A Senate bill that could have diminished Arlington's affordable housing fund was withdrawn Feb. 18 by its patron, state Sen. William Mims (R-33rd) because county officials announced they have no plans to appeal a recent court decision.
The announcement came in the form of a resolution passed by a unanimous vote during the County Board's Feb. 15 meeting, which reaffirms Arlington's commitment to creating more affordable housing and states the county's future housing policies will comply with state law.
That resolution came in the wake of a 2004 decision by Judge Joanne Alper in District Court, in a case that revolved around the guidelines Arlington implemented that year requiring developers to set aside 10 percent of new buildings for affordable housing. The alternative to that requirement: Developers could contribute to the county's affordable housing fund, money used to support the construction of low-cost housing complexes by nonprofit groups and private companies. The suit, filed by a group of developers, stated that local officials had used the county's housing policies more like laws than guidelines by compelling developers to contribute to the fund or face the rejection of their proposed projects.
Mims’ bill would have abolished that fund altogether by preventing all jurisdictions in the state from adopting any policy that requires a developer to make such a contribution.
"The Mims bill was certainly problematic from the perspective of a local government," said County Board member Barbara Favola, who traveled to Richmond several times during the 45-day short session of the legislature as a representative of the county. "Arlington enjoys a good relationship with its business development community. This bill would have impeded that."
Rumors about Arlington's anticipated appeal, she said, was the catalyst for the Loudoun County state senator’s bill.
"There was some concern we would appeal the decision," Favola said. "We had never intended to appeal, and once that was made known, the bill was withdrawn."
County Board chairman Jay Fisette said the bill clearly was aimed at communities in Northern Virginia, where the lack of affordable housing has become a community crisis. Special-interest groups in other parts of the commonwealth, he said, may have contributed to Mims' decision to introduce the bill.
"It is interesting that no local legislators supported it," he said. "All of them felt this was a local issue and it would best be resolved on the local level."