Fairfax County Residents Paying for Luxury Items for Low-Income Residents (McLean: low income, HOA)

[justtitans]

FOX 5 Investigates: Luxury Affordables (http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/special_report/fox-5-investigates-luxury-affordables-062711 - broken link)

FOX 5 has discovered Fairfax County taxpayers are footing the bill for luxury amenities like pools, billiards tables and indoor basketball courts as part of its affordable housing program run by the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority.


“These are amenities that the people, the taxpayers that are subsidizing this housing don’t have,” says Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity. “So, you've got people that are subsidizing other folks to have these luxury amenities and that's just not right."


Developers who want to build high-density condos and townhomes in Fairfax County are required to sell some of their units at reduced prices to the county, who in turn, rents these units for as little as $300 a month to low-income families, the elderly and the disabled.

Wow that is ridiculous! What a waste of money!

[chariega]

Originally Posted by meatkins

FOX 5 Investigates: Luxury Affordables (http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/special_report/fox-5-investigates-luxury-affordables-062711 - broken link)



Wow that is ridiculous! What a waste of money!

where do i sign up??!?! $300/mo! nice!!! lol

but seriously. the article did more to throw shade on the low income residents who live there than the Fairfax County government that, through zoning and other missteps, instituted this nonsense. If anything, the article should shed light on the fact that there isn't a large enough inventory of safe, affordable housing for people with lower income levels in Fairfax.

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by meatkins

FOX 5 Investigates: Luxury Affordables (http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/special_report/fox-5-investigates-luxury-affordables-062711 - broken link)



Wow that is ridiculous! What a waste of money!

My HOA neighborhood in KY doesn't even have any of that .

[brooklynborndad]

is this a subsidy? doesnt sound like there are $$ coming out of the county budget. It is only in the sense that if this requirement is not in place, the properties would have been more valuable, and paid higher property tax. In that sense, the subsidy to folks who stop high density from being built in their areas is MUCH larger than these "subsidies"

My sense is that one of the objections to new high density development in NoVa, which is often built where old walk up apts, etc are torn down, is that it limits the amount of affordable housing. Reserving affordable units may or may not be the ideal way to deal with that issue. Focusing on the amenities in the building is really distorting the issues involved, IMO.

[CAVA1990]

Out of a million residents I'm sure it's a pretty small percentage getting this. Cost of doing business in a mixed socialist/capitalist economy.

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

Out of a million residents I'm sure it's a pretty small percentage getting this. Cost of doing business in a mixed socialist/capitalist economy.

IIUC the developer gets a density bonus for providing the affordable units. he is better off than under existing zoning without the option to do this. It is an option - if he builds as of right, I believe he is not required to provide affordable units.

Its pretty purely capitalist then, unless you think that having zoning with density limits is socialist (its the density limits that impose the cost on the developer/land owner). I bet there are land owners/developers in Virginia who think that. Personally I doubt even the most moderate, watered down, self proclaimed social democrat of the last century would really consider zoning density limits a victory for "socialism".

[JD984]

Originally Posted by brooklynborndad

is this a subsidy? doesnt sound like there are $$ coming out of the county budget. It is only in the sense that if this requirement is not in place, the properties would have been more valuable, and paid higher property tax. In that sense, the subsidy to folks who stop high density from being built in their areas is MUCH larger than these "subsidies"

My sense is that one of the objections to new high density development in NoVa, which is often built where old walk up apts, etc are torn down, is that it limits the amount of affordable housing. Reserving affordable units may or may not be the ideal way to deal with that issue. Focusing on the amenities in the building is really distorting the issues involved, IMO.

I'm with you on this, BBD. I'd prefer to know more facts about the arrangements before jumping on the bandwagon one way or another. To the extent that some of the housing is reserved for the elderly and/or disabled, Pat Herrity's concerns that the residents may not have an incentive to "improve themselves" struck me as potentially odd.

If I viewed the footage correctly, some of the subsidized units are at the Evans Farm development in McLean, which is one of the few gated communities in the area. I'm not a fan of gated communities to keep out the "whoevers" in NoVa, so it tickles me to think that some of those who've paid for the privilege of living in a gated, upscale development may lock themselves in every evening with lower-income residents that they may not know are their neighbors.

[brooklynborndad]

here is more context (a different project, but related issues)

Board Approves Affordable Housing Project (http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=349067&paper=72&cat=104 - broken link)

[justtitans]

Originally Posted by brooklynborndad

here is more context (a different project, but related issues)

Board Approves Affordable Housing Project (http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=349067&paper=72&cat=104 - broken link)

That makes a lot more sense.

[Yankeesfan]

Subsidized luxury in Fairfax County:

http://www.thomasjeffersoninst.org/f...x%20County.pdf