Board of Supervisors approves affordable housing preservation policy
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors last week approved an amendment to the county’s Comprehensive Plan aimed at preserving existing affordable, multifamily rental housing.
The amendment was passed on a 9-1 vote with only Supervisor Pat Herrity (Springfield) voting against it.
The amendment sets a goal of “no net loss of affordable units to the extent practicable.” Developers would be offered incentives, such as additional density, increased building height, and financial assistance. Those tools would apply to redevelopment and infill development.
Related story: Planning Commission recommends one-to-one replacement of affordable housing
The plan amendment calls for the preservation of both market-affordable and committed-affordable housing units.
Market-affordable rental units are affordable to households earning 60 percent of the area median income (AMI) or below. Those units tend to be in older buildings in less-than-optimal condition and that face the threat of redevelopment.
Committed-affordable rental units are privately owned but have income restrictions guaranteed by an agreement with the federal, state, or county government. When those restrictions expire, landlords could raise the rent.
Committed units are affordable to households earning 60 percent of the AMI and below, as well as 80 percent AMI and below for units committed under the county’s Affordable Dwelling Unit (ADU) Ordinance and Workforce Dwelling Unit (WDU) policy, or by other means.
A key element of the affordable housing preservation policy is the implementation document being developed by staff from the Housing and Community Development Department and Planning and Development Department.
The draft guidelines are expected to be submitted to the Board of Supervisors this summer. They would spell out the incentives available to developers and the requirements for relocating tenants in buildings that are being replaced or undergoing renovation.
Brilliant, we are stuck with these surrounding slums forever. Another brilliant move my the BoS: suffocate and strangle what is left of the middle class homeowner in Mason District. This is the Bronx playbook at play of how to destroy neighborhoods and encourage middle class flight from existing TAX PAYING Mason communities.
I guess the BoS pay raise means an increasing level of stupidity to expect from these dimwitted Bozos.
Comment above makes a very good point. Just look at the destroyed suburbs around cities of the northeast – Boston, NY, Philly, B’more – not to mention the many second and third tier cities — it’s just the same old playbook. The big projects get torn down, crime and poverty re-concentrates into residential suburbs with illegal rental units and crummy ugly apartment units squeezed into every open space. And Yes the back of Accotink will be sold to developers in our generation and all the neighborhoods built in the 50s and 60s will be multi-family rentals. It’s the same downward cycle of sprawl that greedy 2 bit politicians fall for over and over.
Additional density is a big problem in the Bailey’s Crossroads area. We don’t have the roads to absorb more traffic. We don’t have undeveloped land to build more roads. We don’t have space for more students in our schools . We don’t have undeveloped land to build more schools.
Why can’t affordable housing be built in more places. Instead of concentrating it where it already exists?