Arlington County Board
#1 Courthouse Plaza, Suite 300
2100 Clarendon Boulevard
Arlington, Virginia 22201

Honorable Jay Fisette, Chairman, and Members of the Board,

The Housing Committee of the Arlington County Civic Federation identified two objectives at its January 2005 meeting:

I) Promote the availability of the full continuum of affordable housing including home ownership for Arlington public and private employees.

II) Cooperate with educational and advocacy efforts in Arlington that are aligned with #1 above.

On behalf of the committee, as we investigate and study the housing crisis in Arlington, I request information and suggestions for pursuing the following potential solutions to the crisis:

1) Include affordable housing goals in the Neighborhood Conservation Plan process.

2) Hold a County-sponsored architectural contest for designs of vertical or horizontal duplex residences that fit or reflect the prevailing architecture of various single-family home neighborhoods.

3) Review the zoning ordinance to determine if there are ways to permit more affordable housing in single-family home neighborhoods without affecting the character of buildings in such neighborhoods.

4) Include representation from the ACCF Housing Committee on any reconstituted "roundtable" discussions or similar process with the Chamber of Commerce and other stakeholders.

5) Identify parcels of land owned by the county (and schools), derelict properties, etc. that could be used for new or converted affordable housing.

6) Explore amending current policy so that all real estate taxes be deferred for certain eligible individuals rather than exempted.

7) Create a property tax exemption for current housing that would be donated or designated as committed post-occupancy affordable housing for at least fifty years.

8) Preserve to the maximum extent possible existing affordable housing through creative uses of county resources.

Thank you.

Sincerely,


Kathryn Scruggs, Chair
ACCF Housing Committee


CC: Patrick Smaldore, Jr.

This page was last revised on: March 19, 2005.