The Falls Church City Council has updated the city’s comprehensive plan with an increased focus on affordable housing.
A new policy document, unanimously approved after more than 18 months of discussion on how to align the city’s inclusive vision with fiscal reality, calls for a “dedicated, annual and indexed” source of city funds for affordable-housing efforts.
The proposed level of funding is 4% of the city’s budget by 2040.
The proposal also aspires to increase the percentage of committed-affordable units in new development to a minimum 12% of total units. That’s double the rate adopted in 2019.
It has been a “long journey,” Mayor Letty Hardi said after the vote.
City officials hope an influx of new affordable housing will push the ratio of committed-affordable units from 3% of all city housing stock today to 6% by 2040.
The report generally defines affordable housing as properties available to those earning 60% or less of the area median income.
The policy plan had been developed by a community working group assisted by the Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance. Earlier this summer, the city’s Planning Commission had endorsed it.
Brenden Woodley, a housing-development specialist for the city government, said staff have already been working toward some of the new goals outlined in the policy plan. To track progress toward the goals, they have developed an online affordable-housing dashboard that will soon go live.
Also at the Aug. 11 Council meeting:
Public-safety aides granted new powers: City Council members also granted several new powers to public-safety aides at the Falls Church Police Department.
Safety aides now will have similar powers to sworn police officers when it comes to parking enforcement, traffic control and abandoned-vehicle response.
The police department currently employs one public-safety aide, and aims to fill two vacancies before the end of the summer, staff told Council members.
Salaries for Planning Commission members raised: The Council also approved the first raises since 1990 for members of the Falls Church Planning Commission.
Going forward, commission members will receive $250 per month, up from $100. The chair will receive $300 each month, up from $150.
The higher stipend could allow for “broader and more inclusive participation” on the planning body, said Matt Mattauszek, Falls Church’s planning director.
Commission members last spring had requested an increase from current pay levels. The Council vote in support was 7-0.
Across Northern Virginia, Planning Commission members in smaller localities typically receive nominal reimbursement along the lines of what the Falls Church body now will receive.
Among larger jurisdictions, Fairfax County Planning Commission members receive salaries of $25,000 annually. In Arlington and in Alexandria, Planning Commission members are not paid.
That some day could change in Arlington, where County Board Chair Takis Karantonis told ARLnow he supports looking at the situation.
