2026 Candidate Questionnaire
County Council District 7
Dawn Luedtke (D)
Website: dawnluedtke.com
Find all candidate questionnaires here.
Housing Leadership
In your view, why are many Montgomery County residents struggling to afford housing?
We have a supply and demand problem which has led to costs of both renting and buying homes soaring in the DC Metropolitan area. We need to increase our supply of all kinds of housing (rental, ownership), be more flexible about housing types and what may be built and where, and remove policies that impede the development of affordable housing. We also need to make sure our economy is robust and make efforts to help reduce unemployment by expanding job opportunities within the County that are not so dependent upon a single sector (for example: the federal government) and allow flexibility of industry and business size so that people can obtain and remain employed within the County.
What is one housing initiative you would plan to spearhead, if elected?
We have capacity to create more transit-oriented housing at Metro, Purple Line, and Bus Rapid Transit stations. One specific initiative I have led on during my first term and would continue to make progress on is the promised housing for the Shady Grove Metro station in my District. Working hand-in-hand with the community, County Department of General Services, and Montgomery County Public Schools we will begin finally moving the maintenance shop and school bus depot, blocking long-planned housing, parks, and community-serving retail within short walking distance of the Metro station. I am excited about how this will open up that site - not a large asphalt parking lot - to complete a more vibrant community that will better serve the residents who already live there and allow new residents the opportunity to live in Montgomery County. This work takes detailed and dedicated commitment - working out funding issues, planning issues, and more and keeping the community stakeholders engaged in the process throughout.
Zoning, Supply, and Housing Prices
In your view, how does current zoning policy in Montgomery County affect the supply and price of housing?
Our current zoning policy needs adjustments to be more flexible with regard to types of housing that may be built in different places throughout the County. I am a huge proponent of transit-oriented development, and also of adaptability in housing types. But I believe that we also need to do more work on the permitting processes to ensure an appropriate balance between making sure development is done properly and in compliance with our other environmental and smart growth goals while also being predictable, timely and collaborative with the building process.
What changes would you support to Montgomery County’s zoning policies to support greater housing affordability?
So far, I have supported changes that increase the housing types available along major corridors and in proximity to mass transit, as well as eliminating parking minimums in transit-adjacent areas. I do believe the affordability issue is both one of zoning changes (increasing the potential for what is possible to meet the needs of our residents, facilitating mixed-uses development, facilitating ADUs) and permitting, transportation, and other amenities based decision making that facilitates the ability to make different types of housing available in different parts of the County to meet the needs in those areas.I also believe we need to work more closely with the existing business communities in areas where we could expand housing production to be more creative/innovative in our approaches. Zoning changes provide the roadmap for possibilities - but I do believe we have a great deal of work to do in the actual logistics department in order to reduce delays on getting housing to market, and make the entire process more cost-effective rather than cost-prohibitive - a critical distinction when talking about affordable housing development.
Affordable & Market-Rate Housing
Please explain what you see as the role that each of these types of housing play in the housing landscape in Montgomery County, and the needs they fill for Montgomery County residents:
a. Affordable (subsidized) housing
Affordable and income-restricted housing is hugely important to provide opportunity and stability for residents and we need to preserve this housing stock we already have, ensure its quality is upheld, and create more of it.
b. Market-rate (unsubsidized) housing
We need more new market-rate unsubsidized housing because the supply of this housing lowers the cost of existing housing (both market-rate and affordable). We cannot provide enough housing to make housing affordable in our county with just subsidized housing alone. We need both.
What is one policy change in each area that you would pursue, if elected?
a. Affordable (subsidized) housing
We must hold to fully funding the county’s Housing Initiative Fund, Housing Production Fund, and the other proven tools that help affordable housing developers and tenants associations finance more affordable housing and retain existing affordable housing. Unfortunately, this funding has often faced recommended cuts to open up capacity for other needs in the budget. While all budgets are difficult and trade-offs are necessary, we must prioritize the retention and creation of affordable housing the same way we do with critical health and human services or public safety initiatives. Because housing is that important to stability, opportunity, and the health and well-being of our community.
b. Market-rate (unsubsidized) housing
The county should join other jurisdictions from around the country and provide faster permitting processes for middle income and other market rate housing we know is popular via pre-approved plans. I have been proud to support a number of zoning amendments while on the council to minimize review timelines and streamline the process for initial zoning review of projects. The next step could be to do the same when it comes to the actual building permits.
Transportation & Smart Growth
What would you do to prioritize transit frequency and access if elected?
One of the issues I’ve already been working on is finding ways to expand access to bus transportation in the Upcounty, and to make sure that the services we already have are useful, timely, and meet the needs of the residents up there. We helped the community obtain a new Ride On Flex service in Sandy Spring and Ashton after WMATA cut its bus service to this area and along the upper New Hampshire Avenue corridor. We have more work to do to provide similar flexible and appropriate transit services to these areas.
What would you do to ensure safe walking and biking access to transit, stores, schools and services for residents of existing and new housing?
In my current term on the Council, I have been working with the State Highway Administration to expand crosswalks and install pedestrian-activated HAWK beacons in school zones, advocating for state law changes to allow for greater speed camera access and harsher penalties for reckless, negligent and aggressive driving, and other strategies to help meet our Vision Zero goals. I am committed to making sure new developments are built consistent with our pedestrian and bicycle master plans and ensuring walkability and safe roadway design.
Community Input & Stakeholder Engagement
What organizations, stakeholders, datasets, or other sources of information would you turn to to understand the nuts and bolts of housing policy implementation, and how to craft effective policies that meet Montgomery County’s housing needs?
I do believe our internal analysts at the County Council provide great information for us to use. I also like to look at comparative information from different metropolitan areas in order to see how different policies affect positive outcomes or present negative byproducts in order to inform what we may pursue locally. The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development along with information provided by the Comptroller on workforce development and other economic indicators also inform my analysis. And, of course, listening to our residents!