HD54 - Regulatory Barriers to Housing Affordability


Executive Summary:
In response to the provisions of HJR 192, enacted by the 1994 General Assembly, the Secretary of Commerce and Trade convened a Task Force comprised of representatives of local government, the development industry, professional organizations, state agencies, and proponents of housing affordability. They were charged with identifying regulatory barriers to increased housing affordability and making recommendations for changes in laws, regulations, and policies. As directed by the resolution, the Task Force used "Making Housing Affordable: A Self-Assessment Guide for States," developed by the Council of State Community Development Agencies, to help focus its activities.

The Task Force met periodically over a four-month period and considered the impact of regulations in five areas: planning and land use, land development and site planning, infrastructure financing and impact fees, building codes and standards, and administration and processing. The Task Force developed a series of recommendations in each of these areas and submitted its findings to the Secretary of Commerce and Trade.

The Secretary reviewed the work of the Task Force and consulted with local government officials; builders, developers, and realtors concerned with increasing housing affordability; and non-profit organizations. As a result of the work of the Task Force and these additional contacts, the Secretary has developed recommendations for addressing regulatory barriers to affordable housing that are summarized below.

Implementation (Page 3)

• The Virginia Housing Development Authority and the Department of Housing and Community Development should adopt a uniform definition of "affordable housing" to provide policy guidance for their individual housing programs.

• An implementation team will be appointed to monitor and report on progress in implementing the recommendations of this report and to identify and recommend additional steps to reduce regulatory barriers to the creation of affordable housing.

Planning and Land Use (Pages 4-10)

• The definition of a "special exception" included in § 15.1-430 of the Code of Virginia should be amended to require that conditions imposed in connection with a residential special use permit be reasonably related to the proposed use and to assure that when localities impose conditions on residential projects specifying the materials and methods of construction or specific design feature, they shall consider the impact of those conditions upon the affordability of housing.

• Proffered conditions affecting the affordability of housing should be reasonably related to the scope and purpose of the comprehensive plan and the purpose of zoning ordinances as stated in §§ 15.1-446.1 and 15.1-489 of the Code of Virginia.

• A working group formed to consider uniform standards for the local review of multifamily housing developments financed through state-administered programs reached consensus on November 30. It recommended amending § 36-55.39 of the Code of Virginia to limit the disapproval by local governing bodies of VHDA-funded multifamily projects to cases where the project failed to meet one or more specific criteria including consistency with land use regulations, consistency with the local Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS), and the availability of public and/or private utilities. The Department of Housing and Community Development will consider changes in the scoring process for the low-income housing tax credit program to give greater weight to local government and community comments.

Land Development and Site Planning (Pages 11.21)

• Consideration should be given to the future role of regional planning district commissions in the area of assisting localities to identify regional needs for affordable housing and in helping to broker local agreements ~o meet those needs.

• Where local reviewing authorities or state agencies fail to act on subdivision plats or site plans within the statutorily prescribed time period, the plat or plan should be considered approved subject to current public notice provisions. Review may be extended with the consent of the subdivider or site developer.

• Local and State government agencies should develop policies and procedures to facilitate the established development review process and, where necessary, undertake innovations or reallocate resources to accomplish essential tasks on a timely basis.

• Public hearings in connection with the review of subdivision plats and site plans should be limited to the applicable code and regulatory standards.

• A guide identifying the steps that local governments could take to foster the provision of more affordable housing within the bounds of existing statutes could be prepared by the Department of Housing and Community Development.

• In conducting the revision of the subdivision street standards called for in the Virginia Connections Strategic Plan for Transportation, the Virginia Department of Transportation should consider a number of critical design factors and should assure substantive participation by all components of the development community in its advisory committees.

• Regional (e.g., watershed) management approaches that focus on source controls, erosion controls, and upstream pollutants should be used to respond to urban storm water problems. However, localities should not be required to implement storm water management authorities with taxing powers.

• The Secretary of Commerce and Trade should establish a liaison with the SJR 44 storm water management study group to assure that the relationship between storm water management and affordable housing receives sufficient attention.

• The Chesapeake Bay Local Assistance Board should continue its review of the Bay Act regulations to identify areas where they may be modified or eliminated, reducing their impact on affordable housing, without harming the Bay and its tributaries.

• The Department of Health should assure that, where appropriate, its regulations facilitate the use of alternative systems for sewage handling to the maximum extent possible consistent with public health.

Infrastructure Financing and Impact Fees (Pages 22-24)

• The state should explore various funding mechanisms, including greater use of private participation, to help assure that essential infrastructure be provided to developments meeting predetermined affordability criteria.

• The Secretary of Commerce and Trade should coordinate its activities with the HJR 280 study considering abuse of the proffer zoning system to assure housing affordability issues are considered.

Building Codes and Standards (Pages 25-30)

• The Board of Housing and Community Development should give special attention to the problems associated with the renovation of older, existing structures in communities requiring revitalization and develop an Urban Revitalization Code to overcome problems resulting from the application of new construction standards in these areas.

• The General Assembly should continue to provide instruction and guidance to the Board of Housing and Community Development on building code issues through the passage of relevant resolutions. The Board should continue to rely on open administrative processes to maintain the currency of the Uniform Statewide Building Code.

• Virginia should increase its participation in the code development activities of the Council of American Building Officials (CABO), which guide construction of a majority of the one- and two-family dwellings in the state.

• At such time as the BOCA model code provides accessibility standards equivalent to the ADA, the Board of Housing and Community Development should rescind the Virginia ADA amendments to the USBC and adopt the BOCA model code's provisions.

• Training and certification of code enforcement personnel should emphasize the impact of uniformity and code interpretation upon housing affordability, and the Building Code Academy should place greater emphasis on resolving the special problems associated with the renovation of older structures.

Administration and Processing (Pages 31-39)

• Land-use enabling legislation should be amended to require local administering authorities to conduct pre-application conferences on the request of any individual proposing to submit site plans or subdivision plats for review or requesting a rezoning (including special use permits).

• The use of "on-site" transferrable development rights should be enabled by statute to encourage cluster development techniques that preserve opportunities for more affordable units without harming environmentally sensitive or unique features. The General Assembly should strongly encourage local governments to consider allowing cluster, single-family detached housing by right and consistent with the local zoning district density requirements.

• In certain competitive selection processes for housing and community development programs, the state could offer incentives to local governments that take specific actions to reduce local regulatory barriers or that adopt affordable dwelling unit density bonus programs.

• Non-profit housing organizations should be invited to identify regulatory barriers impeding their activities, suggest remedial measures, and work with state and local agencies and other private sector entities to enhance opportunities for the creation and preservation of more affordable housing.

• Efforts to foster the use of joint federal-state permitting procedures should be continued and expanded wherever they offer an opportunity to cut processing times and eliminate unanticipated delays and where their use is consistent with Virginia's environmental policies.