The Alliance for Housing Solutions is a nonprofit organization in Arlington that works to increase the supply of affordable housing in our area. AHS was founded in 2003 by civic leaders who were concerned that Arlington was becoming a place where only the affluent could afford to live.
AHS has a tradition of asking candidates running for the County Board to answer a set of questions related to affordable housing. We post candidate answers in full on our website and publicize them through local media and social media channels. Because we do not support individual political candidates, AHS does not evaluate or rate these responses.
The candidates are Chanda Choun and Takis Karantonis.
The questions AHS provided to the candidates involved in the June 8th Primary Election for County Board are:
What proactive steps should Arlington take to address racial disparities in housing opportunities?
As the County conducts the 5-year review of the Affordable Housing Master Plan, what priority strategies would you propose to better meet the goals of increasing the affordable housing supply?
Arlington’s Affordable Housing Ordinance (which governs affordable housing contributions for site plan projects) is 15 years old and established in Virginia Code. Should the County seek updates to the ordinance, and if so what would you propose?
What more should Arlington be doing to prevent displacement of our lowest-income households during and after COVID?
Each candidate’s responses to these questions are provided below in their entirety. For more information on the candidates please see Arlington County’s voting and elections website.
Question 1: What proactive steps should Arlington take to address racial disparities in housing opportunities?
Chanda Choun
When there are racial disparities in housing, then there are likely racial disparities in other life outcomes that we must proactively identify and resolve as the root causes for not having access to housing opportunities, such as education and income. For example, my Freedom and Justice Plan for Arlington will close the Digital Divide by 2023, which will enable access to critical lifelong learning opportunities and open doors to the increasing amount of jobs that require fast internet connectivity at home.
Takis Karantonis
It is a fact that many Black American and minority households, including those headed by immigrants, disproportionately experience housing insecurity. I believe that safe and secure housing that is affordable based on one’s income is a basic human and civil right. As in any process of recovery, the first step is recognizing the problem. For Arlington, that means identifying where these racial and socioeconomic inequalities exist in our community and, working together, reshaping our housing policy with the explicit intent of eliminating them over time. Specifically, on housing, Arlington should:
Pursue zoning reforms that a) expand housing options for all Arlingtonians, b) support mixed-income communities, and c) eliminate de facto exclusionary zoning
Prioritize geographic dispersion of affordable housing, emphasizing investments with good infrastructure and schools, near transit, and in areas threatened by gentrification
Strengthen Fair Housing protections, including anti-discrimination stemming from the source of income and criminal record
Ensure that all minority-owned properties are assessed and taxed fairly
Use Affordable Housing Investment Fund (AHIF) dollars to achieve committed affordable units on the entire lower-income spectrum (rather than focused on 60% of AMI as it is today), with a special focus on households earning 40% AMI or less
Strengthen and expand eligibility for rent-support programs (including but not limited to Housing Grants), eviction protection, and legal id programs
Fund and expand eligibility for the Moderate Income Purchase Assistance Program while adjusting the shared appreciation model to increase support for equitable wealth building
Measure outcomes and report frequently
“The priority strategies for increasing affordable housing supply in Arlington County start with continuing to grow the Affordable Housing Investment Fund to provide needed financing for housing developments that are mostly or all long-term committed affordable units”
Question 2: As the County conducts the five-year review of the Affordable Housing Master Plan, what priority strategies would you propose to better meet the goals of increasing affordable housing supply?
Chanda Choun
The priority strategies for increasing affordable housing supply in Arlington County start with continuing to grow the Affordable Housing Investment Fund to provide needed financing for housing developments that are mostly or all long-term committed affordable units. Next, prevent the loss of market-rate affordable units by updating zoning and land use policies that will allow more housing types in more neighborhoods where reasonable and feasible. Finally, proactively identify redevelopment sites for committed or market-rate affordable housing units such as underutilized civic service group buildings and religious structures.
