The ticklish issue of affordable housing in Howard County is spawning lots of high-level discussion but isn't likely to produce a law or substantial policy change until next year at the earliest, county officials say.

That's when the new 10-year county General Plan should be completed, and housing officials hope to have their goals included in that guide to the future -- paving the way for more new housing in the $80,000 to $130,000 range for families earning from $20,000 to $45,000.

"That's the general idea," said Neil J. Gaffney, deputy administrator of the county's Housing and Community Development Commission after a session with the County Council last week. What his agency wants now, he said, is to make its case to the new county executive and three new council members and win as much conceptual support as possible.

The sales job is needed, officials say, because elected officials might be more familiar with voters' fears and worries than with the facts about lower-priced housing.

For example, Gaffney said, conversations with state legislators about the need for redevelopment in some older Columbia neighborhoods have provoked responses such as "Columbia's new." But "it's 30 to 35 years old," he said, and some areas are in danger of decline if nothing is done.

County Executive James N. Robey has said he strongly supports the three major housing agency goals -- renewing older neighborhoods, creating more housing for a growing senior population and adding more affordable housing -- but council discussion last week produced less certain responses.

Robey has said he wants to ensure affordable housing for county civil servants and low- to moderate-income people such as bank tellers.

When Housing Administrator Leonard S. Vaughan talked to the council about his fears that today's county schoolchildren might not be able to afford homes in their county when they grow up, Councilman Allan H. Kittleman, a western county Republican, countered with his personal experience of buying a new detached home. "I had to buy a house in Columbia, and I saved and then moved to the west," he said, adding that young people fresh from school shouldn't expect to afford a home right away.

Kittleman said that the several hundred older townhouses and condominiums for sale in Howard are enough to serve the demand for lower-priced housing. "I want the market to do it first [before government]," Kittleman said about lower-priced housing.

Hidden costs

But sometimes costs are hidden, housing officials said. A $200-a-month maintenance fee significantly increases the real cost of even moderately priced condominiums, Vaughan said, and older homes with moderate prices could need thousands of dollars in renovations.

Michael Skojec, chairman of the policy-making Housing Commission, warned the council that concentrating too much on subsidized housing in older neighborhoods could stigmatize those areas.

Still, worried about poorly managed rental homes in older neighborhoods in his district, freshman Councilman Guy J. Guzzone, a Laurel-Savage Democrat, said that helping people buy existing homes might be more efficient because the subsidy costs would be lower than for new units.

When Vaughan said that county teachers might not make enough to afford housing locally, Councilman Christopher J. Merdon, an Ellicott City Republican, said: "They chose their path. They went into teaching knowing their salary was a certain amount." A household with two teachers, Merdon and Kittleman said after the meeting, could certainly afford a place to live in the county.

Vaughan said he believes the improving real estate market will soon affect older townhouses that have languished for years as rentals before finding a buyer. "Once it takes off, housing prices are going to go up," creating a need for more affordable housing, he said.

Those older rentals have produced problems, too, often from well-meaning landlords who have moved to larger homes and don't want to invest much time or effort in their old places.

"They make poor decisions on tenants," Vaughan told the council. Some do no screening and rent a $100,000 home to someone they've talked to for five minutes. "We have a lot of well-meaning landlords who don't have a clue," he said.

Questions remain

Merdon, a freshman councilman, said he wants more information and hasn't closed the door on affordable housing, but even Democrats who support the programs have questions about the details.

Chairman C. Vernon Gray, an east Columbia Democrat, said that six years ago he spent months trying to pass a law requiring a small percentage of lower-priced housing in each new development, but it failed by a 3-2 vote. "Let someone else take the lead on this," Gray said.

Guzzone said he wants more detailed information before deciding how to proceed.

He believes an economic mix -- not exclusive neighborhoods of expensive, detached homes -- is what the county needs, but he isn't sure how to achieve that.

"I'm trying to figure out where I am with the issue," he said.

Pub Date: 3/23/99