A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 15.2-2309 and 36-139 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Article 1 of Chapter 22 of Title 15.2 a section numbered 15.2-2209.4, relating to statewide housing targets for localities.
HB804 establishes statewide housing growth targets for Virginia localities that have adopted zoning ordinances, with an exemption for localities that already achieved at least 7.5 percent housing-stock growth from January 1, 2020, through January 1, 2025, and continue to grow at least 1 percent annually thereafter. For covered localities, the bill requires a five-year housing growth plan beginning in 2028 aimed at achieving an average annual increase of 1.5 percent in total housing stock, and it requires those plans to be submitted to the Department of Housing and Community Development and made public.
To show a good-faith effort to meet the target, a locality would need either to allow by-right multifamily housing on at least 75 percent of land in commercial or business zoning districts, or to adopt at least three specified housing-growth strategies. Those strategies include eliminating minimum lot sizes or parking requirements, increasing height limits, speeding approvals, allowing accessory dwelling units and higher-density housing in single-family areas, rezoning near transit and employment centers, converting office parks and strip malls to housing, or creating an affordable housing trust fund. The bill also creates a process for developers, housing advocates, and later applicants or potential residents to appeal local housing-growth plans or rejected housing projects to boards of zoning appeals, with possible circuit-court review.
HB804 would add a new statewide housing-target framework to Title 15.2 and expand the authority of boards of zoning appeals to review local housing-growth plans and certain residential development denials. It also amends § 15.2-2309 to give boards of zoning appeals explicit authority over appeals under the new housing-target section, and amends § 36-139 to direct the Department of Housing and Community Development to issue standards and regulations, collect housing data, and establish criteria for evaluating compliance. The bill would affect local zoning ordinances, development approvals, and the administrative role of DHCD, while also allowing enhanced civil penalties for vacant-building registration failures in localities that meet the housing-growth benchmark.
The bill appears to have been introduced as a significant pro-housing and pro-development measure, but the available legislative history shows it was ultimately stricken at the patron’s request in the House Local Government Committee by a unanimous 13-0 vote. That outcome suggests the proposal did not advance in committee, despite its broad policy goals of increasing housing supply and standardizing local growth expectations. No committee transcript or floor vote is provided, so the record reflects procedural disposition more than a detailed public debate.
The main points of contention are likely the bill’s intrusion into local zoning authority and the creation of state-level enforcement mechanisms for housing production. Localities would have been required to adopt detailed housing-growth plans and could face appeals from developers, advocacy organizations, applicants, or residents if plans or project decisions were viewed as noncompliant. Another likely flashpoint is the bill’s preference for by-right multifamily development in commercial and business districts, along with the possibility that boards of zoning appeals could overturn local denials or compel ordinance changes. Supporters would likely emphasize housing supply, affordability, and faster approvals, while opponents would likely focus on local control, land-use discretion, and the administrative burden on local governments.