Fairfax County has proposed a new Affordable Housing Preservation Comprehensive Plan policy to help preserve Fairfax County’s existing affordable rental housing, and is seeking community feedback on the recommended text. The development of the proposed Affordable Housing Preservation policy began in July 2020 when Fairfax County Board of Supervisors established a community task force to develop a comprehensive plan for the preservation of affordable housing. The Affordable Housing Preservation Task Force recommendations were endorsed by the Board in April 2021 and provided a basis for the proposed Affordable Housing Preservation Comprehensive Plan policy.
The proposed policy seeks one-for-one replacement of existing affordable units in locations where redevelopment occurs, and seeks to preserve two types of affordable housing – market affordable properties and committed affordable properties, as defined below.
Market affordable properties: those that are currently naturally affordable at 60% Area Median Income (AMI) and below, without any income restrictions
Committed affordable properties: those that have income restrictions on them and are priced at 80% AMI and below
The policy proposes to encourage the preservation of existing affordable housing through the consideration of incentives such as increased density or financing to be considered for a property that is redeveloping. The proposed policy text also takes into consideration varying characteristics of a redeveloping site and provides flexibility for the application of incentives.
County residents are encouraged to review the proposed Affordable Housing Preservation policy text and submit their feedback through a comment form available on the plan amendment policy webpage. All comments must be submitted by 4:30 p.m. on October 28, 2022.
To provide more information to the public about the proposed policy text, county staff will host the following community meetings via Microsoft Teams. Links to each of the following virtual meetings are available on the plan amendment policy webpage.
Virtual Open House on Tuesday, September 27, from 12 – 1 p.m.
Virtual Open House on Thursday, October 6, from 7 – 8 p.m.
Virtual Open House on Wednesday, October 12, from 9 – 10 a.m.
All community feedback will be reviewed and used by county staff to inform any additional changes to the proposed policy text. Following the public comment period, county staff will prepare a staff report with recommendations for the proposed policy text. The staff report recommendations will be provided to the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors for their public hearings in Fall 2022 and Winter 2023.
To review the proposed policy text, see the latest community meeting information and submit a comment, visit the Affordable Housing Preservation Plan Amendment webpage.