Takis Karantonis
Our housing stock today is bi‐modal single-family homes and mid-to-high rise residential. Pursuing zoning reform, as I laid out in Question 1, will be essential to move the needle on affordable housing supply over this next five-year period.
In addition, as we consider Arlington’s next moves on housing supply, we need to:
Complete the Missing Middle study as it has the potential to create new pathways to housing—both rental and owned—at different price points for all Arlingtonians,
Engage the whole community in a conversation about the best ways to provide a full range of affordability in our County.
It will also be critical that we continue to fund AHIF and Housing Grants as these two programs are important tools in helping individual households remain in Arlington. I support the re-evaluation of these tools and am open to adjustments that a) will increase nimbleness and b) continue to build active involvement of both the development and rental ownership communities in meeting this very challenging need.
“Arlington’s efforts to achieve a broader range of affordable housing are hamstrung by the low levels of residential developer requirements in the existing Affordable Housing Ordinance. ”
Question 3: Arlington’s Affordable Housing Ordinance (which governs affordable housing contributions for site plan projects) is 15 years old and established in Virginia Code. Should the County seek updates to the ordinance, and if so what would you propose?
Chanda Choun
I propose updating Arlington’s Affordable Housing Ordinance to increase developer contributions to the Affordable Housing Investment Fund and supply of Committed Affordable Units when seeking additional density in their site plans. The needed changes in the Virginia Code should be in the Arlington County Board’s 2022 General Assembly Legislative Priorities list, and I will directly work with our state legislators to pass and implement the enabling legislation.
Takis Karantonis
Arlington’s efforts to achieve a broader range of affordable housing are hamstrung by the low levels of residential developer requirements in the existing Affordable Housing Ordinance. It is difficult to watch neighboring jurisdictions get 10% on‐site units when we are limited by the ordinance’s requirement that the developer provides only 5% on-site or, at their choice, a buy-out contribution that does not compare well to the cost of providing a unit. At the same time, I believe we must do everything possible to hold onto the required housing contribution from commercial developments, a unique feature of Arlington’s ordinance. So, I am in favor of opening this conversation aiming toward action at the General Assembly level in 2022 or 2023. We will need to understand what other jurisdictions in Virginia—and in comparable communities across the nation—use as guidance for this. In case financial adjustments are to be made, we also need to explore what levels of either unit contribution or buy-out amounts make sense. It is imperative for the County to produce those comparisons ASAP. There are several roads that could be taken—from repealing the entire ordinance to minor tweaks to the formulae. At the moment and without having such an analysis in hand, I cannot say what specific changes I would support.
Question 4: What more should Arlington be doing to prevent the displacement of our lowest-income households during and after COVID?
Chanda Choun
Directly funding housing grants and rental assistance is the immediate need and has significantly been supported via local, state, and federal funding. These efforts should continue with gaps in support to continuously be identified and remedied. However, beyond immediate aid, Arlington County needs to advance and expand the Bridges Out of Poverty Initiative with the Arlington Community Foundation and other area nonprofits to take a hands-on two-generation approach to improving life outcomes. That can include long-term case management and piloting guaranteed minimum income programs.
Takis Karantonis
In the near term, I support the continuation of a robust COVID Contingency Fund through 2022 for:
Emergency rent and other assistance and technical support through DHS
Eviction assistance from Northern Virginia Legal Services
In the long term, I support:
Reevaluation and expansion of the Housing Grant program on the basis of our experience from our COVID efforts to ensure that no one loses their home during or because of the pandemic
Continued financial support for AHIF and active pursuit of more 40-30% AMI CAFs.
Amendment of the Zoning Code to allow practical by-right options for homeowners (e.g., expansion of legacy, small duplexes)
Flexibility for existing Affordable Housing redevelopment, new property acquisitions, and homeownership support programs
Monitoring the implementation of the Board’s 09/15/2020 Resolution to Reaffirm Commitment to Fair Housing Practices
Ensuring effective oversight of the living conditions at existing AHIF funded projects