Salisbury mayor responds to legal threat from Md. Dept. of Housing and Community Development
SALISBURY, Md. – Salisbury Mayor Randy Taylor is responding after the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) put the City on notice.
DHCD Puts Salisbury on Notice
On August 30th, Maryland DHCD sent the City an official notice of defaults and demanded an immediate cure. However, Mayor Taylor is reasserting his intentions to not sign off on selling the Mitchell Landing Apartment Complex to Rivermitch LLC.
The LLC is a partnership between the Wicomico Housing Authority and Green Street Housing LLC. The deal was given the green light in a 2021 land disposition agreement (LDA). The plan was to completely gut the apartment complex, which is plagued by issues like mold and rotting floor joists. Half of the units are currently condemned by the City.
Mayor Disagrees With Deal
However, in Mayor Taylor’s letter to DHCD, he raised several concerns about that LDA. He says the LDA is only the beginning of his disagreement with the deal.
“I was merely checking for the final conditions of the contract,” Mayor Taylor wrote in the letter. “To my surprise, after all the forgiven sins of this process and after 3 years of the property being under contract, which I assume DHCD is well aware, the ONLY condition apart from the buyer’s ‘demand’ to close was a [community development administration] commitment for the financing/rehabilitation of the project. A condition which Rivermitch, LLC did not have [sic] and could not satisfy.”
Mayor Taylor went on to write that he does not believe that Rivermitch LLC sees the community development administration as a condition of closing. “In short, I completely disagreed with that assessment and as such – I would not go to settlement.”
DHCD Demands
In the ten-day window set out by DHCD, three demands were made:
The first demand is to finalize the agreement on who will purchase Mitchell Landing Apartments in order to rehabilitate the problem property. DHCD also demanded that work begin on necessary repairs to bring all of the units up to occupiable and rentable conditions. If the City does not meet those demands within those ten days, it will be on the hook for a nearly $1.5 million forgivable loan that it was given to make the project happen.
Mayor Taylor tells WMDT that while that ten-day period is quickly coming to a close, he does not intend to sign off on the sale, allowing construction to begin at Mitchell Landing Apartments. He added that he will continue to try and rework the deal, and will wait for further action or communication by DHCD.
Independent Counsel Reviews Deal
In Mayor Taylor’s letter to DHCD, he also explained that he had obtained independent legal counsel to review the project contract. He tells WMDT that this was necessary, as it would have been a conflict of interest to have the City Solicitor review a contract that she had helped to create.
Salisbury’s city charter requires the City Solicitor and their team to “have charge of the preparation and trial of all suits, actions and proceedings of every kind to which the city shall be involved in any court, board, commission or any other legal proceeding.” And that “upon the request of the Mayor… shall give oral and/or written advice on all questions of law which may be referred.”
The charter also states that “additional legal counsel may be authorized and/or entertained from time to time by the Council.” Mayor Taylor tells WMDT he did not seek authorization to obtain outside counsel from City Council.
Mitchell Landing “can not be moth-balled any longer.”
Looking ahead, Mayor Taylor maintains that getting Mitchell Landing Apartments back online is a top priority for the City.
In his letter to DHCD, Mayor Taylor wrote “this commitment for financing – in my mind – is both a contractual obligation, but it is central to protecting the City’s interest as it is the only mechanism to bring this project to fruition. Mitchell Landing is an extremely important component of local affordable housing and it has been ‘off-line’ for way too long and can not be moth-balled any longer…
“As you can see, I am in a challenging position. Clearly, inflammatory tones do not serve the issue at hand. As Mayor, I am merely doing my job, protecting the City’s interest and in that effort, protecting Mitchell Landing – as directed by the LDA. I would hope that DHCD would share the same goal.”
