Moore administration cites housing costs in backing Baltimore County exec’s contested veto

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The Gov. Wes Moore administration on Thursday backed the Baltimore County executive in his decision to veto limits on new housing developments in areas with overcrowded schools.

County Executive John “Johnny O” Olszewski, also the Democratic nominee for Maryland’s 2nd congressional district, wrote in a veto letter that county officials have a “moral and legal” obligation to expand access to attainable housing and that the bill he vetoed would do little to lessen school overcrowding.

In supporting the county executive’s decision, Jake Day, secretary of the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, said that more than 100,000 Baltimore County households are having a difficult time paying their mortgage and rent costs.

“Without policy changes that incentivize and support the development of new housing, these burdens will only grow,” he said in a statement. “Policies that limit or otherwise reduce the building of housing should be considered more carefully now than ever.”

Day contended that the County Council’s bill would “effectively create housing development prohibitions in areas where housing otherwise would be allowed.”

Council members pushed back on the county executive, and on the Moore administration, immediately after his veto went public.

Council Chair Izzy Patoka, a Democrat, said in a statement that he was “extremely disappointed” and that opposition to his bill, meant to reduce classroom overcrowding, appeared to be “led by special interest groups or entities that have very little interaction with communities in Baltimore County.”

Patoka said he was confident the council would override Olszewski’s veto.

A Republican, Councilman David Marks, alleged that the Moore administration “clearly opposed this bill and has intervened on local land use decisions in a way I have never seen in my 13 years of service on the council,” though it wasn’t clear what about the administration’s influence he felt was unprecedented.

A spokesman for the governor didn’t immediately respond to an email request for comment, nor did a spokesperson for Day.

The governor has said Maryland, like states across the country, is facing a housing crisis that could worsen without policy interventions, like shedding bureaucracy and making it less expensive to build.

State lawmakers last session passed the administration’s package of housing bills, which officials hope will cut into the state’s shortage of 96,000 units and reduce median home prices.

While the governor received broad public support for his bills, top Democrats in the state legislature removed one of the most aggressive parts of his approach after county and municipal officials contended it went too far in limiting local control over projects that receive state funding.

The policy would have prevented local governments from using their adequate public facilities ordinances — meant to ensure that services like schools, emergency services, roads and water can keep pace with growth — to deny permits or impose unreasonable restrictions on state affordable housing projects.

State Democrats still maintained that Moore’s broader policies — like incentivizing housing with affordable units in nonprofit projects, on historic state-owned land and near rail stations — were a major step forward for affordable housing, and the governor has said he viewed the change as a result of collaboration with local officials.

It remains to be seen what impact Moore’s policies will have on Maryland’s housing crisis, and county and municipal officials will play a major role in determining which housing developments progress, and where, especially considering their control over adequate public facilities laws.