St. Mary's County commissioner urges incentives for townhomes, cites 'no' vote on recent housing measure

A St. Mary's County commissioner said at a recent commission meeting that the county faces a “very serious housing issue” and urged the county to incentivize builders to include town homes and condominiums to help residents attain homeownership.

The commissioner (name not specified), speaking during the meeting, said the county should focus on creating pathways to ownership rather than expanding public-housing projects supported by Section 42 programs. “We do have a very serious housing issue here in this county,” the commissioner said. “I think what we need to do, as far as a county or as a commissioning body, ... is ways to incentivize some of the builders ... to build town homes or condominiums so people can get ... that foothold into home ownership.”

The commissioner framed the proposal as a route for young families and working-class residents to build equity over time. “We started buying something small that we could afford, and we built our way up,” the commissioner said, describing how smaller starter homes allowed households to grow as incomes rose.

The commissioner also said this view informed their vote on a housing-related item earlier in the meeting, telling colleagues, “that’s the reasons behind my, my largely my no vote, today on that.” The transcript does not provide the motion text, the names of the mover or seconder, a full roll-call tally, or the final disposition of the item discussed.

As a closing announcement, the commissioner invited residents to a town hall in February, describing it as their first town hall of 2025 and saying it will be held at Bay District Volunteer Fire from 1 to 3 p.m. The commissioner also praised volunteer firefighters and rescue volunteers for their community service during remarks at the meeting.

No specific ordinance, financing mechanism, or implementation timeline for the proposed builder incentives was specified in the remarks.