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Council approves eligibility changes to city's attainable-for-sale housing program to boost sales
Summary
Manassas Park staff recommended — and the council approved — allowing co-signers and cash gifts, removing a six-month residency requirement, and raising AMI thresholds for workforce dwelling units to expand eligibility and sell two remaining units in the first development.
City social-services staff told the Manassas Park City Council on May 5 that restrictive eligibility requirements have kept two workforce dwelling units (WDUs) from being sold and asked the council to modify program rules to increase pool of eligible buyers.
Randy Knights, director of social services, said the program has sold two ADUs but struggled to place two WDUs despite community outreach. Knights asked the council to allow co-signers ("relatives and non-married partners"), permit cash gifts toward purchase, and remove a six-month residency requirement. He also recommended changing income limits for WDUs from the current 60/80 AMI bands to 80/100 AMI to reflect local mortgage-eligibility realities.
Knights said 18 WDU applicants had been ruled ineligible under current rules and that many of those applicants would qualify under the proposed thresholds. "Those 18 applicants that were determined not eligible might be eligible," Knights said, urging the council to adopt the changes so the remaining units can be sold quickly to local residents and city employees.
Council members probed how the program prioritizes applicants if demand exceeds supply; staff described a points-based waiting list and said units are first advertised for a set exclusivity period before broader marketing. Members also raised quality and placement concerns for ADU/WDU units in a development and suggested involving planning staff in unit selection.
After discussion, staff recommended the ADU and WDU AMI adjustments and the allowance of gifts and co-signers to increase eligibility. A motion to adopt the staff recommendation carried by voice vote; the transcript records "motion carries" but individual member votes were not enumerated in the record.
The council directed staff to re-screen prior applicants under the new rules and to work with the developer (Stanley Martin) to move the sales forward.
