MARYLAND 

   ANNE ARUNDEL

   BALTIMORE CITY

CALVERT COUNTY 

 CHARLES COUNTY

   HOWARD COUNTY

   MONTGOMERY COUNTY

  PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY

Issuance of Grading, Building, and Use and Occupancy Permits

A bill was enacted that clarifies the intent of the County Council to confer exclusive jurisdiction upon the Director of Permitting, Inspections, and Enforcement over the issuance of grading, building, and use and occupancy permits within the Zoning Ordinance for Prince George's County. The bill sponsor was Council Member Mel Franklin.

 

Validity Period Extensions for DSP and SDP

The County Council enacted a bill that temporarily extends the validity period for all approved applications for Detailed Site Plans and Specific Design Plans with a valid status as of January 1, 2017.  CB-97-2017 temporarily extends the validity period until December 31, 2018.

 

Validity Period Extension for Preliminary Plans

The County Council enacted a bill that temporarily extends the validity period for all approved applications for Preliminary Plans of Subdivision with a valid status as of January 1, 2017. CB-98-2017 temporarily extends the validity period until December 31, 2018.

 

IRB Code for One and Two-Family Dwellings in the Prince George's County Building Code

The County Council enacted a bill that will amend the County Building Code to set a maximum limit in the County Building Code for bathroom facilities within certain residential structures within the County.  MBIA asked for a waiver allowance that would give the Director of DPIE some discretion to amend that maximum limit, on a case-by-case basis (this will serve as a relief mechanism for the builder). The bill was voted out favorable with the waiver allowance amendment. The bill sponsor was Council Member Dannielle Glaros.

ST. MARY'S COUNTY 

County Business Incubator to open in December

St. Mary's will open its first business incubator in December, and will provide office and workshop space, mentoring, educational opportunities, and other resources to startups focusing on UAS and Navy Technology Transfer.  The County has taken additional steps to make the County an attractive place for new businesses to locate in the County. Earlier this year, the County hired a consultant which examined the permitting and development review process and prepared a report on how the process could be streamlined to be more efficient. The Commissioners of St. Mary's County also approved a property tax credit for businesses who are locating and expanding in the County, and will employ 10 or more workers in targeted industries.

  WICOMICO COUNTY

City of Salisbury Permit Changes

The City of Salisbury has restructured several departments into the Department of Infrastructure and Development.  This department allows builders and developers to take their projects from permitting through completion.  It is located on the second floor of the Government Office Building.  In addition several other departments have been restructured.  They are Field Operation headed by Tom Stevenson, Water Works headed by Mike Moulds, Finance headed by Keith Cordrey and Procurement headed by Jennifer Miller.

 

2018 Election

The current Wicomico County Executive, Bob Culver and Salisbury City Council President, Jack Heath have filed for Wicomico County Executive for the 2018 election.  Jack Heath is running as an independent candidate.

The Eastern Shore Builders will hold a Chapter Meeting on Tuesday, January 30, 2018 from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm at the Ocean Pines Library, 11107 Cathell Road, Berlin. Please contact Joan Strang at [email protected] or call 410-845-0132.

  WORCESTER COUNTY

Local Legislation

The Worcester County Commissioners approved Bill 17-11- Zoning-Self-Storage Centers in the C-2 General Commercial District.  This text amendment will allow self-storage facilities of up to 40,000 square feet in gross floor area in the C-2 general commercial district.  Previously, such facilities have been limited to 15,000 square feet or less.

 

Sanitary Service Area

The Worcester County Commissioners have passed Resolution 17-23-the dissolution of Sanitary Service Area for South Point Village Townhomes.

   

Bond Sale

The Town of Ocean City has approved a $28 million bond sale to finance several large projects.  The expansion to the Roland E. Powell Convention Center will take $14 million dollars of the bond.  Other projects include $11 million for the Public Works and Transit Facility upgrades and $3 million of the new Public Works South Facility.

 

Zoning Changes

The Town of Ocean City has removed the new R-1A zoning district that would have essentially ban short-term rentals in Ocean City's single-family residential communities from their revised comprehensive plan.  To address this problem the town has called for an expedited attempt to clearly define short-term rentals and how best to address them in the town's code.

2018 Election

Delegate Mary Beth Carozza has announced she will run against Senator Jim Mathias in the 2018 election.  To date no one has stepped forward to run for Delegate Carozza's seat.

