Environment and Transportation Committee approves HB503 on housing targets and vested rights; advances a slate of property and housing bills

At a Friday voting session, the House Environment and Transportation Committee advanced House Bill 503 and a package of bills on housing, property rules and homeowner association practices.

House Bill 503, reported favorable with amendments, requires the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) to establish 10-year housing production targets for the State and specified local jurisdictions and to annually assess progress toward those targets. The bill also clarifies that the approval of a housing development project application by a local jurisdiction or by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission will be governed by the laws and regulations in effect when the completed application was submitted, and it grants an approved housing development project a vested right to the authorized use and development for not more than five years or for a longer period if granted by the local jurisdiction or commission. The bill establishes a Housing Opportunities Made Equitable (HOME) Commission to study and recommend ways to increase housing supply and improve affordability.

Committee amendments removed a proposed affirmative obligation for local jurisdictions to "expeditiously" approve housing development applications and made the housing production targets periodic and nonbinding. "They're not — there's no enforcement mechanism," Chair Lewis said during the discussion, referring to the production targets. Committee members and staff said the bill clarifies vesting and application-governing-rule questions; sponsors noted that the governor's office, MACo (the Maryland Association of Counties) and the Maryland Municipal League (MML) participated in drafting the amended language.

The committee adopted the amendments and then voted to move…