Housing

Howard County is the latest in a string of Baltimore area governments proposing solutions to mitigate cost burdens on renters and homebuyers.

Maryland needs air quality standards to curb harmful emissions from heating and air conditioning systems and water heaters, say Panagis Galiatsatos, an associate professor and a physician in pulmonary medicine at Johns Hopkins, and Ruth Ann Norton, president and CEO of the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative.

Baltimore needs to prioritize emergency rental assistance to protect families from the physical and mental harm caused by evictions, representatives of two community advocacy groups say.

Rev. Kobi Little of the Baltimore NAACP called for the resignation of two city housing officials and said that Mayor Brandon Scott “needs to either step up and lead or step aside” following a fire at a vacant building that damaged the organization’s offices.

The bill, introduced this week, would require a portion of all new residential developments with a certain number of units to be set aside for people with incomes at or below the Baltimore-area median.

As the Greater Baltimore Committee focuses on boosting this region’s economic competitiveness, it must also support programs to end the economic apartheid that now plagues the city’s disadvantaged Black neighborhoods, says Lawrence Brown, an author and research scientist in the Center for Urban Health Equity at Morgan State University.

In Uplands, residents allege being shortchanged by developers and government officials who promised them safe and affordable housing.

“If we don’t make any changes, someone else is going to make the changes for us,” City Councilwoman Danielle McCray said at Thursday’s hearing.

Property Invest USA, a Miami-based company that facilitated the transaction — along with nearly 300 others across Baltimore to foreign buyers — "overpromised and underperformed.”

Those who violate the ordinance will face a civil penalty of $1,000 a day, according to the draft, with each violation considered a separate offense. The violation carries with it a misdemeanor charge.

Staff turnover, fueled by the coronavirus pandemic, has affected how efficiently the office runs, the homeless agency’s leader told City Council. The agency is tasked with overseeing large amounts of money from the federal government, a challenge even with more staffing and resources than the office has now.

Dayspring Programs, Inc., stopped paying rents for at least five tenants, records show, despite being legally obligated to do so.

Greater vigilance is needed to protect all Baltimore communities and the most vulnerable populations from poor air quality, says the co-lead of Free Baltimore Yoga.

This vote will enable the long-awaited project, which has been sputtering since at least 1998, to move forward and revive a section of downtown that has seen progress elsewhere, including the newly finished Lexington Market redevelopment.

In some Baltimore neighborhoods, where schoolhouses may be among the last stable anchors left, the decision to close one can feel like a death knell. And for some parents and advocates, closing lower-enrolled schools while leaving overpopulated ones intact can send a message about a neighborhood’s value.

The case likely stems from unpaid water bills in 2018.

The actions of Baltimore leaders show disregard for tenants living in substandard conditions, says Sheila McMoore, a member of Communities United who cites unhealthy, unsafe conditions where she lives.

As summertime activities come into focus, outrage in Baltimore about the Brooklyn Homes mass shooting is fading. But city police, housing officials and political leaders need to still be held accountable for what happened, columnist E.R. Shipp says.

The coalition said it has formed a steering committee to help implement a plan for dealing with the city's vacant housing stock. It has previously said the problem would cost $7.5 billion to fix.

City code states that water should be shut off inside vacant buildings, but the housing department rarely enforces the law.