We are encouraged by your initiatives over the past two years to address Virginia’s land use and transportation challenges. Public support for better growth management remains at high levels, making your efforts to better link land use and transportation critically important. Your collective initiatives have included increased support for transit and freight rail, traffic impact studies, urban development areas, land conservation, stronger access management policies and changes to subdivision street standards.
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We strongly support the proposed ordinance, which proposes to establish a legal permitting process for accessory apartments. We commend the County for recognizing the potential of accessory units as an important opportunity to address the County’s tremendous housing shortfall–for households at all income levels. Accessory Dwelling unit permissions are recognized as a national best practice for mature, single-family housing neighborhoods like in Arlington.
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I am here today to speak on two specific tax policy issues, both of which could be targeted to more efficiently support those communities they were created to serve, and to appeal to the City Council to remain especially prudent and careful in exercising tax relief during lean economic cycles such as we are experiencing at the current time.
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D.C.’s Campaign for Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning is a broad coalition of traditional affordable housing allies along with progressive labor, religious and community-based groups. Over three years, the Campaign worked to achieve an inclusionary zoning policy which was adopted by the D.C. Zoning Commission (the body vested with land use authority in the District of Columbia). In December 2006, the D.C. City Council adopted the necessary legislation to implement the Zoning Commission’s polices, and appropriated money for staffing, but the new Mayor Fenty Administration has yet to issue draft regulations.
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Remarkable increases in land values make it more challenging even for nonprofit developers to produce new affordable housing. On public lands, we have a tremendous opportunity to translate that high value into new affordable homes, helping our community realize direct benefits without needing to expend additional tax dollars to achieve them. With specific amendments, this could be truly landmark legislation.
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