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Press Releases - County Council

Council unanimously approves resolution to support Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ regional housing targets for Montgomery County

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, November 6, 2019

From the Office of Council President Nancy Navarro

The new housing target is 75,000 more units than the current regional forecast and allocates 10,000 of these additional units to Montgomery County 

ROCKVILLE, Md., Nov. 6, 2019—On Nov. 5 the Council unanimously approved a resolution to support Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ (MWCOG) regional housing targets for Montgomery County. Council President Nancy Navarro was the lead sponsor of the resolution and all other Councilmembers were cosponsors.

“We continue to work hard on making more housing available throughout the County and it is important to support this resolution because the targets that MWCOG has issued will help guide us in achieving these goals,” said Council President Navarro. "The target for Montgomery County is 41 thousand units and I am confident that we will be able to achieve this goal by the year 2030. Housing is a critical component of economic development for our County especially in our activity centers.”

In 2019, MWCOG analyzed and reviewed cooperative employment and housing forecasts in the region. Employment growth is currently outpacing housing. Insufficient housing impacts housing affordability and undercuts economic development that relies on an available workforce. In addition, regional transportation systems are strained as workers commute long distances. MWCOG has adopted three regional housing targets:

  1. add at least 320,000 housing units to the region between 2020 and 2030;
  2. at least 75 percent of new housing should be in activity centers or near high-capacity transit; and
  3. at least 75 percent of new housing should be affordable to low- and middle-income households.

The new housing target is 75,000 more units than the current regional forecast and allocates 10,000 of these additional units to Montgomery County (including a portion in the City of Gaithersburg and the City of Rockville).

The Council resolution and staff report can be viewed here.

You can view Council President Navarro’s remarks here.


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Release ID: 19-351
Media Contact: Roland Ikheloa 240-777-7968