During regular work hours, Michael Ports is the easement stewardship manager for the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy. Since 2020, he has been working with landowners and volunteers to help protect acres of critical open space throughout the Mid-Shore.
However, since August 2024, Michael has taken on another job, serving as one of 18 members of the Town of Easton’s Task Force on Attainable Housing in his free time. Over many long evenings and Zoom calls, he and his colleagues have discussed, debated, and ultimately voted on recommendations designed to guide the Town of Easton’s housing policies in addressing the growing problem of affordable homes within the town limits.
That involved digging into land-use policies, regulatory reforms, and scoping out funding sources to boost the creation of those affordable homes. And now, one year later, the Task Force is about to forward those final recommendations to Councilmembers, who will accept, reject, or postpone those suggestions.
Before our interview, Michael noted that not all the recommendations were unanimously endorsed by his fellow members. The other side note worth mentioning is that, while the Task Force was named using the word “Attainable housing,” the Task Force determined that the more accurate term was “affordable housing,” which matched federal and state policy and grant requirements.
In quick succession, Michael lists the significant recommendations that the Town Council and the greater Easton community will consider over the next several months.
This video is approximately six minutes in length.
Francies Muth says
Only days ago, Talbot Thrive posted an article written by Strongtowns.org entitled, “How Would Your Town Welcome 5,000 New Neighbors?”
There are excellent points and suggestions in the article. Perhaps Talbot Thrive and Town of Easton’s Task Force on Accessible Housing could join forces with Strongtowns.org and really explore all the myriad possibilities of adding affordable and accessible housing options by creatively in-filling and using existing buildings, homes and property. Perhaps, incentivizing private homeowners to convert, retrofit or add to their home or property. It could certainly assist those on fixed and/or limited income to pay for increasing expenses such as taxes, utilities, insurance, home maintainence, etc. while at the same time providing affordable housing to those just starting out, students, seniors, etc.
Leslie Steen says
Thank you Michael. This is an excellent summary of the best tools to make housing affordable. Inclusionary zoning and free land donated by governments tend to be the easiest from a government perspective because they don’t require upfront financial assistance. The other tools usually cost upfront tax dollars. Preservation of existing housing that is affordable is generally the most cost effective. (MacArthur Foundation had a national program to help educate and promote this approach.) All of these tools can be molded to produce the housing at desired price points.
One point to add: long term/permanent preservation of the housing is extremely important. This means covenants that require permanent affordable use. Once you create it, don’t loose it. It will only be harder and more expensive to replace. This is a lesson that many governments and proponents of affordable housing have learned over the decades. Don’t let the investors say they will not accept the requirement. Permanent affordable use requirements have been proven successful and are an increasingly common requirement when governments are providing resources for housing.