Dive Brief:
- Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott signed a package of four bills aimed at reducing red tape for housing development in the city. The package “will help make housing more affordable and abundant in Baltimore,” Scott said at a Nov. 3 press conference.
- The legislation updates the city’s building code requirements to allow a single staircase in residential buildings up to six stories and removes parking minimums for new buildings — measures the city believes will drive down the cost of development. It also allows more flexibility for the size and shape of buildings in residential zoning districts.
- The package helps undo some of the damage redlining has caused the city in the past, according to Scott, and joins a number of other city efforts to spark economic growth. “Baltimore’s renaissance is here,” Scott said.
Dive Insight:
Baltimore is among a growing number of U.S. cities digging deep into their regulatory coffers for fixes to a mounting housing affordability crisis.
As a consequence, restrictive zoning and building codes — often cited as barriers that can increase costs and create delays for new development — are getting a second look.
“Baltimore stands to be the one city in America that figures out how to grow and rebuild our population and develop and boom but not displace working people that built this city,” Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen said at the package’s signing. “We can do both and we must do both, and these bills are a move in the right direction.”
Another bill within the package transfers the city’s zoning administrator from the Department of Housing and Community Development to the Department of Planning, which is responsible for writing the city's zoning code. This move is designed to increase efficiency for the city’s zoning.
The package joins a number of other housing initiatives in recent years, including a Buy Back the Block program to help renters purchase their homes, and a pledge to reduce housing vacancies.
The efforts have not been without pushback. Scott said some town halls have seen as many as 1,000 turn up to voice concerns. He said it’s been a matter of clearly explaining the new initiatives and reminding people “how we got here.”
“I’m always going to do the right thing, not the popular one,” said Scott, “no matter who does not like it.”
City Council Member Zac Blanchard said the new housing package tackles multiple problems cited by residents — including homelessness and increasing rents — head-on.
“I know that there’s a lot of enthusiasm, there’s also a lot of concern,” Blanchard said. “But when we look at what this is going to allow people to do, it gets at the heart of so many of the biggest challenges we have in this city.”
