Are There Alternatives For Moderate-Income Housing?

In Howard County, Maryland, zoning law grants builders the right to build more homes in a project in return for providing free house lots for moderate-income houses required in mixed-use, high-density and planned senior communities. But the developers argued that the cost of building luxury units is so high that they lose money on the moderately priced ones and asked for permission to pay the county fees instead of building the homes. County housing officials suggested allowing builders to donate land to the county for moderate-income housing constructions in which it “used to be a middle-class subdivision - townhouses that fit our price ranges."