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: Mar 14, 2023 PLACE OF MEETING: In Person (City Hall Dogwood Room) w/ Virtual Option MEETING CALLED TO ORDER BY: Meredith Anderson at 6:38 p.m. THOSE PRESENT: Commission Members Guests Meredith Anderson – Chair (virtual) Phil Duncan, Council Member (Virtual) Hannah Jordan Pamela Lee, NHPF (virtual) Jordan Hicks – Vice Chair(virtual) Staff Grayson Timoner Kayleen Mark Justine Underhill Brenden Woodley City Council Liaison Dana Jones(virtual) Letty Hardi Citizen Gene Gresko Erin Flynn 1. Call to Order – Chair Meredith Anderson a. Call to order at 6:38 by Hannah Jordan 2. Roll Call – Chair Meredith Anderson a. Hannah Jordan: Motion to approve electronic participation of Meredith and Jordan a. Seconded by Justine b. Motion passed b. Meredith Anderson: Called role 3. Approval of Minutes – Chair Meredith Anderson a. Grayson Timoner: Motion to approve minutes  a. Second by Hannah b. Minutes approved 2. Public Comments – Chair Meredith Anderson a. Meredith Anderson: Housing Commission would like to make meeting consistent with other commission meetings and have a time for public comments b. Erin Flynn Email: Spoke on the pending amendment application to modify commercial restrictions in the Pearson Square building c. Wants to use this opportunity to use for an extension on those ADU units that are set to expire in 2027 especially for the 2-bedroom units that are limited within the City based on affordability d. Noted request to use retail space exception to incentivize, 15 units set to expire e. Meredith Anderson: requested an estimation on costs from HHS staff a. Brenden Woodley: Cash-in-lieu formula or read building b. Letty Hardi: Read Building preferable f. Meredith Anderson: Housing Commission would want this prior to reaching out to Planning Commission g. Letty Hardi: Table for possible closed sessions 3. Affordable Homeownership Program Update – National Housing Partnership Foundation Pam Lee a. Pam Lee: Closed on 2 properties 2/28 and closing on another 3/17. a. Presented slides with information and cost break down based on AMI for available units that NHP has closed b. 3-bed property contract unsuccessful; another might be available c. NHP will be doing energy audits at the properties to see what upgrades needed to be made d. NHP reviewing Energy Auditor proposals for potential renovations b. Meredith Anderson: How many people per household? a. Pam Lee: Household size to be dictated by the ADU program c. Letty Hardi: Last meeting Caroline requested an update with accounting a. Brenden Woodley: Monthly report sent to City Manager, will coordinate for release to council and include accounting for program d. Gene Gresko: Is this over the Area Median Income target? a. Area Median Income target is on a sliding scale based on HOA dues, household size and affordability target will be between 50-120% 4. Housing Update – Staff Kayleen Mark a. Kayleen Mark: Gave housing update a. CCAU at Pearson has been approved b. Waiting on approval from c. Unit also available at VA Village d. Plan is to rent at 30% AMI e. 2-bedroom unit at Verso available at 60% f. Issue at Merrill House in regards to pest issues and management 5. Va Village Update – Staff Brenden Woodley a. Brenden Woodley: Provided major updates a. Consultant Reports being finalized b. GC and Contractor Site visits over this week  c. Work to begin on roof of 310 S Maple shortly d. Expect end of May closing 6. Congressional Appropriations Va Village Letter of Support Request – Staff Brenden Woodley a. Brenden Woodley: As part of VA village project acquisition strike fund, HHS is looking for grants and funding to continue acquire buildings a. 2 grants have come across through senators Warner and Beyer the amount of $4-5 Million b. The plan would be to use funds for affordable housing to help meet need of affordable units within the City c. Process of applying for funds and requesting letter of support for those funds b. Meredith Anderson: is this a different fund from the existing acquisition strike fund? a. Brenden Woodley: Same fund c. Meredith Anderson agreed to provide by 3/16 7. Affordable Housing Fund/City Committed Affordable Unit Request – Staff Brenden Woodley and Kayleen Mark a. Kayleen Mark: spoke on the request for 2 more City Committed Affordable Units at 30% from the affordable housing fund a. The cost for both units would be $19,212 yearly using the current rent maximum allowable rents b. Finance would be adding an extra $20,000 to the current $100,000 to the affordable housing fund to cover the 2 additional units and the current 3 City Committed Affordable Units c. Total would be $34,476 for all 5 units. b. Letty Hardi: Are we converting 60% ADU to 30%, what would cost be to convert Market rate units? a. Kayleen Mark will provide an update c. Dana Jones spoke on the Affordable Housing Fund d. Letty Hardi: was there budget allocation for 3 City Committed Affordable Units a. Dana Jones: Yes, this was being moved to AHF per Finance request e. Meredith Anderson: Is it possible to simplify a reoccurring AHF request? a. Letty Hardi: it is more of an operating budget 8. Affordable Housing Report/ HC Bi-Annual Update Council Presentation on 4/24– Staff Brenden Woodley a. Brenden Woodley: HHS will be presenting the affordable housing report to council on 4/24 a. HHS Would like to extend invite to Housing Commission at the same time to present the annual update b. Brenden Woodley will circulate Affordable Housing Report to commissioners 9. Steve Sprague Housing Champion Award for Affordable Housing Advocacy Event Coordination – Staff Brenden Woodley a. Brenden Woodley spoke with the awardee and he will receive the award on 5/9 a. Council will be notified on 4/24 and invite them to award ceremony in May to award recipient b. NHP will sponsor the event  10. Accessory Dwelling Units Planning Meeting Debrief – Commissioners Justine Underhill & Grayson Timoner a. Grayson Timoner: met with planning commission members a. Spoke on timeline and what they thought of the units b. Accessory Dwelling Units on council’s agenda for next year c. Determined our role now is education and advocacy for those units d. Suggestions were to post events/sessions for different groups in community to give info on the units e. Role is education/advocacy b. Justine Underhill is working on getting information on regulations and permits on the approval process a. Met with PC members b. Justine will Host events for community after T-Zones is over(Sept and later) 11. Unhoused Support Goal – Commissioner Hannah Jordan a. Hannah Jordan: Possibility of using Fairfax water building for unhoused a. They are vacating in 2024 and City is finding ways to use the building b. Would like to use the space to expand the shelter, including having a day shelter and provide more resources for the unhoused b. Brenden Woodley will coordinate someone come out to speak at the next housing commission meeting that is more knowledgeable on what it takes for this to be successful and what we can do to advocate for those needs 12. Reserve spot on Housing Commission for Renter – Commissioners Grayson Timoner a. Grayson Timoner wanted to reserve his spot on Housing Commission for renters b. Meredith Anderson believes it is a great idea c. Grayson Timoner suggested we make a recommendation to the committee a. Agreed to move to next meeting 13. Other a. No other business 14. Adjourn at 8:16pm 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).