Senate delegation hears bill letting West North Avenue authority spend existing funds on community "social connection" programs

Senator Hayes introduced Senate Bill 816 on behalf of the West North Avenue Development Authority, saying the measure would allow the authority to spend a portion of its existing resources on "social connection" activities such as neighborhood associations and cultural events rather than on new capital projects.

Chad Williams, executive director of the West North Avenue Development Authority, told the Baltimore City Senate delegation that the authority has focused historically on transportation, housing and physical infrastructure and that the bill merely clarifies and expands the authority’s ability to fund community-building efforts. "For the record, Chad Williams, executive director of the West North Avenue Development Authority," he said before handing the presentation to staff.

Christy Turner, the authority’s senior policy analyst, said the idea grew out of multi-year engagement with residents and community members and that bill language was adjusted in response to that input. "Social cohesion and community identity is very important to our revitalization efforts," Turner told the delegation.

Members pressed witnesses on how the authority coordinates with existing housing finance tools. Turner and Williams said the authority does not itself provide low-income housing tax credits but works with state and city partners (cited in testimony as DAC, CORE and Baltimore reinvestment and catalyst grant programs) and provides subsidy funding to close financing gaps so developers will proceed. Williams said the authority’s single-family goal is roughly 34–35 homes per year and that "in this current fiscal year we've either developed, acquired or have in a pipeline 100 homes," a cumulative figure over recent fiscal years.

Senator Hayes and witnesses emphasized that the bill does not request new appropriations. Committee discussion noted an amendment that reduced a previously cited annual cap on social-connection spending (testimony contrasted a referenced $500,000 figure with a later figure of about $150,000 per year).

The hearing concluded without a formal vote on this bill; witnesses said the measure had already been before the committee of jurisdiction and that the delegation was "working through it."

Next steps: the delegation did not record a final vote in the hearing; the measure remains before the delegation for further action as part of the legislative process.