Housing Commission

MINUTES HOUSING COMMISSION PURPOSE OF MEETING: The five-member Commission is appointed by the City Council for three-year terms. The Housing Commission maintains awareness of housing needs and opportunities, including affordable housing; proposes housing policy initiatives and changes; investigates fair housing complaints and conciliates these complaints; mediates conflicts relating to the Virginia Residential Landlord & Tenant Act and offers reconciliatory services in conflicts relating to other housing laws. DATE OF MEETING: July 12, 2018 PLACE OF MEETING: Winter Hill Apartments – Board Room MEETING CALLED TO ORDER BY: Chair Brenda Heffernan at 6:02pm THOSE PRESENT: Commission Members Staff Brenda Heffernan, Chair _ X__ Dana Lewis _X_ Tori McKinney, Vice Chair _X_ Nancy Vincent _X_ M.T. Gutmanis _X____ Alex McMillen _X_ Don Brobst _X _ Council Liaison Jordan Hicks _X__ Letty Hardi X__ FCHC Liaison Planning Commission Liaison Thom Vaccaro__ __ Lindy Hockenberry __ Student Liaison Katherine O’Neil ___ Visitors Joshua Shokoor ____ Paul Brown Debra Roth_____ Phil Duncan _X__ Akida Rouzi _X_ Minutes approved from June meeting Housing Article • Don’s article is going to be published next. Julio’s article should still be published but attributed to the Housing Commission. Housing Survey • There have been 75 responses in the first 11 days the survey has been open. There were 205 responses for the 2016 housing survey. The 2016 survey was administered at the same time of year as the 2018 one is being administered. Founders Row Development Review  • The Commission met with Senior Planner Akida Rouzi to review and comment on the Founders Row Development project. The commission voted on changes to the housing voluntary concessions portion of the negotiation, which had been recently made and not yet discussed by the Commission. The Commission offered four comments on the changes. 1. The Housing Commission supports the addition of 72 age-restricted units for persons 55 years of age or older with the requirement that at least 80 percent of the occupied age- restricted units include at least one resident who is verified to be over the age of 55 and that the remaining residents must be over the age of 18. [Staff advised that the additional requirement that no resident shall be eligible to attend Falls Church City Public Schools as a student has been amended in order to comply with federal fair housing laws.] 2. The Housing Commission supports the provision of 6% of the total number of dwelling units, plus three additional units, as ADUs (for a projected total of 27 ADUs), with a minimum of one ADU being ADA accessible. 3. The Housing Commission does not support the developer making a cash contribution to the City's housing trust fund in lieu of providing some or all of the ADUs without knowing the formula and amount that the developer would pay. 4. The Housing Commission agrees with Staff that of the 4 ADUs which are age-restricted, one-bedroom units would not be in high demand and that two-bedroom units should be offered instead. The Housing Commission does not agree with accepting cash in lieu of age-restricted two bedroom units. Sprague Liaison Report- No Report Commission adjourned at 6:57pm The City of Falls Church is committed to the letter and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This document will be made available in an alternate format upon request. Call 703-248- 5005 (TTY 711).