The Board of Supervisors on Sept. 9 approved a multi-faceted motion offered by Board Chair Jeffrey McKay aimed at increasing the supply of affordable housing by streamlining the approval process, among other actions.
“The provision of affordable housing remains a high priority for Fairfax County and has a significant role to play in our economic health and competitiveness,” McKay said.
In March, the board set a goal of adding 10,000 affordable housing units by 2034. “We are well on our way to achieving that goal,” McKay said, but “more work needs to be done.”
Streamlining approvals
The motion directs the county executive to work with the Department of Housing and Community Development and other appropriate departments to take a number of steps to support the construction of new housing, with a focus on affordable housing.
A key component of the measure calls for extending the incentives previously adopted to facilitate redevelopment in commercial revitalization districts to also cover affordable housing projects.
Those incentives include reduced parking requirements, expedited processing, and the ability to do concurrent processing and site plans without board authorization.
According to McKay, it should take no more than a year for Land Development Services to approve site plans for projects containing a residential component. He proposed establishing a cross-functional housing work group to identify opportunities to streamline the process for all residential development.
A starter-home village
To help first-time homebuyers, McKay proposed the creation of “a village of small, starter homes for people who want to move from rental housing to homeownership.”
The motion directs the county executive to identify potential county-owned properties where such villages could be built and determine the feasibility and logistics for this concept.
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Another proposal calls for additional incentives for building affordable housing on properties owned by religious institutions. One such project is underway at First Christian Church in Seven Corners.
Such incentives could include removing the requirement for a Comprehensive Plan amendment under certain conditions and providing the option for faith communities to transfer land directly to the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
According to McKay, several affordable housing projects proposed by public-private partnerships are being held up due to the lack of resources for the Department of Housing and Community Development. He proposed transferring funds from other agencies to HCD to expedite and streamline the review process.
Public-private partnerships
The motion also directs the county executive to explore additional opportunities and capital strategies to make affordable projects feasible. It calls for the county executive to work with the private sector, including the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, to promote the development of affordable and market-rate housing.
Finally, McKay proposed adjusting the board’s state and federal legislative package for the upcoming legislative sessions to clearly reflect the board’s positions and resource needs related to affordable housing.
The motion requests the county produce a roadmap to address these issues by spring 2026.
