County Council fast tracks affordable housing and biotech projects

Correction: A previous version of this story indicated that the Accelerate MoCo package was under consideration by the council, when it had passed. It also mischaracterized the zoning change to expedite review of affordable housing projects. The change does not apply to projects of 150,000-square-feet or more, but eliminates that requirement.

The Montgomery County Council unanimously approved two zoning bills Tuesday to accelerate development in the biotech sector and boost the county’s supply of affordable housing.

Developers have long complained about the time it takes to break ground in the county. And residents in all but the highest income brackets bemoan its high rents and mortgage payments.

Council member Andrew Friedson said the two zoning measures address both concerns.

“We can’t accept complacency when our economy isn’t growing and housing is getting more and more unaffordable,” Friedson said in a statement Tuesday.

State and local leaders have flagged the bioscience sector as one ripe for growth in Montgomery County, which is home to the National Institutes of Health.

And housing is a top issue in the county and also a key issue in the campaign for county executive. Friedson, with at-large member Will Jawando and Evan Glass, is one of three council members vying to replace Marc Elrich, who is term-limited.

A Banner poll last year found that more than 8 in 10 respondents say the county has an affordable housing problem. Developers, meanwhile, cite construction costs and increasingly low returns on investments as the most significant barriers to building in the county, and also complain about the county’s rent stabilization law.

Between October 2024 and August 2025, the county issued permits for 54 multifamily housing units, according to U.S. Census data. Though permitting has declined regionally, several neighboring jurisdictions have issued hundreds, and in some cases more than a thousand, permits for multifamily housing units during the same time period.

The bills

Friedson’s two measures change the county’s zoning code so that more developments qualify for an expedited review, and adds projects using the federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits.

At-large council member Laurie-Anne Sayles, a lead sponsor of the housing bill alongside Friedson, said it incentivizes “density, long-term affordability, and expanding access” to affordable housing. The result, she said, will be stronger and more stable neighborhoods.

The second measure, to expand the biotech industry in the county, would allow projects in the biological and health sectors of 100,000 square feet or more to get top priority in the zoning process but also “lowers eligibility thresholds and enables projects including adaptive reuse of existing office space to qualify for expedited review,” according to the statement from Friedson.

He pointed to a council analysis that found that projects could take an average of 600 days to be fully approved. His goal is to reduce that average to 160 days, cutting the average review time by 75%.

The legislation also allows for multiple zoning approval processes to occur simultaneously. The county code previously required each step to be completed before starting the next one.

Development as a campaign issue

Of the three council candidates running for county executive, Friedson has tried to position himself as the most friendly toward development.

He sponsored a controversial legislative package last year to increase “missing middle” housing in the county that passed the council. Jawando staunchly opposed it and has championed rent control, which the council also passed. While Glass supported Friedson’s package, he is seen as more moderate on the issue.

Glass and Jawando have both criticized Friedson for accepting campaign money from developers.

But the Accelerate MoCo package seems to hit a sweet spot of compromise. Glass and Jawando are both supporting the bill.

“This is making it faster without cutting corners,” Jawando said at the press conference. “It’s absolutely what we should be doing and changing the culture.”

Glass told the Banner in a text that there is still “more we have to do across our agencies to streamline processes, modernize permitting, and remove unnecessary barriers facing our small businesses.”

Adam Stockmaster, an affordable housing developer, said at the press conference that the county took its time with his project.

An apartment complex he built in Silver Spring in which every unit meets criteria for affordability, he said, took five years from “the date of the award before we could hand keys to our first residents.”

This week’s zoning changes “more than just cut red tape,” he said. They bring Montgomery County planning and zoning departments and other staff together “to get to work fast.”