Heritage Foundation policy experts are regularly having an impact in Washington, D.C. But recently, one scholar’s work is making a difference in her own backyard.
Rachel Greszler, a research fellow in Heritage’s Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget, wrote a compelling commentary that influenced a critical vote in Montgomery County, Maryland. The new zoning law increases affordable housing options for the middle class in the face of a burgeoning affordable housing crunch.
The Washington Post published Greszler’s commentary the day before the vote. Councilmember Hans Riemer, the sponsor of the bill, sent Greszler a personal thank you after reading the article. Reimer’s office distributed copies to every councilmember before the vote. The council then voted unanimously to adopt the bill.
The new law loosens excessive restrictions on “accessory dwelling units,” or ADUs, allowing more single-family homeowners to build basement or garage apartments on their land. This common-sense solution to the housing shortage got a surprising amount of protest from “Not In My Backyard” (NIMBY) groups.
Greszler’s article begins:
I’m shocked at the backlash to the Montgomery County Council’s proposal to slightly scale back its heavy-handed restrictions on accessory dwelling units (ADUs). The “not in my backyard” responses reveal a skin-deep level of acceptance for anyone not like them.” Greszler goes on to debunk NIMBY arguments and point out the good that such a zoning revision would do, concluding that “Excessive zoning laws are just a less ostensible form of economic segregation.
“Rachel’s work on this cause shows a deep respect for property rights and dedication to community,” said Romina Boccia, director of the Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget. “By taking this principled and enlightened position, Rachel’s efforts help to generate greater economic opportunities for homeowners and workers, improve resource use in her community, and help address housing affordability issues in her own backyard.”
Even though housing is outside Greszler’s usual purview, she had personal stock in the outcome of the vote. She is a Montgomery County resident herself, and this past year has hosted a refugee family in her own home.
Greszler concludes her Washington Post commentary with a personal call for her neighbors to accept the changing landscape of their neighborhoods.
“I hope that Montgomery County residents who oppose these revisions to accessory dwelling units will reconsider their fears,” she wrote. “We all have a lot to learn by opening our doors to family members, friends, strangers and especially the less-advantaged.”
Greszler’s successful efforts demonstrate that Heritage scholars are focused not just on policymaking in Washington, D.C., but the local impact in their communities.