 

State Legislation

The Ocean City Chamber of Commerce held a conference to discuss House Bill 1, known as the Maryland Healthy Working Families Act.  The bill would, with certain exceptions, require all businesses to provide paid sick leave to employees, including J-1 visa holders, working 12 or more hours per week.  The bill also includes "safe leave," which are absences by employees in response to domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking.  Governor Larry Hogan vetoed the bill in May.  However, there is a potential for an override of the veto.  Lawrence Richardson, Vice President of Government Affairs for the Maryland Chamber of Commerce was a guest speaker at the meeting.  He told the group that the Maryland Chamber of Commerce is contacting their legislators to encourage them to vote against the override.  Therefore, the Ocean City Chamber is asking its members to write to their legislators to encourage them to vote against the override.  Because of the number of small builders on the Eastern Shore, the Eastern Shore Builders Chapter is very concerned about this bill.  It will have a tremendous effect on their businesses if the legislature overrides the bill.

 

The Eastern Shore Builders will hold a Chapter Meeting on Tuesday, January 30, 2018 from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm at the Ocean Pines Library, 11107 Cathell Road, Berlin. Please contact Joan Strang at [email protected] or call 410-845-0132.

  OTHER INDUSTRY NEWS

Pepco Changes

2018 Change to the purchase of materials from Pepco for residential and commercial projects . Currently, for projects where the customers build structural facilities on private property or in public space, Pepco reviews and approves a Structural Facility Drawing.  A Material Control Letter accompanies the Structural Facility Drawing approval, identifying materials to purchase from Pepco Stores for project use, such as transformer pads, splice boxes, manhole roof frames, manhole roof covers, etc.

 

The upcoming change is that Pepco will no longer be the point of sale for these items (Notification Letter). Click here for a list of Pepco approved suppliers that will provide such service instead. PEPCO will honor the outstanding Material Control Letters until December 31, 2017.

Tax Reform

On November 16, the House passed The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, tax reform legislation opposed by NAHB because of its detrimental effects on the housing market and middle-class families. Late that evening, the Senate Finance Committee advanced its version of tax reform legislation that NAHB believes is better for the housing sector.   

Like the House bill, the Senate tax plan fails to provide a meaningful incentive for homeownership for the middle class.  NAHB is working to advance a homeownership tax credit which would benefit the middle-class and create a housing incentive in the tax legislation.

The Senate tax plan does however contain positive elements for housing. It would protect important provisions to boost the production of affordable housing, including the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and the tax-exempt bond program.

More information on tax reform >>>

 

Flood Insurance

On November 14, the House approved legislation that would reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for five years and includes many NAHB-supported modifications to the program.

Currently, anyone who owns or is purchasing a property within the 100-year floodplain, and has a federally-backed mortgage, is required to carry flood insurance. Failure to reauthorize the NFIP before it expires on Dec. 8 will cause the delay or cancellation of home sales across the country.

The Senate has yet to move any piece of legislation related to the NFIP through committee. The House vote will put pressure on the Senate to act, and NAHB will continue to urge Congress to pass a long-term NFIP reauthorization before the Dec. 8 deadline.

 

Joint Employer

On November 17, the House passed the bipartisan Save Local Business Act , legislation that would amend the National Labor Relations Act and Fair Labor Standards Act to restore a common-sense joint employer standard for home building firms and other small businesses.

In 2015, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) overturned decades of precedence in the case of Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc . by affirming that a company could be considered a joint employer if it has indirect control or the potential to determine the key terms of an employee's employment, including hiring and firing, supervision, scheduling and the means and method of employment.

  The NLRB left open-ended the question of what can be deemed indirect control and just how much of it could legally constitute joint employment, causing confusion and uncertainty for the housing and small business community.

  This is especially problematic for the housing industry, given that most home building companies employ fewer than 10 workers and rely on an average of 22 subcontractors to complete a home.

  The Save Local Business Act offers a common-sense solution to the uncertainty generated since the NLRB ruling by proclaiming that a company may be considered a joint employer of a worker only if it "directly, actually, and immediately" exercises significant control over the primary elements of employment.

 

Softwood Lumber

In November, the Commerce Department made a final decision to impose countervailing and anti-dumping duties on Canadian Lumber Imports.  The Department moved to impose duties averaging 20.83 percent on Canadian lumber shipments into the U.S.  This move was particularly disappointing given that NAHB had recently met with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to express our concerns on this issue.

