Actually, it’s an idea under consideration to relieve the
affordable housing crunch in Fairfax County. As you may know, the idea
has stirred up a lot of controversy
in the county. Since the Residential Studios concept would likely have
an impact on future development in Reston, we at RCA decided to take a
stand on the issue.
Our position? We support the concept… but we’re concerned
about the execution. We believe the ordinance needs rewriting in order
to protect existing neighborhoods, and to ensure that the new units go
into areas with the infrastructure to support them.
What are Residential Studios? Essentially, they’re
efficiency apartments (zero-bedroom units less than 500 square feet in
size). Currently, there are a few such apartments in the county, but
only a very small number are permitted. The proposed change to the zoning ordinance would allow construction of buildings with up to 75 of these units almost anywhere in the county.
Why build them? To provide a different affordable housing
option. As housing prices continue to climb in Reston and elsewhere in
the region, it’s harder and harder for people with low incomes to afford
to live here. Our economy needs people to work relatively low-wage jobs
in service, retail, and other industries, and those people need a place
to live.
One way to meet this need is to provide subsidized and/or
government-owned housing; the Crescent Apartments are an example of
this. This generally requires substantial government investment. Another
answer is to let the market set rents, which generally pushes
lower-income residents farther out, where housing is cheaper. This makes
our traffic worse, since the workers have to drive long distances to
get to their jobs.
Residential Studios present
another option: Just make smaller apartments. Smaller spaces tend to
command lower rents. If these units are built where people can walk or
take transit to work instead of driving, it reduces traffic on our
streets. They don’t require the government to provide rent subsidies or
build or buy apartments. The proposed zoning ordinance would require
that most of the units be rented to people making no more than 60% of
the area’s median income, to ensure that the units are going to the
people who really have a hard time affording housing in the area.
Sounds pretty good. But there are a few problems with the
ordinance as it’s written. We were alerted to this issue by the Fairfax
County Federation of Citizens Associations, which passed a resolution
about this in September. Upon looking at the issue ourselves, RCA
discovered that we shared FCFCA’s concerns, and so at our meeting last
week, we endorsed FCFCA’s resolution.
What are our concerns? We believe the ordinance should be
narrowed to put studio units in areas where they’ll do the most good. As
currently drawn, residential studio units could be constructed almost
anywhere, including by conversion of single-family homes or townhouses
in existing neighborhoods. And that’s a problem.
Throughout the Master Plan review process, RCA has fought
hard for protection of existing residential neighborhoods in Reston.
Shoehorning residential studios into stable neighborhoods just doesn’t
make sense. They would cause parking problems, potentially reduce
property values, and change the character of the neighborhood. Putting
studio units near existing apartments or in redeveloping areas (such as
around the Metro stations) is far more sensible.
Also, the studio units should meet the same requirements as
other multi-family residential development. If the units aren’t
pleasant places to live, that’s bad for the residents and the
surrounding community. Residential studio buildings should be subject to
the same open space requirements as other residential development, so
that the residents don’t feel like they’re crammed in cheek-to-jowl. And
they should meet the parking requirements for other apartment units, so
that if the residents have cars, they have a place to put them.
Most importantly, the new units need to conform to existing
density requirements. The current proposal would exempt the new units
from density calculations! That seems like a recipe for planning chaos.
Ideally, the new units should be in high-density areas, where the
infrastructure is (hopefully) in place to support a lot of people.
Speaking of infrastructure, if the studio units are going
to reduce traffic, we need to put them where the transit is. Residential
studios should be located no more than ¼ mile from a transit stop,
either a Metro station or a bus stop on a major arterial road. The
apartments should also be within walking distance of neighborhood retail
and recreational facilities. If residents of these units can walk to
work, shopping, and recreation, they can limit the use of their cars, or
even go without one. That benefits all of us.
If planned right, these units could be just what the area
needs: small efficiency apartments located either near the Metro stops
or bus stops on major roads. They would contain enough open space and
parking so they felt like neighborhoods, not tenement buildings. The
residents would be able to live, work, and play using transit. They
could handle basic errands on foot; they could take the Silver Line to
the Town Center or Tysons, or go to DC to see the museums and take in a
Nats game. We would be able to address the very real affordable housing
issue in this area without disrupting existing neighborhoods, clogging
residential streets and parking lots, or forcing low-income residents to
live out in the boonies.
That’s where we want to wind up. Unfortunately, the current
proposal is so broad that it opens the door to haphazard placement of
studio units that damages our neighborhoods, ruins our planning, and
threatens our overall quality of life.
Let’s address the affordable
housing issue in a smart way, one that makes our community stronger.
Let’s modify this zoning ordinance so that encourages the type of
housing that we really need.
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