Howard County’s planning board approved a petition last week to amend the way accessory apartments look in the county.
At the Oct. 16 meeting, Department of Planning and Zoning Director Lynda Eisenberg presented the Zoning Regulation Amendment that would primarily change the criteria for what is already allowed under the county code for “accessory apartments,” she said.
Jessamine Duvall, executive director of Columbia Housing Center, said she believes accessory apartments, which are secondary dwelling units to a primary residence, would be an opportunity to create more midlevel and affordable housing. Under the current market rate in Howard County, residents must earn about $80,000 per year to afford a one-bedroom apartment, she said.
“As many ADUs as can be built that bring that market rate rent number down just a little bit, creates huge opportunities for people here,” she said.
Duvall said the county has a “huge housing crisis.” About 71% of the people who reach out to the organization seeking housing don’t make enough to afford market rent in Howard County, she said.
“We have no housing for them,” Duvall said. “About 50% of those people who come to us are already living in Howard County; they are already rent-burdened and cost-burdened in their housing.”
Following a Maryland General Assembly Bill passed in April, which imposes a local government mandate in encouraging accessory dwelling units across the state, DPZ filed its petition. The bill is meant to promote the new housing format to “meet the housing needs of the citizens of the state.”
The bill went into effect Oct. 1. In addition to implementing the law, local jurisdictions need to also codify it by Oct. 1, 2026.
Eisenberg explained the reason for the “timeliness” of the amendment, saying that it’s because zoning regulations and maps cannot be changed beginning in June 2026 on account of it being an election year. If DPZ were to wait, Howard County would miss the state deadline.
The changes proposed through the petition include increasing the number of zoning districts that allow accessory dwelling units, removing the conditional use application process and the maximum number of bedrooms, and allowing the unit to be detached, attached or within the principal residence. The units would now be permitted to be 75% the size of the original residence. DPZ is also asking to get rid of the owner-occupied requirement for accessory apartments.
Eisenberg does not believe removing the apartments from requiring conditional use applications would increase density because there haven’t been that many applications under the current regulations. Under the current zoning language, 91% of the county allows for additional apartment space; since 2015, the county has approved 220 ADU permits.
Making the apartments by-right additions, Eisenberg said it will lower barriers toward “having that missing middle housing type within Howard County.” Ellicott City resident Jim Hagan, however, was “strongly opposed” to the change.
Hagan said he lives in a rural part of the county, on Golden Oak Drive, and believes the by-right, as opposed to conditional use, nature of the accessory apartments would take away the neighbor’s “opportunity to dispute the location of a house that wants to have a dwelling unit.”
“Making that change is very significant,” Hagan emphasized. ” It’s a very important part; it should not be taken lightly.”
Nirmal Kedia, who also lives on Golden Oak Drive, echoed Hagan’s sentiment. He explained the stringent regulations that come with living in his community due to its homeowners association. Because the changes in ADU regulations would supersede any HOA restrictions or town covenants, Kedia worries it would take away from the “character and the right of the individual homeowners when they signed up for buying that property.”
“Why are we trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist,” Kedia said. “Conditional use is a very, very useful kind of a mechanism that people will have a voice to put their points across.”
The planning board gave a favorable recommendation, with the caveat that the Howard County Council look to retain the homeownership requirement, meaning that the owner must live in either of the properties.
The County Council will review the legislation Nov. 3.
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