North Four Corners News ♦ April 2026

Housing Bills Considered in Maryland State Legislature

By Sharon Canavan

In January, Maryland Governor Moore submitted a three-bill housing package to the Maryland General Assembly.  The bill that presents the most potential concern, the Starter and Silver Homes Act (SB 36/HB 239), is intended to increase the supply of housing via “by-right” development that allows developers to proceed straight to permitting to build townhouses in any single-family zoned areas throughout the state of Maryland.  Townhouses are defined under the proposed legislation as a row of three or more single-family units sharing a common wall with another dwelling unit.

By-right development does not provide any opportunity for public input.  Presently, proposed townhouse developments in single-family zoned areas may be considered under the Optional Method of Development, which provides a review by the Montgomery County Planning Board to consider the application and ensure its adherence to zoning and regulatory requirements.

Although this proposed legislation is intended to increase the supply of moderately priced housing, there are no affordability standards, such as those that presently apply to housing development in Montgomery County.  It is not even clear whether Montgomery County will be able to enforce its Moderately Priced Dwelling Units (MPDU) program or the county’s requirements to provide workforce units under recently enacted Housing N.O.W. legislation.

Also, the proposed legislation—by allowing by-right development and, therefore, limiting planning department review—undermines existing county-imposed environmental protections, storm-water mitigation controls, and evaluation of infrastructure capacity, such as schools and utilities.

The legislation strives to reduce home building costs by preempting zoning requirements that mandate minimum lot size, property setback requirements, and lot coverage limitations.  The legislation proposes to prevent counties from requiring lot sizes of more than 5,000 square feet and from establishing front setbacks of more than 10 feet or side setbacks of more than 5 feet.  The proposed setbacks would be significantly less than the 25-foot front and 8-foot side setbacks that apply in an R-60 zone (the NFCCA community is primarily zoned R-60).

Provisions of the legislation would also preempt localities from establishing maximum lot coverage rules.  In Montgomery County, the zoning code generally limits structures to 35% of the lot, which is important to preserve rain-permeable areas and control stormwater runoff.  Nor could local jurisdictions set design, architectural, or aesthetic standards for single-family construction.

For more details on the bills see the link to “Montgomery Planning” below, or on our homepage.   ■

Montgomery Planning

For more details on the bills see:

HB 239  S 36  Bill Progress in Maryland General Assembly