Lumber is a major component in new home construction and one-third of the lumber used in the U.S. last year was imported. The bulk of the imported lumber - more than 95 percent - came from Canada. Canada and the U.S. need to work cooperatively to achieve a long-term, stable solution in lumber trade that provides for a consistent and fairly priced supply of lumber. On the domestic front, policymakers need to take steps that will help U.S. lumber firms meet domestic demand. Those efforts must include better and more active management of our federally owned forests to promote healthier forests which face imminent danger posed by insects, disease and catastrophic wildfire damage.

 

Association Health Plans

NAHB has been a long-time proponent of association health plans, which would empower small businesses to pool together to purchase health insurance plans for their employees.

President Trump has signed an executive order that would ease restrictions on association health plans and while we are very excited by Trump's actions in signing the executive order, there are still a lot of unanswered questions moving forward.

Though the general intent is clear, the executive order itself does not change existing law. Rather, it directs federal agencies to determine the extent of the regulatory actions they can pursue to meet the President's health care directives.

Those actions are likely limited compared to legislative steps like NAHB-supported bills passed by the House and pending in the Senate that could make more substantive and permanent changes to the law to expand the ability of businesses to form association health plans.

The executive order directs the Department of Labor to consider proposing regulations or guidance on association health plans within 60 days. As a result, it will be weeks if not months before we see a proposal take shape. NAHB will have a better idea of how plans would need to be structured and how state insurance regulators will respond once that becomes available.

NAHB Senior Officers have already begun discussions to make sure the association stays on top of the issue and is positioned in the best possible way moving forward.

 

Overtime

A federal judge struck down the Obama administration's overtime rule that would have doubled the salary threshold for workers to be able to receive overtime pay. The Justice Department subsequently announced it would not appeal the ruling, effectively ending the Obama-era expansion of the overtime rule.

 

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Re-enter the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Market

On November 16th, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced that effective immediately Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be allowed limited re-entry into the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) market as equity investors. This is a positive development that should help boost the affordable housing market.

The LIHTC is the most successful affordable rental housing program in the nation's history. Since its inception, the program has produced and financed more than 2 million affordable apartments and currently produces approximately 75,000 new apartment homes annually.

For 2018, t o qualify for exclusion from the cap, FHFA will require multifamily loans that finance energy or water efficiency improvements through Fannie Mae's Green Rewards and Freddie Mac's Green Up/Green Up Plus to provide a 25 percent energy or water savings to qualify for exclusion from the cap.

In addition, FHFA will add an extremely high-cost market category to address the critical shortages of middle-income housing. Units at rents affordable to those at or below 120 percent of the area median income in extremely high-cost markets will be eligible for exclusion from the cap on a pro-rata basis.

 

Under the urging of NAHB, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is   delaying its deadline for employers to ensure that crane operators are certified by one year until Nov. 10, 2018. OSHA is also extending its employer duty to ensure that crane operators are competent to operate a crane safely for the same one-year period.

NAHB still believes that none of the four options set forth in 29 C.F.R. § 1926.1427 for operator qualification or certification is feasible or practical for the home building industry.

 

Marijuana Legalization Leads Some to Modify Employee Drug Policies

 "The legalization of marijuana has created issues for employers wishing to maintain a drug-free workforce," said Ron Connally, chairman of NAHB's Construction Liability, Risk Management, and Building Materials Committee. The laws governing the use of marijuana vary by state, and many have implemented programs that protect current or prospective employees against employment discrimination based on his or her use of marijuana. Employers must now consider how legalized marijuana use could impact their workplace policies.

To help members learn more about this issue, NAHB has created "A Builder’s Guide: Marijuana in the Workplace."  The guide examines pertinent issues related to the legalization of marijuana, and includes a compilation of state laws and tips for creating workplace policies. "It also provides answers to many frequently asked questions. Sign in to nahb.org to access this guide in the Construction Liability Resources in the "Trending Now" section. For questions, contact David Jaffe at 202-266-8317. 

2018 ICC Code Adoption Kits Now Available

The State of Maryland is expected to adopt the 2018 IBC, IRC, and IECC in late 2018 with an effective date in early 2019. Local Jurisdictions have 12 months after State of Maryland adopts I-codes to implement and enforce.

NAHB has developed suggested amendments for both single-family builders and multifamily developers that may improve these model codes.

The MBIA Codes & Standards Committee is working on amendments to recommend to the State and Local Jurisdictions  using the NAHB toolkit. You can join the Codes Committee discussions at its monthly meeting.

Sign in to nahb.org to download the 2018 I-Codes Adoption Kit , which consists of three parts:

Read the 2018 I-Codes >>> 

Contact Annette Rosenblum for additional information.