Sligo Ave in Silver Spring and Church Street in Frederick both discourage single poor tenants in new housing

      Most of the apartments to be built in on Sligo Avenue in Silver Spring are 35 2 bedroom and 18 three bedroom apartments.  Only 18 one bedroom units to be built.  Only 54 parking spaces (less than one car per unit) would be built.  The greater numbers of larger and more expensive units will likely price people out of the option of car ownership and housing.  That meets the nimby pretext against ADUs voiced by @mocomillenial 'Helene" or "Keep calm and dance lezginka" that crowding was more about keeping new cars, rather than new people, out of single family neighborhoods. 



   Even in Frederick, where Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich prefers to create more jobs for the displaced former Montgomery residents to find to avoid congesting roads like 270 and 355 connecting to Montgomery county reducing demand to meet in Montgomery County for both transportation and housing units, greater resistance to new housing for single adults than new affordable housing for families is showing.  Only 10 of 83 units planned to be built in the Ox Fibre apartments at 400 West Church Street in a former Goodwill Industries building will be affordable for tenants earning $34,000 per year (40% of Frederick County AMI).  51 one bedroom, 26 two bedroom and six three bedroom units were the planned unit mix.  A payment in lieu of taxes PILOT will be paid by the developer to reduce the rent $31/month per unit.  More one bedroom units but only 10 affordable for the lowest income tenants.  


   A pattern in two projects in two counties is apparent though.  The least welcome new residents, for whatever reason, are single tenants, without spouses or children, at lower incomes.  The lack of school impact or road impact, if the new single residents don't own (can't afford) cars don't accrue acceptance in more willingness to support building more housing affordable to new single residents. 

  When Montgomery County was discussing the ADU bill that eventually became law an amendment (Bill 20-19) by District 1 Councilmember Andrew Friedson proposed waiving the $571 application fee and $101 annual license fee if the ADU tenant had a verified disability.  Many people with disabilities looking 'in the market' for an accessory dwelling unit of usually under 800 sq feet are single adults.  This is a good start by Councilmember Friedson to start to de-stigmatize single adult tenants some of whom happen to live with disabilities.