Charles County says it is about 1,250 homes short of what families earning 30 to 80 percent of the area’s median income can afford. A year into its plan to close that gap, the county has money committed for roughly a quarter of them. None, staff cautioned, are built yet.
County planning staff gave the Planning Commission a one-year report card on the Affordable Housing Strategy on Oct. 5, the same month the commission approved it in 2025. Commissioners approved the 16-strategy plan in November. Staff described a three-part approach: add the kinds of housing the market isn’t building, subsidize committed affordable units, and protect housing that is already affordable.
The tax-break pilot
The headline number is 289 units. They come from the county’s affordable housing pilot, which cuts property taxes for developers who set aside units for families earning 60 percent of area median income or less. Under the program as announced in 2025, 90 percent of a project’s units must meet that standard, and developers compete for selection each year. Staff said an approved project gets a 20-year abatement, with inflation built into the numbers the commissioners saw.
All 289 units are in Waldorf, in a federally designated qualified census tract centered roughly near Smallwood Drive and US 301. That designation brings state and federal benefits, staff said, and lets developers stack those funds with local ones. The 289 units are “funded” but not necessarily “out of the ground,” staff said, and they equal about a quarter of the shortfall.
The commissioners did not spend the whole pilot budget, staff said. About $360,000 remains for the next round, and a notice of funding availability is likely early next year for spring applications. The county’s March update said four proposed Waldorf developments would create 439 affordable units, and advanced three of them, Eagle Point Phase 1, Lenville Crossing and Pine Way Village, to an April 21 hearing.
Counting the pipeline
Staff said about 1,400 units are in the pipeline, including units inside the town of La Plata, from developers who have met with the county. None of them count against the deficit, staff said, until they are permitted and under construction, because a project can go away or turn market-rate at any stage. That pipeline was far smaller two or three years ago, staff said.
The county’s goal is about 200 affordable units a year. At that pace, staff said, the deficit would reach zero in 10 years. Without policy changes, they said, the shortfall would grow. The 2025 report’s summary puts the shortfall at nearly 1,200 units and says the recommended policies could yield 240 to 260 additional units a year.
Backyard apartments, slowly
The commissioners approved a zoning change July 7 allowing accessory dwelling units in any zone where single-family detached homes are allowed, dropping the previous cap on living space and the off-street parking requirement. Staff said it became effective at the end of August. Since then, staff said anecdotally, fewer than a dozen applications have come in, along with dozens of phone calls. An application doesn’t mean a permit will be issued, staff said.
For rural lots, septic rules remain the hurdle. The county’s rules didn’t change, and staff said the Board of Commissioners has proposed legislation to simplify health department regulations. No update will come until the legislation goes to the General Assembly in the new year.
A smaller house
A longstanding code rule requires most single-family homes in Charles to have at least 1,250 square feet, staff said, which blocks tiny homes and starter homes. A mixed residential communities zoning amendment would lower the minimum to 960 square feet and create a new “cottage dwelling” smaller than that. The Planning Commission has passed it. The commissioners advanced it 3-1 on Sept. 15, with Thomasina Coates, Amanda Stewart and Reuben Collins in favor and Gilbert Bowling opposed, demanding a fiscal analysis of the cost to services such as schools and fire protection. Ralph Patterson was absent. A public hearing is set for Oct. 27 at 6 p.m., and the board seated after the November election will likely decide it.
What’s still in progress
- Inclusionary zoning: the county already offers a voluntary density bonus for developers who build affordable units. Staff said they haven’t really seen anyone use it in more than 10 years, and the zoning code rewrite aims to make it more attractive. A mandatory program is a long-term goal that staff want to study first.
- Rental licensing: the commissioners, planning staff and the county attorney’s office are working to start a program to keep rental housing at a minimum standard of quality and safety.
- Right of first refusal: a tool that would let the county try to steer a sale of affordable housing to another affordable housing developer, helping keep it from going market-rate and protecting tenants.
- Corporate ownership: a federal law, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, became law July 11 without the president’s signature. It bars investors that control 350 or more single-family homes from buying more, with exceptions such as new construction, beginning 180 days after enactment. The law doesn’t give states or localities their own authority, and staff said the county hopes for state action.
Commissioners on the planning board asked about where the units are, the percentage of affordable units developers would be required to build and whether the subsidies keep pace with inflation. Staff said the pilot’s 20-year abatements account for inflation.
