Reports: Long Branch Residents Fear Loss of Affordable Housing

Some renters in the Long Branch community of Silver Spring fear rent hikes and the loss of affordable housing once the neighborhood becomes home to two light rail stations on the proposed Purple Line, according to the Gazette.

At a recent community meeting to discuss the Long Branch Sector Plan, a framework for the next 15 to 20 years focusing on the area on Piney Branch Road between Flower Avenue and University Boulevard, residents expressed concerns over the plan to redevelop their neighborhood. 

One apartment dweller said that she's been following the plan for two years and thinks that her and most of her family and friends would be at a disadvantage if the plan decreases affordable housing in the neighborhood, the newspaper reported. 

One man held up a sign that said "no displacements," the Gazette said. 

The plan addresses the cost of housing, which is supposed to go up near the Purple Line stops, by rezoning some areas and requiring a certain percentage of rental units to be reserved for lower income people, planners said at the meeting. 

Del. Tom Hucker, a Democrat who represents Silver Spring in the Maryland General Assembly, said the plan needs to "redouble its efforts" to provide affordable housing.

Read more at the Gazette.