Fee waiver incentive pushes for new housing construction in Salisbury

SALISBURY, Md. – “We’ve got to house the people that want to be here. If you’re not growing you’re dying and our city ought to be growing,” said Salisbury Mayor Jake Day.

Growth is what community members can expect to see, with affordable housing at the top of city officials’ agendas. The latest move to that goal is council members voting unanimously to approve The Housing Expansion Incentive Program.

“The number one thing I heard when I was running for this seat was the lack of affordable housing and that is something the mayor has been taking very seriously. We’re working really hard to help,” said Councilwoman Michele Gregory.

The program, part of Mayor Day’s ‘Here is Home’ initiative, allows a waiver of residential fees for a period of time in hopes of bringing new construction to the area. Fees that equal thousands of dollars yearly.

“And over the course of time, they add up very quickly. That can not only raise the costs of the housing units individually, but it can also deter developers from developing in the first place,” said Gregory.

City officials say this legislation will also be an economic driver.

“For many many thousands of apartments and houses.  Hopefully, that will mean much more in the way of property tax revenue for the city, but much more important than that is that we have more Salisburians housed than we have today,” said Mayor Day.

As those new developments come, I’m told the ultimate goal is to make Salisbury a permanent place to call home. “Holistically, this group of legislation is going to be incredibly important for years to come,” said Gregory.

“So all of those pieces of the puzzle are working together to make sure that people are adequately housed with dignity in our community,” said Mayor Day.

Now, this was only the first reading of this piece of legislation, as it will have to go through a second before it becomes law. That next reading is set for November 8th. Officials also tell 47 ABC they’re looking to expand on other areas of the housing crisis as well, including expanding their homeless reduction programs.