|
<br />
<br />
<br />"::-':':-~~:'~~'.}'.
<br />
<br />,.....;.-
<br />
<br />manner designed to produce the maximum ben-
<br />efits for the minimum cost. Providing funds to
<br />help preserve existing affordable homes that
<br />might otherwise deteriorate due to neglect or be
<br />lost from the affordable inventory through gen-
<br />trification is one particularly cost-effective strat-
<br />egy. Others include recycling down payment
<br />assistance by providing assistance in the form
<br />of loans rather than grants and the use of
<br />"shared equity" strategies that help preserve
<br />the buying power of government subsidies for
<br />homeownership in markets with rapidlyappreci-
<br />ating home prices.
<br />Empower residents ta purchase and retain
<br />private-market homes. As a group, the policies
<br />described in the first five roles have focused
<br />
<br />54
<br />
<br />:-" ..':.:.:.::':....,..~ !:'.'
<br />
<br />::. ;:~~:-:-/ .t-'~.'~~.;;'i
<br />-.-:'" j~v., .
<br />
<br />.~'-: .-.:'.~". ',-'.' ,~;,"::: .~~.::,
<br />~;,~~'~.<..i-.:,. :.:":'~..> . ~ " ,_.:~ ..=. ~'..~ . --:..~ <_ _ ~\.::.._:-:';>...;:~.:~'~:..;f~
<br />
<br />~\:~.:;~.~::' i\:-,
<br />
<br />- '. -, -
<br />
<br />,;';,;,:.
<br />
<br />'"":. .
<br />
<br />..-:.::;~.,: :/~;.-~~"-. ''-'
<br />
<br />,;- ..-:....
<br />
<br />"~. .~..::, : --.
<br />
<br />,:-:'--':,''''''''.-
<br />
<br />.::. ':" :~~:~\::':;"~.~.' -~
<br />,.-', - :.:. '.~'
<br />
<br />.::";:~~;}::'~;\~;~:Yf ~??::.~;.'. .
<br />
<br />. ~ - ':-:':~'~~','~'~
<br />;.,.... >~ -- ',:,';-:.~Y:...;.
<br />
<br />'. '. ~;.-- -."., .
<br />
<br />,:. '..\.',~,
<br />
<br />,~"'l,..:i<-;"'.. :;0.:,: ,....-..;"
<br />. ~._.'-.. ''''-.'
<br />:~:~,~~_~:( .', .'. --::..'<'~;:t~~:
<br />
<br />.:;, ~ . - ~ -" - ~~.
<br />
<br />-.-' ,-. :-; ;:-- ~ ....,..,'".:;.:;
<br />
<br />"-"
<br />-., '.
<br />
<br />overwhelmingly on expanding the supply of
<br />homes. But there is also a "demand" side to the
<br />equation. To the extentthat families have ade-
<br />quate incomes and creditto afford private.mar-
<br />ket homes, the need for government interven-
<br />tion to provide affordable homes is greatly
<br />reduced. One demand-side strategy within the
<br />domain of housing policy is to invest in home
<br />ownership education and counseling that help
<br />families navigate the complicated home buying
<br />process and improve their credit and debt pro-
<br />file so they can access more private-market
<br />mortgage capital at reasonable rates. Given the
<br />rise of foreclosures in certain markets, it is
<br />important to marry this "pre-purchase" strategy
<br />with a "post-purchase" one designed to help
<br />
<br />existing home owners retain their home owner-
<br />ship status in the face of confusing mortgage
<br />products, rising interest rates, and rising prop-
<br />erty taxes.
<br />
<br />':. -j
<br />
<br />ZONING TOOLS
<br />The pages that follow focus on three zoning
<br />tools for meeting the need for affordable
<br />homes. The sidebar on the left has a more
<br />exhaustive list of high-impact local and state
<br />strategies.
<br />Rezoning. Communities can expand the
<br />supply of homes through rezonings that make
<br />more land available for residential use or
<br />increase allowable densities within residential
<br />zones. As noted above, one of the biggest chal-
<br />lenges involved in building affordable homes in
<br />hot housing markets is finding reasonably
<br />priced sites for development By determining
<br />what land is available for residential develop-
<br />ment, and the density with which homes may
<br />be built in areas zoned for residential use, zon-
<br />ing policies obviously have a direct bearing on
<br />the availability of sites for development. The
<br />more sites that are available, the lower the
<br />costs, and thus the greater likelihood of a well-
<br />functioning housing market capable of produc-
<br />ing homes affordableto working families.
<br />By revising zoning policies to make land
<br />available for residential development that is
<br />not currently zoned for that use, some locali-
<br />ties have successfully increased the supply of
<br />land for new development. Localities also
<br />have expanded the supply of homes by
<br />increasing On appropriate locations) the
<br />allowable densities within residential areas.
<br />For example, Fairfax County. Virginia,
<br />recently approved a plan to rezone an area
<br />nearthe Vienna Metro stop to substantially
<br />increase densities. By combining an older
<br />low-density subdivision that contained
<br />approximately 65 single-family homes with
<br />five acres that had previously been used for
<br />surface parking. the MetroWest redevelop-
<br />ment plan will provide approximately 2,250
<br />condominiums, apartments, and townhouses,
<br />along with two acres of structured parking. up
<br />to 300,000 square feet of office space, and up
<br />to 190,000 square feet of retail space. During
<br />negotiations over the proposed MetroWest
<br />development with developer Pulte Homes,
<br />Fairfax County secured a promise that approxi-
<br />mately five percent of the homes would be
<br />affordable-almost double the number
<br />required under current Fairfax County require-
<br />ments for developments of this density.
<br />
<br />ZONING PRACTICE 12.06
<br />AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION I page 4
<br />
|