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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2021-10-25_StaffMemo_Discussion_Affordable Dwellings and Accessory Housing (002) Date of Council Meeting: October 25, 2021 TOWN OF LEESBURG TOWN COUNCIL WORK SESSION Subject: Affordable Housing and Accessory Housing Staff Contact: Susan Berry Hill, Director, Department of Planning and Zoning Council Action Requested: Council held work sessions on the topic of affordable housing on November 23, 2020 and April 12, 2021. After the April work session, Council asked for another work session to continue discussion of these topics. Staff Recommendation: Staff recommends that Council provide direction on whether to amend the Zoning Ordinance now to consider allowance of accessory dwelling units as one means of addressing affordable housing or to wait until Council discussion of the affordable housing polices and strategies in the draft Legacy Leesburg Town Plan. Commission Recommendation: None. The Planning Commission has completed their discussion of affordable housing topics in the draft Legacy Leesburg Town Plan. Action on the draft is anticipated in December. Fiscal Impact: None. Work Plan Impacts: There are six active Zoning Ordinance text amendments that have been initiated and are in the Department of Planning and Zoning work queue. Work proceeds on amendments in the order that they are initiated unless Council assigns a priority to an amendment. Executive Summary: On April 12, 2021 Council received a presentation about the Town of Round Hill’s accessory dwelling unit ordinance. A presentation was also provided on affordable housing in general. Council requested another work session on these topics. Background: An accessory dwelling unit (ADU) is a smaller, independent residential dwelling unit located on the same lot as a stand-alone detached single-family home. ADUs go by many different names throughout the U.S., including accessory apartments, secondary suites, and granny flats. Internal, attached, and detached ADUs all have the potential to increase housing affordability (both for homeowners and tenants), create a wider range of housing options within the community, enable seniors to stay near family as they age, and facilitate better use of the existing housing fabric in established neighborhoods. Consequently, many cities and counties have signaled support for ADUs in their plans and adopted zoning regulations that permit ADUs in low-density residential areas. Types of ADUs can include detached and attached units; interior units in upper level or attic space Affordable Housing and Accessory Units October 25, 2021 Page 2 or basements; and above garages or garage conversions. The illustrations below are from the AARP publication The ABC’s of ADU’s. At the April 12th work session the Town heard from the Town Administrator for Round Hill regarding an ADU ordinance approved for the community. Other localities that have approved ADU ordinances or are reviewing a draft ADU ordinance include the Town of Herndon, Fairfax County, Loudoun County and the City of Alexandria. In the Town of Leesburg there is a provision in the Zoning Ordinance called the Extended Family Residence which is an option in the R-4, R-6 and R-8 districts. It was intended to be used to allow relatives of the homeowners to live in the accessory unit. It is a permitted use when all use standards are met. If the use standards cannot be met, the applicant can seek approval though a special exception application. The Town could revisit this approach. It could be extended to non-relatives through approval of a special exception and this use could be extended to other residential zoning districts in the Town at the direction of Council. Some zoning considerations for an ADU ordinance include: • Size of ADU. Typically the size of the ADU is limited to a percentage of the square footage of the primary structure or a maximum square footage, whichever is smaller. The size of the lot is also a consideration. • Occupancy Standards. Ordinances will often address a maximum occupancy for the ADU. Affordable Housing and Accessory Units October 25, 2021 Page 3 • Conversion. Ordinances sometimes address situations for conversion of the ADU if the property owner decides to stop renting an ADU. • Parking. Some ordinances require on-site parking. Others allow on-street parking and some offer a mixture of the two. • Short term rentals. One consideration when developing an ADU ordinance is whether to limit the use of an ADU to exclude short term rentals. While use of an ADU for short term rentals can be lucrative for a property owner, it can also defeat the objective of trying to provide affordable housing in a community. • Permitting. Allowing ADU’s as a by-right use may incentivize home owners to develop or convert space for an ADU thereby increasing the number of affordable options in town. Allowing ADU’s through the Special Exception process would give Council more control about