Northern Virginia Counties Not Happy With State Changes to Zoning Laws

"New home development has slowed across Northern Virginia since new rules kicked in last summer limiting what public infrastructure developers were allowed to pay for as part of new construction projects," reports Max Smith.

That assessment was delivered by elected officials from around the region attending a meeting on the subject earlier this week. Officials from Loudon, Fairfax, and Prince Williams counties agree that housing construction has slowed since the law took effect.

"The revised state law limits what local governments can ask developers to pay for — including requiring that affordable housing units be included in a project or cash to pay for nearby road or school improvements — unless the construction is in specific areas including areas around Metro stations," explains Max Smith. Since the law took effect, "developers have pivoted to focus on areas around Metro stops or to build commercial development," according to Fairfax County Supervisor Sharon Bulova.

For more background on the law, see additional coverage from March 2016. For the record, none of these counties were onboard with the plan at the time of the adoption.