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ACCESSORY LIVING UNITS WORK SESSION 2
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BACKGROUND SUMMARY:
On January 29, 2024, the Town Council adopted Housing Diversity as one of four priorities for the calendar year 2024.
On May 6, 2024, staff provided a presentation to the Council on some of the types of housing diversity that exist, which was followed by a conversation on how the Council might define its goals with respect to housing diversity. That conversation continued during a work session on May 13, 2024.
As follow-up, the Mayor requested that a work session be held on the topic of residential accessory units, which are, in Fairfax County, referred to as "accessory living units," or ALUs. (In many other jurisdictions, these residential units are called Accessory Dwelling Units, or ADUs; but Fairfax Council has a different meaning of ADU - Affordable Dwelling Unit).
The first Town Council work session on ALUs was held on September 9th, where the Town Council indicated interest in discussing an ordinance that would permit such units in the Town, with regulations. Staff offered to return quickly with a list of questions that the Council could answer and that would guide the drafting of an ordinance.
On September 23rd, the Town Council held that second work session, discussing a series of questions, and provided guidance to staff and the Town Attorney on the components of an ordinance that would amend the zoning code. The Town Council asked that staff return with draft amendments at its October 7th meeting. Staff did so, and the Town Council voted to forward that draft to the Planning Commission. The Town Council also voted to set November 18, 2024, as their public hearing for these amendments, with the intention to adopt amendments no later than its last meeting of 2024, which is December 9th. The draft amendments are provided as Attachment 1.
On October 9th, the Planning Commission held a preliminary discussion on the topic and decided to set its public hearing for its next m...
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