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TextFairfax County Five-Year Consolidated Plan Affordable Housing and Community and Economic Development
Notes From
Fairfax County Five-Year Consolidated Plan
FY 2011 – 2015 Public Input Forum
Affordable Housing and Community and Economic Development
OCTOBER 29, 2009, 5:30 – 8:50 p.m.
FAIRFAX COUNTY SOUTH COUNTY GOVERNMENT CENTER
8350 Richmond Highway, Alexandria, VA 22309
Affordable Housing
What are Fairfax County’s Current Affordable Housing Needs?
- Single Room Occupancy Units (SRO’s) with support services (mental health, life skills, etc.)
- Housing for seniors
- Assisted living that is affordable in Fairfax County
- Independent living – what is available
- Resources to prevent homelessness
- Transitional housing (coordination of support services)
- Buy-in from County officials – meaningful efforts to develop more housing
- Housing First concept implementation
- Developer/government accountability
- Purchase of current stock by County
- Zoning restrictions on shared housing
- Historical properties – constraints on development
Population that needs assistance:
o Chronically homeless
o Seniors on fixed income
o Persons who are disabled living independently
o Persons who are disabled transitioning
o Victims of domestic violence
o Substance abusers
o Ex-offenders
What will Likely Be the County’s Future Affordable Housing Needs Over the Coming Five- to Ten-Year Period?
- Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) effects (government accountability)
- Influx of new immigrants (overcrowding, language barriers)
- Walkable communities – less energy consumption
- Rising energy costs – need green building – reduced operation costs
- Economic recovery – increased housing prices
- NIMBY – “not in my back yard” attitude
- Tax increases (in order to provide revenue to build)
- Reduction of social work services due to budget
- Sliding scale for County services (Recreation Centers, etc.)
- Education of public regarding housing needs/awareness
- Crisis of caring (decreased giving in affluent county)
- Development of unused church property
Prioritization Criteria for Which Needs to Address with Limited Resources
- Those who are most in need should be housed first.
- Bigger “bang for buck” by assisting the working poor (housing preservation)
- Look at best practices in other jurisdictions.
Affordable Housing – Resources, Opportunities, and Strategies
Affordable Housing Solutions
- Develop more SRO’s with support services (mental health, life skills, etc.)
- Transitional housing (coordination of support services)
- Housing First concept implementation
- Purchase of current stock by County
- Government accountability to develop more affordable housing
- More parcels of land to be developed
- Church properties for use as affordable/low-income housing
- Zoning and policy changing decisions need to be made
- Education of decision makers
- Find ways to promote shared housing while protecting homeowners – address zoning restrictions
- Provide incentives to developers for mixed-income housing that includes units affordable to households with income under 50% Area Median Income (AMI).
- Support housing for the working poor (30-80% of AMI) to expand the middle-class and support a strong tax base
- Social workers in the County and nursing homes work together to service clients or share resources.
- Reopen the assisted living property located in Lorton, VA, and have it service low income elderly citizens.
Solutions for Housing Needs in the Next 5–10 Years
- BRAC (government accountability)
- Add walkable communities – less energy consumption
- Increase green building – reduced operation costs
- Tax increases (in order to provide revenue to build)
- Educate public regarding housing needs/awareness
- Improve crisis of caring (increase giving in affluent county)
- Development of unused church property to use for affordable/low-income housing
- Senior housing on church properties – small, 4 units per building
- Higher-density living and conveniences
- Incentives to build smaller-units housing
- Energy efficient housing means lower operating costs and lower rents
Community and Economic Development
What are Fairfax County’s Community and Economic Development Needs?
- Job training (access to and affordability)
- Workforce development
- Small business development “training”
- Engaging the business community
- Community connectedness between residents and business owners
- Corporate/business social responsibility
- Transportation (Metro expansion to Belvoir)
- Access to streets and sidewalks, bus shelters, curb cuts, paths to bus stops
- Diversity of programs at senior centers
- Education/awareness of needs/opportunities for business partnership
- Continue to work on community-building strategies with those communities in need
- Quality of life vs. cost benefit analysis – criteria/measures
- Where will resources/money come from?
Prioritization Criteria for Which Needs to Address with Limited Resources
- Keep present percentages of housing vs. economic development in the Consolidated Plan as is at 85%/15% as long as you have “livable communities”.
- Organizations should get points for working with the community.
- Give points to organizations who build up strong partnership with others to leverage County funding.
- Find out how other counties are able to spend money towards affordable housing.
- What kind of qualify of life do we want?
- Penn Daw is an example of community development with living units.
- Let’s see some movement, i.e., people getting housing.
- Balance between workforce units preserved vs. persons who are homeless/of super-low income
- Support the mixed community concept - diverse income levels; support in communities
- Priority should be given to organizations that serve minorities, language minorities and immigrants and single parents who are often very low income.
o Need help in their language skills in order to be able to move ahead and become self-sufficient
Community and Economic Development Solutions
- Job development
- Job training
- Support for small business
- Self-employment through small business ownership is a viable option for job seekers, especially in current economy where there are not enough jobs.
- Bring small business community as stakeholders.
- Community businesses being part of the community and contributing to the community
- Community events/engagement
- Transportation access
- Streets/sidewalk access/curb cuts
- Bus shelters
- Federal government contractors contribute to the community they work in or schools.
- Education of community businesses
- Some businesses are international, others represent the community.
- Empowering “deprived” communities to develop and have a sense of community
- Support community centers.
- Quality of life vs. cost effectiveness/benefits
ITEMS TO KEEP IN MIND
- Senior housing that is local
- Bonds and creation of new housing
- Special interest in those transitioning out of facilities
- Not enough Housing First
- Case coordination
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