Anne Arundel NIMBY Watch

Author: NIMBY WATCH

  • Anne Arundel County Housing Crisis Continues

    Anne Arundel County Housing Crisis Continues

    As we move together into June, the half-way point of 2025 many of us continue to wonder, will we be able to afford rent next month? Will we ever qualify for a mortgage on a new home for our family?

    If this is something you have thought this year, you are not alone. According to survey data of tens of thousands of Anne Arundel County residents, over 45% of renters are cost burdened, paying over 30% of their income on housing.

    19% are paying more than 50% of their income each month on rent! That is one in every five people, struggling to afford the roof over their head. Maybe they skip meals at home to save on food costs, keep the A/C or heating off throughout the year to save on energy, or shower every other day to conserve water. Most would say that it would be better to sacrifice health or hygiene than to end up evicted and homeless.

    If you do end up without a home, evicted by a greedy landlord increasing your rent by 50% or refusing to give you a break after an uncaring employer lays you off, you may quickly be branded a criminal. In October of 2024, Councilmember Nathan Volke of the Anne Arundel County introduced and worked through Bill 70-24, which makes it a crime to sleep overnight in a vehicle anywhere in Anne Arundel County.

    Sadly, the Anne Arundel County Council continues to fail in addressing the deepening housing crisis. Prices continue to rise, and permits for new units continues to dwindle. Meanwhile, more and more handouts go to wealthy land owners who don’t have to worry about affording rent costs or saving to buy a home someday. Homeowners already have it made.

    AA NIMBY Watch will strive to target NIMBY Councilmembers and homeowners to reveal their unceasing efforts to block your shot at the American dream and to bleed you dry with housing costs.

  • Glen Burnie Sun Valley Homeowners Work to Undermine Workforce Housing

    Glen Burnie Sun Valley Homeowners Work to Undermine Workforce Housing

    For many months, the familiar face of Jigna Patel appeared at the Anne Arundel County Council meeting on June 2, 2025. Once again, she complained about the new opportunity for aspiring homeowners in the Nixon Workforce Housing development in Glen Burnie.

    This meeting, she brought some neighbors to block new housing for our working poor.

    The tired NIMBY arguments were dragged out once again.

    “It is too dense” – the reality is they don’t want anything new anywhere near them. They want you to go away.

    “It is well intentioned, but this is not the right place” – Well what is the right place? No matter the neighborhood, they always say it should go somewhere else.

    “We need houses but there would be 171 new townhomes, that is so ridiculous. There is so much traffic we can’t handle it.” – The reality is that these same people pay pennies on the dollar in property taxes due to special kickbacks in the form of homestead exemptions that would usually be used to build out traffic capacity. And they vote against any widening of roads, traffic calming, frontage improvements, walkability through density and transit infrastructure, etc.

    “These workforce housing should be where the transit is.” – Anne Arundel County does not have any public transit that is legitimately accessible basically anywhere. These people vote against increased bus capacity, bus stops, improvements to bus stops with coverings, sidewalks to get to or from a bus stop, bicycle lanes, etc.

    In 2023 Arundel Community Development Services, Inc., a local non-profit, identified that there was a shortage of 12,456 affordable rental units to address the needs of moderate to low income households.

    171 townhouses doesn’t even scratch the surface. We need this project to go through, and for more projects like this to get started all over Anne Arundel County.

  • Special Interest Groups Block Bill – Renters to Pay for Private Homeowner Beaches

    Special Interest Groups Block Bill – Renters to Pay for Private Homeowner Beaches

    Have you ever been turned away while walking to a nearby waterfront area by a local claiming that only neighborhood homeowners can enjoy the Chesapeake Bay?

    It turns out, you have been paying for the upkeep for many, many years with your income taxes.

    On June 2, 2025, special interest groups came out in force to block legislation that would increase the percentage of costs that so called “special community benefits districts” pay for County expenses when collecting and safeguarding private community funds.

    It turns out that there are nearly 100 of these private groups in Anne Arundel County, who enjoy private amenities like a fancy HOA would. But the County Council has codified these special HOA groups into County law and collect dues on their behalf, conduct periodic audits, and apply for and receive special tax free State grants and loans for their private amenities.

    This would be fine, so long as the communities paid for the services they hired the County to perform. Sadly, they refuse to pay, so while you skip meals at home to pay your rent this month, your tax money renovates their beach clubhouse.

    I was curious. What benefits does the County supplement? The answer was shocking.

    Each Special Community Benefit District has its own Section in the County Code that outlines what their special community benefit taxes will be used for. Here is an example for Franklin Manor Special Community Benefit District:

    “The district is established for the purpose of the acquisition, maintenance, and improvement of real property or any interest therein to accomplish community projects, including but not limited to the construction of community piers, storage sheds, and an association building; the acquisition and maintenance of equipment necessary to maintain and improve community property, including but not limited to beaches, parks, playground areas, boat ramps, parking lots, community- owned roads, and community piers; the acquisition and maintenance of recreational equipment; providing special police protection for security and to prevent rowdyism, vandalism, and trespassing on community-owned property; and the administrative expenses necessary to accomplish these purposes, including but not limited to liability insurance for community property, audit and bonding expenses, utility expenses, postage, attorneys’ fees, and the repayment of loans obtained in order to accomplish any of the purposes of the district”.

    Why are we subsidizing special police forces in gated communities while we have a shortage of County police officers to cover the serious emergencies happening every day in the rest of the County? There are another dozen special districts that list private police forces, this is not a one-off case

    Why are they comfortable covering the full salaries for the private police officers, maintenance crews, and attorneys, but won’t pay the full salaries of the County treasury and finance employees they hired to collect and administer their private funds?

    As it stands, the most the County can charge is 5% of collected benefit funds, up to a maximum of $2,000.00 per year for each special benefit district. The cap in the proposed Bill was $10,000.00. That may sound like a lot of money, a 500% increase. But that is split between every homeowner in the special benefit district over a full year. How much would each of them pay each month?

    The County Code must also identify the parcels or addresses that are part of each special benefit district. As an example, Broadwater Creek Special Community Benefit District identifies 83 addresses. With the current cap, if they collect at least $40,000.00 in community funds for all their special beach clubs, private police, pest control, groundskeeping, etc. then they each pay a maximum of $2.01 per month to pay the County auditors and tax collectors administering the funds. If they proposed cap had gone into effect, they would have paid only $10.10 per month if they collected $200,000.00 in community private benefit funds. Testimony before the vote indicated these districts collect and enjoy over $1.7 Million in funds, way above the percentage maximum cap.

    The majority of these Broadwater Creek Special Community Benefit District waterfront homes are valued on Zillow at $1 Million each. And they can afford to pay the County $10.00/month for the benefits that only they enjoy? Those 45% of cost-burdened renters have to subsidize their dream waterfront club?

    Councilmembers Nathan Volke, Amanda Fiedler, Allison Pickard, Peter Smith, and Shannon Leadbetter all voted for this continued handout to the rich and powerful, failing to show courage and leadership in the face of powerful local Special Benefit interest groups.

    Bill sponsor Councilmember Lisa D. B. Rodvien and Councilmember Lisa D.B. Rodvien stood up for equity against organized wealthy homeowners.

    We need to vote out those Councilmembers who have such disdain and hatred for renters and aspiring homeowners, giving handouts to millionaires at their expense.