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: July 19, 2022 PLACE OF MEETING: In Person (Laurel Room) w/ Virtual Option MEETING CALLED TO ORDER BY: Joshua Shokoor at 6:39 p.m. THOSE PRESENT: Commission Members Planning Commission Liaison Meredith Anderson Derek Hyra Hannah Jordan (virtual) City Council Joshua Shokoor, Chair Letty Hardi Jordin Hicks Guests Staff Mansur Abdul-Malik Dana Lewis Grayson Timoner Kayleen Mark Gene Gresko Ethan Puc Phil Duncan Approval Minutes - Chair Shokoor -Minutes from the June 28, 2022 meeting were approved. Housing Intern UPDATE – Ethan Puc, Intern  • Ethan updated Commission on work so far, including research on employer assisted housing programs in local jurisdiction. He shared about work on housing goals with Pete Davis and Meredith Anderson Amazon 2 Homeownership Program Update – Mansur Abdul-Malik • Mansur NHP– reviewing process of finding listings and making offers w/ city approval. Max price for acquisition per agreement is $720,000 • Joshua mentioned that Winter Hill units have remained on the market • Letty brought up possibility of looking for 5 townhouses/single family homes as opposed to 18 units (condo/apartment). This needs to be run by Virginia Housing, Amazon 3 Acquisition Strike Fund Update – Staff Lewis • Went to council w/ Wesley MOU and to ask for Wesley tax exemption • Commission confirmed working with community to ensure lots of input for long-term redevelopment • First reading next week (week of 7/24/22), with adoption scheduled August 8/18 • Letty commented that in 18 months’ city purchased 4 quadraplexes, 5 soon, working towards 20 total. • Josh asked Mansur why a previous unit in VA Village was sold. Mansur will circle back to NHP staff who worked on VA Village to update. • Josh commented important to have housing goals to frame policy • Derek asked when ownership moves from city to Wesley, what does the city have in terms of authority over the property. Letty answered that in the MOU it is explicitly arranged to mitigate those concerns • Letty – Section 3 of MOU requires a working group to be established Affordable Dwelling Unit (ADU) Update – Staff Kayleen Mark • Kayleen went on a walkthrough of VA Village properties with Wesley. • ADUs – only 3 to be filled • 1 at Founders Row 80% AMI (higher pricing for persons on waitlist, hard to sell) • 2 at VERSO 1 br w/ den and 2 br (55+ community) • Phil asked if 60-80% divide- sliding scale (i.e. can someone at 62% qualify for the 60%) Housing Commission Membership & recruitment – Chair Shokoor • This is Josh’s last commission meeting • 2 vacancies currently on Commission -Actively recruiting, want diversity of viewpoint (renters, ADU residents) • Kayleen and Ethan will create flyer for renters in city to recruit new members Adjourn Meeting adjourned – 7:41 PM 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).