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Section 5 hires land-use attorney to track county'wide Attainable Housing Strategies Initiative
Summary
Chevy Chase Section 5 voted unanimously Nov. 12 to retain land-use attorney Michele Rosenfeld to analyze and, if necessary, litigate over the County's Attainable Housing Strategies Initiative (AHSI); the council has also pressed County leaders for a clearer timeline and corrections to a staff report it calls incomplete.
Vice Chair Josh Galper said the Section's council voted unanimously Nov. 12 to enter a retainer agreement with land-use attorney Michele Rosenfeld to track and analyze Montgomery County's Attainable Housing Strategies Initiative and to advocate for the Section in consultation with the council.
The council's action authorizes Rosenfeld to review proposed legislation, advise Section 5 officials and prepare for potential litigation on behalf of the Section or a group of municipalities sharing the retainer. The agreement treats each municipality as an individual client while allowing costs to be shared to defray fees.
Why it matters: Section 5 leaders told residents they view the AHSI process as consequential for neighborhood street widths, lot sizes and parking, and they said the Section wants a transparent County process. Vice Chair Josh Galper said the Section pushed County Council leadership in an Oct. 10 call to commit to a formal process plan and timeline and that the Section sent a detailed letter on Oct. 18 outlining concerns with the AHSI proposal as drafted.
Galper said the Section also sent an email on Nov. 11 to Council President Evan M. Friedson asking for corrections to a County staff report that the Section described as incomplete and inaccurate in how it summarized listening-session feedback and in its treatment of roughly 1,800 submitted comments.
The council noted that at least two County Council members visited Section 5 to survey street widths, parking constraints and emergency-access issues in person. At-large Councilmember Evan Glass and Councilmember Sid Katz conducted walking tours in October; Section officials said those visits helped convey the Section's concerns about how proposed housing changes could affect local streets and services.
The unanimous vote to retain Rosenfeld gives the Section formal counsel to monitor the initiative, request clarifications from County staff, and, if necessary, prepare legal challenges. The minutes record the vote but do not include a roll-call tally or name a motion mover; they state the vote was unanimous.
Next steps: Vice Chair Galper was authorized to negotiate any remaining ministerial tweaks to the retainer and to finalize the agreement on the Section's behalf if needed. The council did not provide a timeline for how long Rosenfeld will be engaged or the retainer's dollar amount in the minutes.
