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9:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. - Housing Diversity: Accessory Living Units (ALUs)
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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 on some of the types of housing diversity that exist. The Town Council then began a conversation on how it might define its goals with respect to housing diversity and continued that conversation during a work session on May 13, 2024. A staff summary of the May 13th discussion is provided as Attachment 1.
The Town Council has not yet provided direction to staff on which of the approaches, if any, it wishes for staff to pursue. However, the Town Council has begun to define some of its areas of interest. On May 13th, there was clear interest in pursuing a discussion of accessory dwelling units as an option to provide housing diversity.
OVERVIEW:
As follow-up, the Mayor has 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." (In Fairfax County, ADUs mean Affordable Dwelling Units and ALUs mean Accessory Living Units.). This report will refer to them as Accessory Living Units (ALUs) because this approach is consistent with Fairfax County and because that is the term the Town of Vienna used in a survey in 2021 (discussed below).
Comparison Jurisdictions
This topic is being discussed throughout the country, in smaller and larger jurisdictions. Many approaches are being explored and implemented. To assist in this national discussion, the American Planning Association (APA) has developed some discussion points on the topic. Attachment 2 is an APA Quicknotes document that provides a definition and summary of the topic. Staff notes that the document's position, reflecting that of APA, is in favor of zoning that allows these units to exist, and APA has even drafted what it considers to be a model...
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