Mr. Samirah:
I wish to thank you for introducing the following housing related bills:
HB 147 – Housing research and studies for housing authorities.
HB 148 – Notice of educational opportunities for home owners.
HB 149 – Report on barriers for use of state & federal housing funds.
HB 150 – Civil penalties for derelict residential buildings.
HB 151 – Development and use of Accessory Dwelling Units.
HB 152 – Middle housing allowed on lots zoned for single-family residential use.
In-Time Housing Supports Growing Needs
As I am sure you are aware:
- We have a shortage of housing inventory,
- What is deemed affordable isn’t necessarily “attainable” (i.e. realistically purchasable by those of lower income), and
- Homelessness remains on the rise and seems increasingly a chronic issue for
unsheltered people in communities throughout the Commonwealth. Your reasoning statements illustrate that what you’ve proposed offers a suite of solutions that will aid in solving housing needs here at home in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Expanding Tiny-Sized Housing Opportunities
For the past seven years I’ve worked alongside others supporting state administrators, municipal housing authorities, educational institutions, non-profit associations, building professionals, and advocates in engaged in the support of “tiny homes” as viable forms of traditional and innovative housing.
As an avid “tiny house person,” House Bills 151 for Accessory Dwelling Units and 152 for Middle Housing is of particular interest as they (top-of-mind, not specifically ordered):
- Reinvigorate older neighborhoods
- Lessen gentrification and displacement
- Unlock property use in neighborhoods that may otherwise stagnate
- Increase property value with limited negative impact on existing infrastructure
- Opportunity for a return to multi-generational housing
- Increase density while decreasing metropolitan “sprawl” and environmental impact on outlying areas
- Offers revenue potential for property owners
- Increases municipal tax base
- Provides housing in areas where people work
- Lowers drive-time for service-level employees
- Reduces carbon from commuting
- Provides “right-sized” homes of smaller square footage
- Reduces monthly utility demand and costs
- Provides more independent living scenarios
- Offers a path for resilience from climate change
- Allows a greater diversity of available housing
- Address the influx of new residents in municipal areas
Through the housing bills you’ve introduced, you are helping provide a path toward house-fullness that should help future real property purchasers and residential home owners enter the housing market.
Housing Efforts in the Commonwealth
There are many somewhat recent successes and ongoing efforts underway with significant input from Virginia-based government entities, non-profit organizations, advocacy groups, and individuals including:
International Code Council (ICC) inclusion of Appendix Q in the IRC 2018/2021
Which offers relief from standard-sized design constraints that don’t scale into small residences;
Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (USBC)
As administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) will include it’s derivative of Appendix Q in the commonwealth’s USBC;
Industrialized Buildings (IB)
Supported by Virginia Housing Development Authority(VHDA) fosters support of innovative forms of alternative housing including IBs as modular factory-based manufactured product for use in principle, secondary, and accessory residential structures including one and two story dwellings, accessory dwelling units, middle housing, and multi-family assemblies/installations as apartments, condominiums, pocket communities, planned unit developments, and bridge housing for at-risk and unsheltered Virginians;
Off-Site Modular Construction (OSMC)
Proposed by Charlottesville-based Modular Building Institute (MBI) currently under development through ICC stewardship that includes key leaders from Virginia’s DHCD, the MBI, the Tiny Home Industry Association(THIA), and American Tiny House Association (ATHA);
Uniform Compliance Initiative (UCI)
Founded to objectively find, foster, and defend strategic approaches for use of “tiny housing” alternatives through definition and refinement of construction standards and practices (like IRC, VUSBC, OSMC, and ANSI-based RV codes) that model a new balance of construction codes and land use.
To bring it home these are but a few intentional activities and grass-roots efforts that are led and supported here within the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Intentional Interests & Grassroots Support
Many of us believe “tiny home” concepts and case studies exist as models that may be classified and amplified for for small residences as Accessory Dwelling Units, Middle Housing, and Multi-Family models for on-site construction, prefab assemblies, site-installed units, and (though as-yet specifically classified and widely adopted for permissible use) relocatable residential dwelling units in temporary, emergency, recreational, accessory, and principle residential purposes.
Your support of housing through the bills you’ve proposed introduce opportunity to expand innovative housing for small and tiny sized housing solutions is greatly appreciated.
Ongoing Assistance & Support
Please let me know how we may help support your efforts through our state-based connections in Virginia related housing authorities, member associations, grassroots advocacy groups, and other cooperative efforts.
Thank you for your forward-looking leadership.
Live Large — Go Tiny!
Thom Stanton
