HOST INTRO (RUSSO): A group of economic development directors from across the Delmarva Peninsula met recently at Salisbury University to discuss the region's economic forecast. The main focus of the gathering was the housing crunch that is seeing home values and rents remain largely unaffordable for many longtime residents. But as Delmarva Public media's Kevin Diaz discovered, while some voice concerns about overbuilding and sprawl, builders say that local zoning restrictions and onerous permitting procedures are blocking the development of more affordable housing types.
DIAZ: You’ve all heard Jimmy McMillan from the “Rent is too Damn High” Party.
MCMILLAN VIDEO CLIP: "You said that the rent, its too damn high."
DIAZ: He was talking about New York, but he could have easily been talking about the Eastern Shore, where local experts agree that housing affordability problem is a bona fide crisis.
GILMORE: It truly is a statewide crisis.
DIAZ: That's Jordan Gilmore, a policy analyst with the Department of Housing and Community Development.
GILMORE: There is a serious housing crisis here on the Eastern Shore.
DIAZ: Gilmore is one of several housing experts convened recently on the Eastern Shore to discuss the region's economic forecast and housing, particularly the affordability problem for both renters and would-be homeowners. More than half of all renters in Maryland, particularly on the Eastern shore, pay more than a third of their monthly income to keep a roof over their head. The state's median home price of $450,000 is out of reach for many people.
GILMORE: But that's created a situation where most families cannot afford the average home.
DIAZ: The group, meeting at Salisbury University, pointed to a number of causes from higher construction and labor costs to interest rates, population growth and burdensome regulation. One factor seemed inescapable: while some worry about sprawl and overbuilding on the eastern shore, the underlying reality is a lack of housing supply that drives up prices and rents.
GILMORE: As a result of that, more than half of renters in the state are "cost burden."
DIAZ: And the culprit behind that? Well, some say, look no further than your local city hall or county government.
HORNER: And overwhelmingly, the housing crisis has been caused by local governments.
DIAZ: That's John Horner, part owner and attorney for Shell Brothers, a large home developer in Sussex County. While slow growth advocates blame developers for the sprawl and congestion that has overtaken the Lewes-Rehoboth Beach region, Horner blames county regulations that limit housing to two units per acre in most of the county's land. Horner was not alone in his assessment of the problem. There was also Bradley Gillis of Gillis Gilkerson, which finds itself in a court battle with the city of Salisbury over a proposed apartment complex downtown.
GILLIS: Salisbury attracts workers, students, and families nonstop. Every year, more households chase the same pool of homes.
DIAZ: Local housing and economic development directors representing pretty much all of Delmarva's counties weighed in at this town hall. Andrew Harton, director of Economic Development in Sussex County talked about the need to change the incentive structure.
HARTON: If it's more profitable and it is easier to build two lots to an acre single family housing, then that's where the development's going to go.
DIAZ: In the end, the restrictive zoning rules and complicated permitting processes that builders don't like sometimes do work to the benefit of those who are already here, but they create local political tensions that hold up housing construction for those who are still coming. Here's John Horner of Shell Brothers.
HORNER: A lot of times people think local control is a great thing because we want people that are closest to the decisions making those decisions. In land use, it has become the problem. Those local people are also the people that already have housing and they're elected by people that already have housing and the people that already have housing and that are able to show up to these public hearings. They don't want any more housing to be built.
DIAZ: Historically, state officials say Maryland used to produce about 30,000 housing units per year. Since the 2008 financial crisis, that number has dropped to under 20,000 a year. To keep up with population growth, they say we need to return to that historic average. Whether that dynamic can be changed could determine whether and how the rents may ever be affordable again.
JIMMY MCMILLAN CLIP: "I wasn't playing games! Rent is too damn high!"
DIAZ: For Delmarva Public Media, this is Kevin Diaz.
