"Fairfax County has an affordable housing shortage. An analysis commissioned by the county six years ago and produced by George Mason University called it “a serious problem” and the county says it likely needs to create 50,000 affordable units by 2030 to enable the likes of teachers, firefighters, hotel clerks and cops to afford to live there.

To address the issue, county officials recently proposed a zoning change that would invite the construction of apartment buildings comprised of efficiency units of less than 500 square feet, most of which would be rent-controlled.

A member of the board of supervisors, however, said he doesn’t think the proposal would benefit the people it’s supposed to and called it the newest in a string of threats to Fairfax neighborhoods.

Supervisor Pat S. Herrity (R-Springfield), has made “Protecting Our Suburban Neighborhoods” a key part of his platform since being elected in 2007. He wrote to constituents this week: “Since then I have been working hard to protect our suburban neighborhoods from challenges including fighting illegal boarding houses, gangs and sexual predators, promoting public safety and keeping our schools the best in the nation.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/affordable-housing-proposal-riles-fairfax-county/2013/10/18/539e4cbc-3757-11e3-80c6-7e6dd8d22d8f_story.html

So these studio apartments would be targeted at young professionals just out of college who can't afford the 1,500/month rents. Sounds good.

Sure, they'll be targeted for young professionals just trying to get a leg up. Your fellow Americans will have a nice place to live in Fairfax for a reasonable price.

We all know these apartments will be inhabited by immigrants from Latin America, Africa, and Asia. How many Guatemalans can fit in one studio apartment? We'll find out soon enough.

Thank God for Pat Herrity. Standing up to the 3rd world steamroller that has destroyed our once beautiful communities.

Rent control has never helped out where it's been implemented. It leads to housing shortages, as it eliminates all motivation to build rentals. When will the braindead libs ever learn?

For the sake of the area, you'd better hope Herrity succeeds. But he won't, as the board is infested with those zombie libs who are most concerned about their illegal constituents.

"Young Professionals" in a 500sq ft unit?? Sounds like a NYC "Project" in the making as the libs post about how great this will be from their gated McMansions..

It sounds good, but it's all in the details. If the wage is set too low, even the teachers, police, etc. won't qualify. Also, how many people will be allowed to live in each one? Who will monitor this?

PWC has plenty of low income housing -- let them move there. That's what is occurring in DC with PG County.

What to expect if this goes through:
Attachments:

Guy Who Notices Things Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sure, they'll be targeted for young professionals
> just trying to get a leg up. Your fellow Americans
> will have a nice place to live in Fairfax for a
> reasonable price.
>
> We all know these apartments will be inhabited by
> immigrants from Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
> How many Guatemalans can fit in one studio
> apartment? We'll find out soon enough.
>
> Thank God for Pat Herrity. Standing up to the 3rd
> world steamroller that has destroyed our once
> beautiful communities.


You wrapped it up in a neat package. They always say police, firemen and teachers when it really means illegals and welfare ticks.

Why won't the county market these nice new apartments to young professionals who just want to move out of their parents' house? That's the question. They're making 40k a year and need a break for goodness sakes.

Sign a petition against short term rental apartments in single family home neighborhoods

See Petition here: http://chn.ge/16kX9FB

See Herrity's newsletter article on RSUs here:
http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Threats-to-our-Suburban-Neighborhoods.html?soid=1102318968708&aid=Dj1cleRUXb8#one

Unbulebable. Wow. The proposed ordinance stinks. You have to read the newsletter. This is what happened to LA, when nice single family homes were split up into apartments. Whole neighborhoods declined.

Where you see neighborhoods turning to shit I see a fresh pool of loyal democrats albeit illegals. My work is almost done here.

Are you kidding me? Single family homes converted to apartments? What?!

Unless and until the County starts taking real steps to address the existing slum like zoning violations we should not be talking about creating any new "by right" slum housing.

As others have said you can forget about who the housing is targeted for. The reality of who will be living there is going to be quite different. In addition these types of operations are going to end up being placed in already stressed neighborhoods that either don't have mandatory HOAs to keep them out, or where the HOAs have proven unable to meet the challenge in the past. Further while the proposed rules are supposed to limit where these operations can be located, the devil is in enforcement.

"Fairfax County has an affordable housing shortage"

So the F what?

So does Malibu. Central Park West. Takoma Park. South Beach. The Woodlands. I could go on for days...

(insert facepalm here)


BTW - a Cop & Teacher family, both in the middle of the pay scales would combine for $130 - $140K.

Wrong. Read the proposed amendment
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpz/zoningordinance/proposed/residentialstudios.pdf

"predominantly for persons with an income of not more than 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI)"... "For a frame of reference, at 60% AMI, the income for a single person household is approximately $45,000 per year".

Bonus Density -- gotta love it. Ha! Who wins?

Another article in the WaPo re: RSUs in Fairfax County

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/fairfax-county-wrestles-with-housing-issues-as-its-suburban-character-shifts/2013/10/19/27475442-3298-11e3-89ae-16e186e117d8_story.html

I am totally against this amendment to the zoning code. I have lived in Broyhill Crest since 1977 and I don't want the neighborhood to become an apartment complex instead of a nice residential neighborhood.

Dennis Follett Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am totally against this amendment to the zoning
> code. I have lived in Broyhill Crest since 1977
> and I don't want the neighborhood to become an
> apartment complex instead of a nice residential
> neighborhood.


It doesn't matter what you want, the elected officials know what is better for everyone else neighborhoods. They are in charge because their intense desire to improve your quality of your life and to ensure your tax dollars are spent wisely. ......
This message has been approved by the Committee for Civic Leaders Public Relations