allowances for ADUs and to factor how each proposed ADU will fit within the proposed neighborhood. • Owner Occupied. Maintenance is typically higher for owner occupied units. Requirements to maintain owner-occupancy can result in higher levels of maintenance for both the primary structure and the ADU. The April 12th work session also included discussion about affordable housing in general. Council particularly wanted to understand work force housing. Staff provided a definition of work force housing as that which is priced for middle income persons and families earning typically between 80-120% of average median income. In Loudoun County 100% average median income (AMI) for a family of four is $126, 000 and the AMI for a single person is $88,200. In Leesburg, housing affordability is a problem for about 50% of renters and 25% of homeowners who are spending more than 30% of their incomes on housing. Staff noted that one of the five Guiding Principles in the draft Legacy Leesburg Town Plan emphasizes the need for the Town to encourage diversity and affordability of housing. Under this Guiding Principle, the Plan offers a few individual strategies such as an accessory dwelling unit ordinance. It also suggests developing a long term comprehensive set of strategies to address affordable housing that would address unmet housing needs of Leesburg residents while factoring in Town resource capabilities. Council could initiate individual strategies such as an Accessory Dwelling Unit ordinance. Alternatively, or in addition to, Council could opt to do a comprehensive plan that lays out a comprehensive set of strategies over the long term. This can be discussed when the Town Plan is being reviewed by Council. In Leesburg, staff anticipates that there are many ways to address affordable housing. Here are a few. • Construction of affordable units by the private sector. This is a traditional approach that could expanded in Leesburg. Different approaches within this strategy offer different results. For example: o Inclusionary Zoning. The Town’s zoning ordinance currently requires provision of affordable units with approval of market rate units for projects over 24 units. To date, developers have provided a modest number of affordable units through application of the Town’s inclusionary zoning ordinance. This ordinance provision requires a percentage of affordable units along with market rate units. An example is the Affordable Housing and Accessory Units October 25, 2021 Page 4 Market and Church application for a total of 116 units of which 6 are affordable. This strategy will provide incremental increases in affordable units over time as development and redevelopment occurs and as such, continued use of this strategy is at the base of Leesburg’s affordable housing strategic approach. However, there may be incremental changes that could reduce the cost of providing affordable housing such as eliminating recommendations for mitigating capital costs for schools, reducing parking requirements, fee reductions for applications, or increased density bonus provisions. o Accessory dwelling units. If adopted into the Zoning Ordinance, this tool would be implemented by single family homeowners in Leesburg and it would likely be a small-scale tool. It’s usage by homeowners would depend on a number of variables such as whether requests for ADU’s would be entertained through a legislative process or a by-right process. ADU’s can be controversial because residents perceive them as infill that result in ‘densifying’ the neighborhood. As such, some communities have allowed them but only through a legislative review process. ADU’s are not a panacea for addressing affordable housing, but they offer a small scale solution to addressing the problem. o Provision of higher numbers of affordable units. Developers who specialize in affordable housing would address affordable housing on a larger scale through development of apartment buildings that are built specifically to address affordable housing. There are multiple larger-scale developers who have expressed interest in building in Leesburg. They typically finance development of affordable housing using Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) as administered by Virginia Housing. Housing provided through LIHTC serves low and moderate income families that are at or below 60% AMI. • Education/Outreach. Other affordable housing strategies could be simple and low cost such as information and outreach efforts to inform Leesburg residents about housing programs and opportunities that are offered by Loudoun County or the Commonwealth. This would raise awareness of housing assistance that already exists. • Fee Waivers/Proffer Guidelines. Other approaches could include land development and permitting fee waivers for projects that include affordable housing. The Town could also consider proffer guidelines that reduce or eliminate proffers for schools thereby helping to mitigate soft costs associated with these projects.