loading . . . A lengthy approval process for an affordable townhouse development motivated Fairfax City Mayor Catherine Read to testify in support of state legislation eliminating a key hurdle to affordable housing on church-owned properties.
State Sen. Jeremy McPike’s (D-29) Senate Bill 388 would let religious organizations develop housing on their land by right, without needing to go through a special exception, special use or conditional use permit or rezoning process that requires public hearings and votes.
The bill requires at least 60% of the homes in a development to be designated as committed affordable units for at least 30 years.
Yesterday (Monday), the bill advanced from the Senate Committee on Local Government on a 9-4 vote with one abstention for full Senate consideration. If approved, the legislation calls for a delayed effective date of Sept. 1, 2026.
However, a House companion bill amended in committee must be approved again in the 2027 General Assembly session before it can take effect.
When testifying in support of both SB 388 and the House companion bill (HB 1279), Read brought up the 10-townhouse Glebe View project that the nonprofit Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia is currently building on the Fairfax Presbyterian Church’s property (10723 Main Street).
According to Read, who told FFXnow she spoke as an affordable housing advocate, rather than in her mayoral capacity, as the Fairfax City Council took a neutral position on the legislation, the rezoning component may be the most expensive and time-consuming part of the approval process for affordable housing.
“In the case of Glebe View, they went through a full rezoning process,” Read said. “That means there were five public hearings, there was extensive public testimony, there were public meetings, there was community outreach to the neighborhoods that surrounded this proposed project of 10 townhouses. All of that took time, and it also meant that people who opposed the project had ample opportunity to dominate the meetings in a way that I don’t believe represented overall the sentiment of the city as a whole.”
Nearly a decade passed between when the church began discussing developing housing and Glebe View’s groundbreaking in 2024.
Read said the 10 affordable townhouses were originally intended to serve households making 40 to 60% of the area median income (AMI). However, approval process delays resulted in increased construction costs, leading developers to raise the threshold to 80% AMI.
“Every time you delay something, the market forces themselves simply make it more expensive to build,” Read said. “And this is happening in my city.”
Read noted the legislation only removes the rezoning requirement, and developments would still need administrative approvals of site plans, design review and other permits. Glebe View, for example, was subject to height and setback restrictions, site plan review, approval of a plan to improve the church’s entrance from the street and other requirements.
“This is not a blank check at all for them to build whatever they want,” Read said. “There are height restrictions, there are density restrictions. They are subject to all the same restrictions as any other housing being built in the city. The only thing that is going to be by right is the ability to build housing.”
The legislation also has measures in place to protect against new property owners attempting to flip properties, according to McPike.
Fairfax County supervisors were split on the prospect of allowing affordable housing on religious properties by right, with some acknowledging a need to reduce bureaucratic hurdles, while others remained leery of taking public hearings out of the process. The Board of Supervisors ultimately didn’t adopt a stance on this specific bill in its 2026 legislative program, though it supports state funding and incentives for affordable housing.
However, Arlington County Board member Julius D. “JD” Spain, Sr. and Manassas Mayor Michelle Davis-Younger also signed up to testify to the Senate committee on McPike’s bill.
“There are elected leaders willing to say the housing affordability crisis is so overwhelming in our jurisdictions that we have to do something,” said Read. “And this is not a silver bullet. This is not going to solve the problem of affordable housing in my city, but it’s one of the tools in the toolbox to help every locality build housing that people can afford.”
Other housing-related bills advanced from the Senate Committee on Local Government would:
* Allow by-right multifamily development in most commercial or business districts (SB 454)
* Expand which localities can adopt an affordable housing dwelling unit program (SB 74)
* Eliminate a cap on grants provided to local government employees for home purchases (SB 328)
* Require localities to establish transit-oriented districts allowing up to 10 dwelling units by right on any lot (SB 717)
* Permit manufactured housing in agricultural zones (SB 346)
A bill proposed by state Sen. Saddam Salim (D-37), whose district includes Fairfax City, that would eliminate parking minimum requirements did not pass, and state Sen. Jennifer Boysko’s (D-38) legislation to allow localities to adopt anti-rent gouging ordinances was delayed to the 2027 General Assembly session. https://www.ffxnow.com/2026/02/03/fairfax-mayor-advocates-for-virginia-to-ease-rules-for-church-based-affordable-housing/
