2026 Candidate Questionnaire
County Council District 4
Kate Stewart (D)
Website: votekatestewart.com
Find all candidate questionnaires here.
Housing Leadership
In your view, why are many Montgomery County residents struggling to afford housing?
Montgomery County and our region has been in an affordability crisis for years because we have not kept pace in building enough housing and have not responded to changes in development. The start of the slow down can be traced back to the great recession. For many years individuals and families have been drawn to the County for our public schools and services and we also have an aging population who wants to age in place, but for nearly two decades we have not kept pace in building the housing needed and have not made the policy changes necessary to support this growth. The reality is that a growing and changing population requires a growing and changing stock of homes.
For example, we no longer have sufficient greenfield development to address our needs but have moved toward more infill development on smaller sites. Based on a Planning Dept report from a few years ago, Montgomery County has a diminished availability of developable land, with the land available for development representing approximately only 15 percent of the county’s land. But, most of our zoning and policies have not changed to reflect this fact and since the Council has only started to take a serious look at zoning in the last few years, we have a lot of catching up to do.
Recently, the affordability crisis has become exacerbated by inflation and uncertainty in the economy brought on by erratic and destructive federal policies.
To solve our housing crisis, we need an all the above approach to get back on track. We need to look at how we provide stability and predictability for individuals and families who rent and we also need to provide incentives for both for profit and non-profit developers to build more housing.
Increasing the supply of housing paired with policies and programs to help residents stay in their homes is critical to making housing more affordable for all.
What is one housing initiative you would plan to spearhead, if elected?
I have been looking at how we encourage more housing and advance our sustainability goals at the same time. For example, I am considering proposing incentives to make it easier to use building materials such as mass timber, which is more sustainable than concrete and steel. We need to look at potential for tax credits and expedited approvals for such projects.
Zoning, Supply, and Housing Prices
In your view, how does current zoning policy in Montgomery County affect the supply and price of housing?
Zoning policies have contributed to the supply and affordability crisis and why I was an early supporter and sponsor of More Housing N.O.W. and led the work to pass the FAITH ZTA, which allows houses of worship to build affordable housing on their property.
I supported the efforts above to change our zoning and keep in place the community input and adequate public facilities review process for new development. A main drawback of our current zoning is that for many single family lots someone can purchase a smaller, affordable home and build a much more expensive single family home by right. The option of building townhomes or duplexes is not available. Expanding the options available through zoning changes while ensuring we have in place the appropriate processes for community and development review is one piece of the puzzle of addressing our housing crisis.
What changes would you support to Montgomery County’s zoning policies to support greater housing affordability?
As noted earlier, I was an early supporter and sponsor of More Housing N.O.W. and led the work to pass the FAITH ZTA. I believe we need to address zoning in the County but it is not the only obstacle to increasing the supply of housing and why I have also led efforts to expand exemptions to our impact taxes, and created the Infrastructure Workgroup to develop strategies to fund infrastructure and growth-related needs in the County.
We need to continue to find ways to increase the supply of housing and remove barriers to building, including:
--Addressing zoning issues that impede development of new housing supply
--Putting in place incentives for building housing such as tax credits
--Investing in the Housing Production Fund and other programs to provide subsidies for affordable housing
--Continuing to address impact taxes and how we fund infrastructure in the County
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
We live in a diverse community of over 1.1million people. Different people need different forms of housing and people’s needs change over time. We need affordable housing in particular because we lack housing stock for young people just starting out, for individuals and families with lower incomes, and older residents on fixed incomes.
b. Market-rate (unsubsidized) housing
To continue to attract and retain residents, we need to have housing options that fit people's lives including housing at all levels.
Ultimately we need both affordable and market-rate if we are going to grow our economy and attract jobs and people to our County.
What is one policy change in each area that you would pursue, if elected?
a. Affordable (subsidized) housing
Putting in place incentives such as tax credits and continuing to invest in the Housing Production Fund and other programs.
b. Market-rate (unsubsidized) housing
Continuing to address impact taxes and how we fund infrastructure in the County.
Regardless of the type of housing we are talking about, we need to consider how to increase supply and provide predictability and stability to renters, homeowners, and to people who want to build new housing.
Transportation & Smart Growth
What would you do to prioritize transit frequency and access if elected?
Transit frequency requires working closely with our labor partners who represent bus operators, and analyzing current route and stop usage carefully. I would work with the next Executive and their Director of Transportation to explore options to meet residents where they are and increase frequency on targeted routes to increase the habit of ridership among residents. This would build on my existing work with regional partners that has resulted in Gov. Moore’s commitment along with Virginia and D.C. to invest in and maintain our WMATA system including Metrobus, Metrorail, and MetroAccess.
What would you do to ensure safe walking and biking access to transit, stores, schools and services for residents of existing and new housing?
Build on the work that I have done on the Council in my first term and continue to advocate for and fund capital projects dealing with Bike and Pedestrian Priority Areas (BiPPAs), neighborhood traffic calming, and lowering of speed limits.
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 try to work with and seek knowledge in a number of ways, including:
-- Meeting with and listening to a range of advocacy organizations. In particular, I find it helpful to talk with groups with a broad range of views, including those who may have concerns about a policy I am working on. I did this successfully this year on the Bring Your Own Bag bill when I discussed early drafts of the bill not just with environmental groups but also our Chambers, the Retail Association and others. We made improvements to ensure it was a policy that works for our entire community. I did the same thing when we worked with CM Friedson on the FAITH ZTA, involving not just affordable housing advocates, but also builders and others.
-- I have served on the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) Board for almost ten years and was board chair and have worked closely with their housing team during this time. It has been incredibly helpful to work with the staff and other elected officials in the region to learn how we can do better here in MoCo. I was part of the regional efforts to set housing goals which have helped establish the housing targets for the region.
-- I also work closely with our Planning Board and Planning Department. We have excellent staff in our Planning Department and I go to them often with ideas and issues. I also work regularly with land use attorneys and talk to them about how we can find solutions to challenges facing them such as the ZTA on public storage which helped advance a project.
-- I also read a good deal, including local blogs such as Greater Greater Washington, and other literature on local, regional, and national housing and transportation issues.