. Or maybe the truth is that Ms. Walsh is misrepresenting the facts and using the public-use clause* in CR89-2019 so the affordable housing dies on the vine.
Recall what I said earlier: that preventing the conveyance of this parcel to Dorsey Overlook is holding up the construction of affordable housing in a community that currently has none. An affordable housing development project – one that would allow lower-income families to live in Howard County in a location within a stone’s throw of a village center, a medical complex, and public transit – is being stonewalled. Read the testimony in opposition to CR89-2019 and the overwhelming anti-development attitudes that pervade it. It’s not just that Ms. Walsh has them mistakenly thinking that the developer is trying to buy a road for a song; it’s also that they don’t want this project to move forward at all. The reason for Ms. Walsh’s objections is clear: pure NIMBYism.
NIMBYism and anti-development attitudes are rampant in Howard County, along with myths about corrupt politicians and greedy developers. People seem to forget that all of us who live here, by being real estate consumers, line the pockets of some developer, landlord, or real estate agent every time we buy, sell, rent, or build. We benefit from the homes and amenities they create, and they benefit from us buying or renting them. That’s economics. Many of us – including many who identify as progressives – claim to want more affordable housing in order to better integrate our communities and provide housing opportunities to people who work in Howard County’s lower-paying professions. That housing has to go somewhere. But when the rubber finally meets the unused, worthless county road, all of a sudden we exclaim “We’ve got enough homes here, you greedy developers! We want gazpacho instead!” It’s fine for us to live here, but no one else can.
If you even remember the story about my uncle from the beginning of this post, here’s why it’s relevant: he provides health care, which is a human need, to lower-income families. They need it. He provides it. He makes money from it. Does that make him greedy? Even though he’d make a lot more if he saw only privately-insured patients? I see developers who build affordable housing in a similar light. Shelter is a human need. They provide it. They make money from it. The Dorsey Overlook project could have been luxury apartments or high-dollar townhouses, but instead, they’re choosing to meet a human need for families with less. Does that make them greedy?
Affordable housing is needed in Howard County. I have it in my backyard. Do you?
*Page 2 of CR89-2019 states: “AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, if the County Executive finds that the closed portion of Old Maryland Route 108 may have a further public use and should not be conveyed, he is not bound to convey the closed portion of Old Maryland Route 108 in accordance with this Resolution.”