Lyle Solla-YatesBeen a bit, hello again all. I think the most interesting thing that happened while the server was down is I did a quick analysis of what legislative changes the Charlottesville Planning Commission requested and Council approved and what came. I count seven bills introduced and six passed and heading to Governor Spanberger. This has been an exceptionally productive year here. #cville #VALeg
First up, should the Governor wish to sign there will be a right of first refusal giving mobile home park residents time to work with nonprofits and local government to buy their homes, preventing shocking mass displacement. This has been a repeated challenge here in Charlottesville because of our budgeting process, government is not optimized to move fast with large expenditures, very much on purpose https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB375 #housing #VALeg
Second, Accessory Dwelling Units (AKA Granny Flats) permitted statewide, waits for the Governor’s action. This is something Charlottesville already does, but most other localities in Virginia have not. By acting together, we can create a strong market to provide standard affordable solutions for this flexible building type to address the shortage https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB531 #housing #VALeg
Third, permission to reduce taxes on structures and raise them on land, waiting for the Governor’s action. We joined with our friends in Falls Church, Fredericksburg, and Newport News on this. The idea is to reduce displacement while encouraging maintenance and investment https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB282 #VALeg #TaxReform
Fourth, clarifying legal standing for zoning litigation did not pass. In years past we did have an informal standard here in Virginia similar to Texas’s formal written standard but have lost that. Hopefully we can get this right next year. City staff have a couple of good ideas I think will work. https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB447 #VALeg #litigation
5. Greater tree canopy zoning powers, awaiting Governor's action. This was a major ask from the public in the local zoning rewrite but we were limited by state regs. Should this become law, we can increase protections in sensitive areas like flood plains and along rivers and streams. #VALeg #TreeCanopy #zoning #FloodSafety #CleanWater #SaveTheBay https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB549
6. Right of first refusal on publicly supported housing, passed. Similar to the mobile home park bill I talk about above, this gives localities a chance to protect below market rate homes after their terms of subsidy expire, preventing mass displacement for relatively low cost. #housing #VALeg #LIHTC https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB4
7. Support for nonprofit affordable housing development (YIGBY), passed. Similar to efforts in Charlottesville, this allows many nonprofit landowners like houses of worship to build affordable housing by right if they can get the funding support to do it. #YIGBY #housing #VALeg https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB1279
8. We had a line about support for single stair building code reform which was not acted on in the legislature, but two related submissions are being considered in the 2027 Virginia building code update. I expect four stories to pass and five and six have a chance. #SingleStair #MissingMiddle #housing
9. Ah, but what remains undone? We asked for a number of studies and detailed code tweaks that have not yet happened but may in the future. We requested code tweaks on mortgages and process improvements for how zoning authorization can be granted.
10. We also asked for studies on safer School Streets, restrictive covenants and housing and equity goals, how to build missing middle homes with 3-6 units under the residential building code (currently banned here), and how to reconcile safe walkable street standards with fire safety access.
Climate Jenny 2.1@Lyle Productive indeed! The summary is much appreciated.
Do you happen to know who’s leading the push to clarify standing in zoning cases? I need to try to stay on top of that issue.
@ClimateJenny I can't quickly find her name, but it's an organizer in Northern Virginia working with the Commonwealth Housing Coalition https://www.commonwealthhousingcoalition.org
