Housing Commission

CITY OF FALLS CHURCH HOUSING COMMISION 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: April 9, 2024 PLACE OF MEETING: In Person City Hall Dogwood Room w/ Virtual Option MEETING CALLED TO ORDER BY: Meredith Anderson at 6:32 p.m. THOSE PRESENT: Commission Members Guests Meredith Anderson – Chair Joseph Cobucci, Student Rep Jordan Hicks – Vice Chair Gene Gresko Hannah Jordan Ben Sullivan Sara Ferrara Staff Robert Kravinsky Dana Jones City Council Liaison Kayleen Mark Letty Hardi • Roll Call – Chair Meredith Anderson o All commissioners present • Approval of Minutes – Chair Meredith Anderson o Hannah Jordan moved to approve and Jordan Hicks Seconded • Public Comments – Chair Meredith Anderson o Commissioners enjoyed meeting at the Winter Hill location o Ben Sullivan was introduced by former Commissioner Justine Underhill. He is a former Planning administrator for Windsor, VA. He is interested in serving on the Commission. o Gene Gresko wanted to make the following comments:   The measure of affordable housing (affordable housing units divided by total households) should delineate the elements of numerator (CCAU’s, ADU’s, market rate affordable, etc) that provides more actionable info.  Suggested the goals document calculations denominator could be total housing units (vs households).  The City Council Priorities indicate Good Governance /Transparent Communication. He requested Housing Data be more viewable by the public and that could be part of the Housing Commission goals for this year. • HHS Updates - Kayleen Mark o Housing Update – The 8th CCAU contract is in the process of being signed. This household is disabled and priority 1. Staff is also working with IT to develop a way for applicants on the wait list to log into the system to check on their status. April is Fair Housing Month and fairhousing training is scheduled in May for property managers and council members. o Affordable Homeownership Program (AHP) Update – HHS staff attended the Northern VA Housing Expo and presented on the AHP program. Over 300 persons were in attendance. The 7th closing is scheduled. Postcards have been developed in English and Spanish. o VA Village Update - Closing is still delayed. $700,000 is going back into the AH fund. The timeline for redevelopment will occur further out after the closing. o Housing Preservation – The Broad Falls trash situation has improved. The city is beginning to work though research and details on housing preservation for the Fields. o Affordable Living Policy – Meetings have been scheduled. The group will meet twice a month with staff, a facilitator and co-chairs. • 2024 Housing Commission Goals & Council presentation - Chair Anderson shared the current draft report that she has been working on for the group. She will work on it a bit more and send to Commissioners to get feedback after this meeting. Feedback: o Perhaps diversifying the housing stock could be included such as the missing middle. There was some debate on this. Chair Anderson and Vice-Chair Hicks decided it would be best to focus on goals that are attainable for this year. o Possibly do 4 -week series in Newspress on affordable housing o Joint meeting with Planning on May 15th to discuss • Steve Sprague Housing Champion Award – Chair Anderson asked the group for additional suggestions. Dana suggested former Pastor Reverend Mochelle from Christ Crossman Church who was instrumental in getting the Miller House group home opened. There were three other possible candidates mentioned. All said they would do some research and bring back to the next meeting mentioned to discuss. • Other - o Future meeting locations – possibilities o Joint HSAC meeting in June – Further details at next meeting. Cindy Mester – Director Legislative Affairs will be involved. • Adjourn o Sarah Ferrara moved to Adjourn and Jordan Hicks seconded o Adjourned 8:30 pm.