Department of Housing & Community Development/331

Prosperity of the 1950s continued as federal funds solved many problems and created new ones. Poor
families were displaced by highway construction and slum clearance in the 1950s, and by urban renewal in
the 1960s. Private firms reaped profits building expensive suburban homes while Maryland municipalities
struggled with the continual lack of low-cost housing. Federally subsidized public housing of the 1960s
gave way to subsidized rent policies of the 1970s, and the Maryland Housing and Community Development
Authority was created to encourage private construction of low- and moderate-income housing by grants
and loans (Chapter 553, Acts of 1969). One year later, the Authority was abolished when the Department
of Economic and Community Development was formed (Chapter 527, Acts of 1970). Within the new
department, the Community Development Administration assisted and funded community development
projects that provided some accommodations for families of limited income.

The accelerating rate of postwar growth and change put Marylanders in danger of losing touch with their
past. Poor families were not the only victims of urban renewal; structures of irreplaceable historical value had
been bulldozed for highways and development. Cultural and historical agencies emerged in the decade after
1960 to preserve the collective memory and restore its physical symbols. Joining the Department of Economic
and Community Development in 1970 were two such agendes mandated to stop destruction and save the
tangible evidence of Maryland's past. Rrst was the Maryland Historical Trust, created in 1961 and dedicated
to identifying and preserving structures of historical or architectural merit (Chapter 620, Acts of 1961). The
Trust also advised communities on the establishment of historic districts, a type of urban renewal which worked
well in Maryland. Historical interest and the hope of developing a tourist attraction had spawned the St. Mary's
City Commission by 1966, the offshoot of a study commission appointed in 1965 (Chapter 115, Acts of 1966).
Other commissions to preserve ethnic culture later were added to the Department of Economic and Community
Development: the Commission on A&o-American and Indian History and Culture (Chapter 386, Acts of
1974), divided into two commissions in 1976 (Chapter 120, Acts of 1976); and the Maryland Ethnic Heritage
Commission (Chapter 116, Acts of 1984).

In 1971, the Department of Economic and Community Development was assigned responsibilities for
overseeing the implementation of both the Industrialized Building and Mobile Homes Act and the Model
Performance Building Code (Chapters 662 & 663, Acts of 1971). The Building Codes Administration was
established within the Department to handle these duties and, in 1978, began to set energy conservation
standards for buildings. Other energy-related agendes such as the Energy Policy Office which originated in the
Department of Natural Resources (Chapter 320,1976), became components of the Department of Housing
and Community Development in 1987.

Within the Department of Economic and Community Development, the Maryland Housing Fund
was created in 1971 to stimulate construction of low and moderately priced housing by insuring lenders
against mortgage losses (Chapter 669, Acts of 1971). The Housing Fund in 1976 became part of the
Division of Local and Regional Development, which acted as a liaison between federal agencies and local
communities. Federal policy had shifted to granting blocks of funds to the states for distribution to local
governments and community action groups who were encouraged to find innovative ways to meet their
own liousing and development needs, The Division helped communities apply for block grants. At the
same time, the Community Development Administration became responsible for the Maryland Home
Financing Program and the Maryland Housing Rehabilitation Program.

As programs proliferated, the aims of economic and industrial development did not always mesh with
community goals, and housing as an issue remained critical in complexity The need for affordable housing never
abated, and communities required greater expertise to plan development that would enhance, not compromise,
the quality of life. In 1987, economic development programs were combined with employment and training
programs in the new Department of Economic and Employment Development. At the same time, the
Department of Housing and Community Development was formed to oversee the housing and cultural
resource components of the former Deprtment of Economic and Community Development, weatherization
and community action agendes from the Department of Human Resources, and energy agencies from the
Department of Natural Resources (Chapter 311, Acts of 1987). In 1991, functions of the Maryland Energy
Office were reorganized and transferred to the Maryland Energy Administration, an independent agency

Department of Housing and Community Development programs are organized under five divisions:

finance; Housing Finance (Community Development Administration); Housing Credit Assurance (Maryland
Housing Fund); Community Assistance; and Historical and Cultural Programs. Within the Division of
Historical and Cultural Programs are the Maryland Historical Trust, the Commission on A&o-American History
and Culture, the Maryland Ethnic Heritage Commission, the Commission on Indian Affairs, and the
Historic St. Mar/s City Commission (Code 1957, Art. 83B, sees. 1-101 through 8-203).