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We have a housing market in the United States. It’s a market that makes some people a lot of money and prices others out of communities.
Witness the Perkiomen Township public works employees who told Supervisor Adam Doyle that they would likely never be able to afford a home in the township where they maintain roads and other public services.
“That was a gut punch when I heard that,” Doyle said during a recent public meeting.
Another casualty of rising housing costs in Montgomery County and elsewhere is long commutes and lost time. Upper Frederick Supervisor Bill Landman noted how his wife, a school district employee, drives an hour to work each way because the cost-of-living near her district is too high.
Lower Frederick Supervisor Marla Hexter added that developers are not going to build affordable, lower-cost housing on their own in a “money-driven” housing market.
“It’s the greed that drives building," she said.
Unlike food, retirement income, and health insurance for those of modest means, housing is not a government entitlement. As a result, elected government leaders at the local, county, and state levels are often legislating on the margins of “what’s possible” in divided government.
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The supervisors’ comments landed during a July 15 meeting of the Central Perkiomen Valley Regional Planning Commission. Made up of municipal representatives from Perkiomen, Collegeville, Lower Frederick, Upper Frederick, Trappe, and Schwenksville, the commission is in the process of updating its comprehensive plan, which helps guide land development and ensure that the region meets its “fair share” requirement for multi-family housing. Eric Jarrell of the Montgomery County Planning Commission lends his time and expertise. He presented an overview of the local market at the July meeting.
Renters have been struggling since the pandemic with high inflation in housing. In Trappe Borough, 61% of renters spend more than 30% of their income on housing. Schwenksville Borough (52%) and Upper Frederick (50%) also score high on that scale, according to a draft CPVRPC report.
SOURCE: Central Perkiomen Region Housing Chapter draft plan (2024)
Part of the problem could be limited supply. Across Montgomery County, 71% of housing is owner-occupied (29% rental). Whereas in the Central Perk region 80% is owner-occupied.
SOURCE: Central Perkiomen Region Housing Chapter draft plan (2024)
Lee Ann Manning, a Schwenksville council member, said that before she joined the council there was “anti-rental” language in the local code. The prevailing sentiment at the time was that renters would “change the character of the community,” she said.
In recent years, Schwenksville Council has placed additional attention on rental inspections and ensuring quality housing for various income levels.
Potential solutions
The draft plan contains sections on the following:
Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) - Often called “in-law suites,” ADUs can increase density and create affordable options. They are separate from and secondary to the primary residence and they may either be attached or detached from the home. ADUs could be limited to only immediate family members of the principal dwelling, have maximum areas, or require design standards.
“Missing Middle” housing -
Aging in the community -
The next public meeting of the CPVRPC is Monday, Sept. 16, at Collegeville Borough Hall (7 p.m.)
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