Montgomery County Council, community discuss places of worship housing proposal [Video]

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) – The Facilitating Affordable Inclusive Transformational Housing (FAITH) Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) was first introduced earlier this year.

Leaders and community members met Tuesday as the bill moves closer to a final vote.

Montgomery county leaders are trying to make it easier for places of worship and private education institutions to develop affordable housing on their property.

“We are facing an affordable housing crisis right here in Montgomery County,” said Montgomery County Council Vice President Kate Stewart. “And at the same time, we see that our faith institutions have an oversupply of land, or they’re land rich.”

Affordable housing advocates say this proposal is a commonsense solution to the county’s housing problem.

“A lot of these places could use the money that would come from that,” said Jane Lyons-Raeder with Montgomery for All. “It would be a very mutually beneficial relationship in a county where we need some much …