SALISBURY, Md. - Like many communities across the country, Salisbury is feeling the pinch as rent prices soar. Amid these challenges, community activist Amber Green with the Fenix Youth Project, is calling on city officials to establish a "housing task force" to tackle the growing affordability crisis.
Green points to the lingering aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic as a catalyst for the current housing situation. "I think what we're experiencing now is the aftermath of COVID and the repercussions of not having a plan when we could've had a plan years ago," she explains, highlighting a missed opportunity for preemptive action.
Rents in Salisbury are now exceeding what the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defines as "fair market rent" in Wicomico County, signaling a widening gap between housing costs and affordability. Mayor Randy Taylor says the city is considering a housing task force.
"I think it could be useful, there are already a number of people already working in that space. So we'd love to support that any way we could, if that looks like a task force for the city then so be it, we'll look at that," Mayor Taylor says.
Green hopes a task force would determine the proportion of city properties that comply with or exceed fair market rent values. While Mayor Taylor prioritizes new construction to increase housing stock. "We need net new construction in some instances and in order to do that we need approved spaces to do it in and development spaces to do it in, which I think would be the task force's solution," he says.
The Greater Salisbury Committee has also formed a housing task force. Mayor Taylor says his hope is the City task force, the GSC task force and other stakeholders in the housing space could all work together toward a common goal.