Should there be an extra fee for property owners who tear down an existing single-family home and replace it with a much larger, more expensive single-family home?
Newly built "teardown" homes would be subject to a new tax in Montgomery County, Maryland, under a bill proposed this week, reports Ally Schweitzer.
Montgomery County Councilmember Evan Glass introduced a bill that would "impose new fees on builders who demolish older single-family homes and replace them with new, often much larger ones," according to Schweitzer. "The fees would help fund school construction and affordable housing in a jurisdiction that sorely needs both, Glass says."
Teardowns and McMansions are popular in Montgomery County. The county has issued 2,000 demolition permits for single-family homes since 2010. Glass believes tearing down existing single-family homes and transforming them into larger, more expensive single-family homes is driving some of the region's lack of housing affordability, according to the article.
Opponents say the impact fee say will slow economic growth and that teardowns are already paying their fair share of taxes.
FULL STORY: Is It Time To Tax ‘Teardown’ Homes In Montgomery County?
Proposed Boulder Ballot Measures Call for Impact Fees, Affordable Duplexes
Boulder residents are working to put two housing-related proposals on the November ballot.
How Cities Can Support ADU Production
Although state-level laws are making it easier for homeowners to build accessory dwelling units, high impact and development fees remain a major barrier for many prospective ADU builders.
Only Two US Metro Areas Are Affordable for Homebuyers
Northeast Ohio is the last remaining bastion of housing affordability, according to an analysis from the National Association of Realtors.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association