Housing Commission

City of Falls Church Housing Commission MINUTES 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: March 8, 2022 PLACE OF MEETING: Virtual MEETING CALLED TO ORDER BY: Joshua Shokoor at 6:31 p.m. THOSE PRESENT: Commission Members Planning Commission Liaison Meredith Anderson City Council Jordan Hicks, Vice Chair Letty Hardi Kristina Martinez Caroline Lian Joshua Shokoor, Chair Phil Duncan Student Liaison Guests Emma Roncoroni Gene Gresko Staff Mansour Abdul-Malik Dana Lewis Gabrielle Happi Adam Nowaczyk Alicia Garcia Nancy Vincent Minutes from the February 8, 2022 meeting were approved as amended. Proceedings: Meeting and Roll called to order – Chair Joshua Shokoor Reading of Virtual Meeting Notice – Staff Dana Lewis Approval of Minutes – Chair Joshua Shokoor Motion to approve as amended by Hannah Jordan and seconded by Jordan Hicks. Motion passed. The Fields Apartments – Follow Up Ms. Lewis discussed the continuing weekly updates with Kettler. Ms. Lewis has spoken with residents and school staff. Discussions have given the impression that mold remediation and renovations are going well. Residents have been reporting significant progress. This situation is being closely followed and it was recommended a follow-up will be done in on months’ time. Amazon 2 Homeownership Program Update Abdul-Malik provided a recap of a memo sent that day regarding housing availability and sales prices in regard to equity share. The memo had a matrix covering equity share programs in different jurisdictions (Montgomery County, MD; Washington, DC; Arlington, VA; Falls Church, VA). Hardi addressed the inventory being discussed for subsidies given, and it was discovered that the homes being considered were not within the City of Falls Church limits. Abdul-Malik would be reviewing the considered homes and compare them against an address list which lists all city limit addresses. One City Center, Housing Commission Comments – Atlantic Realty Companies Andrew Painter and Adam Schulman from Atlantic Realty did a presentation on the proposed One City Center development. Of the 246 units, 24 units or 10% would be studios, 48 units or 20% would be 1-bedroom, 102 or 41% 1-bedroom with dens, 54 or 22% 2-bedrooms, and 18 or 7% 2- bedroom with dens. 10% or 25 units will be Affordable Dwelling Units (ADU). The breakdown is 1 studio affordable to households at 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI), 3 1-bedroom at 60% AMI, 7 1-bedroom with den at 60% AMI, 3 2-bedroom at 60% AMI, 1 2-bedroom with den at 60% AMI, plus 10 1-bedroom at 80% AMI. They will consider offering units at 40% AMI. ADUs run for the life of the property. Members expressed a preference for studios and 2-bedroom units. Affordable Housing Fund Request - Amazon & Virginia Village Kristina Martinez reported that the Affordable Housing Fund committee voted to approve the request to provide a match to the Amazon grants. The request was $400,000 for the Amazon 2 project and $100,000 for the Amazon 3-5 project. Meredith Anderson moved to approve the recommendation of the committee. Jordan Hicks seconded. Amazon Grants Update Lewis reported that two items were discussed at the January 7, 2022 City Council Work Session regarding the Amazon funds. The first was an Agreement with Virginia Housing for receipt of the funds and the second was a Cooperative Agreement with NHP Foundation to establish a relationship regarding affordable housing activities in the City. An additional Developer Agreement with NHP Foundation was drafted regarding the Amazon 2 project. Wesley Housing staff made a presentation to Council. They are the proposed nonprofit partner to administer the Amazon 3-5 project. Affordable Housing Goals Discussion Continuation Shokoor reported that members have discussed creating affordable housing goals. The process includes understanding the current state and where we want affordable housing to be in the future. He asked Ms. Lewis to schedule a meeting to include Housing and Planning staff in order to gather and analyze data. The data will include owned vs. rental, unit sizes, and Area Median Income (AMI) levels. The end result will include set numbers of units to be preserved and created. Other • A Housing Specialist has been hired and will start February 22, 2022. • Interviews are scheduled for the Housing Development Specialist. Meeting Adjourned – 8:25 p.m. 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).