On Feb. 23, the Hyattsville City Council heard and discussed a motion by Councilmember Danny Schaible (Ward 2) to create a revolving $1 million affordable housing lending fund with two goals: incentivize the creation of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and help officers and civilian employees of the Hyattsville Police Department (HPD) afford homes in or within approximately 10 miles of the city.
“The state has required the county to allow ADUs, which is a great idea,” Schaible told the Life & Times (L&T). “What I proposed was a loan fund to make it easier for Hyattsville residents to build ADUs and also help employees of the HPD to buy homes here. The programs would also grow the city’s tax base over time.”
The proposals received a mixed reception, with some councilmembers concerned that the ADU proposal would do little to improve affordable housing, while others said the down payment assistance program shouldn’t be restricted to HPD employees.
Schaible’s motion comes after Gov. Wes Moore signed legislation (Senate Bill 891) last year that makes it easier for homeowners to build certain types of ADUs to address the state’s acute shortage of affordable housing.
Legal ADUs would need to have their own kitchens and bathrooms and could be attached, free-standing, in basements or on roofs — but must not exceed 75% of the size of the original structure.
In Prince George’s County, ADUs are currently illegal in areas zoned for single-family detached housing. Under this new state law, all jurisdictions must adopt local regulations allowing ADUs by Oct. 1.
To comply, the county council formed an ADU task force to present recommendations and guidance to ensure that county-level legislation is implemented effectively, efficiently and with community input.
Under Schaible’s proposal, the ADU loans would be interest-free, limited to 75% of the unit’s cost, restricted to owner-occupied properties and subject to many conditions. For example, neither the primary unit nor the ADU could be used for short-term rentals, and if not occupied by a family member, long-term rental ADUs must be affordable — meaning annual rent couldn’t be more than 30% of the annual gross income of a family making 80% of the county’s median income, which was $101,798 in 2024. Therefore, at this time, an ADU couldn’t rent for more than approximately $2,036 a month.
The ADU loan would create a lien against the home to be repaid over 50 years through micro tax increment financing. For example, if the owner of a $500,000 property added a $200,000 ADU, the additional property taxes generated on the additional $200,000 would be used to repay the loan. However, if and when the entire property’s tax value exceeded $700,000, the taxes on the amount over $700,000 would go to the city’s general revenue. After the lien was paid off, the city would receive its share of the property’s entire value.
Councilmembers Greg Barnes and Joanne Waszczak, who both represent Ward 1, were concerned with the provision of Schaible’s that allows immediate family members of a loan applicant, such as their child, to reside in the ADU. “Such an arrangement would do little to increase the current supply of affordable housing in Hyattsville and shouldn’t be subsidized with taxpayer money,” Barnes said. Waszczak also said that, in addition to incentivizing ADUs, some of the city’s housing funds should benefit low- or moderate-income residents, such as when the city helped finance the rehabilitation of Parkview Manor apartments on 38th Avenue.
Councilmember Kelson Nisbett (Ward 5) said that since many of his constituents lived in rental properties or townhouses, he couldn’t support a program restricted to detached single-family houses.
The police department loans (budgeted at 25% of the $1 million) would provide officers or civilians who had worked at HPD for more than a year with an interest-free loan of up to $25,000 for a down payment on a home. The loan would create a lien against the home to be repaid over time through an automatic 1.5% deduction from the buyer’s salary. For the liens created by both programs, the city would have first priority on repayment if the owner defaulted or sold the home before the loan was repaid.
Councilmember Edouard Haba (Ward 5) objected to the city only making loans to HPD employees and not also to other city personnel. Mayor Robert Croslin explained that he had already been working on a similar plan to help the city attract and retain more police officers because Hyattsville couldn’t match the hiring bonuses being offered by other local departments. However, he said Schaible’s motion was premature because city staff were still working out the details of his own proposal.
At first, Schaible proposed that the loan programs receive funding from a $1 million payment the city received in 2023 in return for selling the Canvas apartment complex the air rights to a city parking lot to build a parking garage. Hyattsville set aside this payment specifically for affordable housing.
However, because of a misunderstanding over whether the money was still available, Schaible also identified three other possible sources of funding: Hyattsville’s share of the county’s hotel and motel tax (including on short-term rentals, such as from Airbnbs), and its share of the county’s impact development fees, which are meant to offset any additional costs imposed on a locality because of new developments.
And, just like a bank, the city would charge loan origination fees for the ADU and HPD programs, which would help with funding.
Haba later told the L&T that he believed ADUs were a good idea but only if all the details were carefully worked out. “All of us appreciate Mr. Schaible’s efforts to make affordable housing a priority,” he said, but recommended putting the proposal aside until the county’s ADU task force gives its final suggestions and guidelines.
Schaible’s motion did not move forward at the Feb. 23 meeting. The consensus seemed to be that the council should form a work group to consider the loan programs as only one part of a larger plan to address housing affordability. Schaible told the L&T, “We’ve been talking about this for years. I hope we finally can deliver more results.”