15.2-735 - Local housing fund and voluntary coordinated housing preservation and development districts.
§ 15.2-735. Local housing fund and voluntary coordinated housing preservationand development districts.
The board may establish by resolution a housing fund, the purpose of whichwill be to assist for-profit or nonprofit housing developers or organizationsto develop or preserve affordable housing for low and moderate incomepersons. The fund may be used to assist the developer or organization withsuch items as acquisition of land and buildings, lighting, sanitary and stormsewers, landscaping, walkways, construction of parking facilities,water-sewer hookup fees, and site improvements, including sidewalks, curbs,and gutters but not street improvements. Developers assisted in this mannershall provide a minimum of twenty percent of the units for low and moderateincome persons as defined by the county for a minimum of ten years.
The board may declare by resolution that a portion of the county is eligiblefor use of the housing fund by designation of a voluntary coordinated housingpreservation and development district. Such resolution shall contain astatement that (i) there exists within the county a serious shortage ofsanitary and safe residential housing at rentals and prices which persons andfamilies of low and moderate income can afford, and that this shortage hascontributed and will contribute to the creation of substandard livingconditions and is inimical to the health, welfare and prosperity of theresidents of the county; (ii) it is imperative that the supply of rental andother housing for such persons and families be preserved or developed; and(iii) private enterprise is unable, without assistance, to produce the neededdevelopment or rehabilitation of sanitary and safe housing which persons orfamilies of low and moderate income can afford.
The resolution shall include a statement that the owner of such rentalproperty, or persons showing evidence of site control by a legally bindingagreement, have requested the county to designate the site a voluntarycoordinated housing preservation and development district.
The resolution shall also provide a plan for the district which outlinesactions to be taken by the owner and by the county to assure that physicalimprovements to the structures, site and infrastructure are designed toimprove the neighborhood, enhance the useful life of the buildings andpromote energy conservation. Such plan shall further specify the actions tobe taken by the owner and by the county (i) to minimize the displacement ofpersons or families of low and moderate income residing in the property; (ii)to reserve some units at rents and prices affordable to persons or familiesof low and moderate income; and (iii) otherwise to serve public purposes.
Upon declaration of an approved district, the county may:
1. Provide for the installation, construction, or reconstruction of streets,utilities, parks, parking facilities, playgrounds, and other siteimprovements essential to the development, preservation or rehabilitationplanned;
2. Provide encouragement or financial assistance to the owners or occupantsfor acquisition of land and buildings, developing or preserving and upgradingresidential buildings and for improving health and safety, conserving energy,preventing erosion, enhancing the neighborhood, and reducing the displacementof low and moderate income residents of the property;
3. Require that the owner agree to maintain a portion of the property inresidential rental or other residential use for a period of not less than tenyears and that a portion of the dwelling units in the property be offered atrents and prices affordable to persons or families of low and moderateincome; and
4. Provide that the value of assistance given by the county undersubdivisions 1 and 2 above be proportionate to the value of considerationsrendered by the owner in maintaining a portion of the dwelling units atreduced rents and prices for persons or families of low and moderate income.
(1987, c. 29, § 15.1-687.13; 1992, c. 335; 1997, c. 587.)