Falls Church work session outlines draft affordable living policy, sets targets and timeline

Dana Jones, director of Housing and Human Services for the City of Falls Church, presented a draft Affordable Living Policy to the Planning Commission during a May 7 work session and asked commissioners for feedback before the plan goes to City Council. The draft is proposed as an amendment to Chapter 10 (Housing) of the comprehensive plan with an adoption goal in August 2025.

Jones said the policy will set goals, priorities and strategies across several focus areas, including rental housing, homeownership, preservation of committed affordable units, housing-stock diversity, services for people experiencing homelessness and funding/governance. “We are hoping to have the policy adopted in August of this year,” Jones told the commission. She added the city will publish an affordable housing dashboard after adoption to monitor progress annually.

Nut graf: The draft seeks to increase the share and depth of affordable housing in Falls Church through a mix of city programs, targeted funding and preservation strategies. The work group that produced the draft proposed stretch and intermediate targets (for example, raising the share of affordable units in new development from an historical average of about 6% toward 12% as a stretch goal) and identified a five-year action plan and monitoring measures.

Major points and figures discussed - Waiting list and supply: Jones said the city currently has about 700 people on its affordable-housing waiting list and only 12 City Committed Affordable Units (CCAU) in inventory; more than half of the wait-listed households are at or below 50% of area median income (AMI). - Preservation needs: The draft flags several expiring or at-risk properties: 15 committed units at Pearson Square that expire in 2025, 96 units at The Fields (all at 60% AMI) that are slated to expire in the future, and five quad units the city owns in Virginia Village. Jones said the policy includes goals for no net loss of committed units and creative approaches to preservation. - Homelessness and services: The city operates a winter shelter with 12 beds (10 for males, 2 for females) and Winter Hill provides about 80 units for seniors and people with disabilities; the draft advocates expanding year-round services and retaining shelter capacity. Commissioner Krasner expressed concerns about drawing additional people to the city without commensurate service investments. - Funding and targets: The work group recommends creating a long-range affordable housing fund aligned with the city capital-improvement planning cycle and pursuing multi-year, dedicated funding. The draft lists a multi-decade target for annual affordable housing funding growth to 2040 as a stretch objective. - Homeownership and ADUs: The city has used grant funds and a nonprofit partner to acquire and resell homeownership units; Jones said the program has sold 10 homes in the past two years. Commissioners flagged accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and cottage housing as possible tools to expand affordable options.

Commissioner feedback and concerns - Commissioners generally praised the policy’s comprehensiveness and the workgroup’s diversity, and asked for more comparative data showing how Falls Church’s funding and unit targets compare with similarly sized jurisdictions. - Several commissioners pressed for clarity on how the city would preserve expiring affordable units (Pearson Square, The Fields) and what contingency plans exist if preservation fails; Jones said the city maintains a relocation plan and is in contact with developers but emphasized the goal is to avoid net loss. - On homelessness, Commissioner Krasner urged caution: he supported shelter and wraparound services but warned that increasing capacity without sufficient support services could produce unintended consequences. Jones said the city contracts with Fairfax County and other partners for counseling and outreach and stressed that homelessness is a regional issue.

Process and next steps Jones outlined a schedule of continued review: the draft will return to the Planning Commission in a June 9 referral and a June 18 work session; staff expects to ask the Planning Commission for official action on July 16 and to present the policy to City Council for adoption in August.

Ending: The Planning Commission did not take formal action at the May 7 work session; commissioners invited staff to return with additional comparative funding data, a clearer preservation strategy for expiring units, and stakeholder feedback from recent community meetings.