Fairfax Weighs Using Vacant Commercial, Industrial Properties As Temporary Shelters

FAIRFAX, VA — Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a measure Tuesday directing county staff to evaluate the temporary housing program used during the pandemic to identify ways to improve the county's response to homelessness.

Supervisors directed county staff to think creatively and identify more permanent supportive housing and long-term housing solutions, including possibly using vacant commercial and industrial properties across the county as temporary shelters. Staff was directed to return with its findings and recommendations in time for the board's Nov. 22 meeting.

Tuesday's measure was a joint board matter introduced by Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust, Chairman Jeff McKay and Supervisors Walter Alcorn (Hunter Mill), Rodney Lusk (Lee) and Dalia Palchik (Providence).

During the pandemic, Fairfax County implemented the Quarantine, Protection, Isolation/Decompression hotels program. With the help of federal pandemic funding, the county was able to provide temporary emergency shelter for homeless families and individuals, who were not already in the county's housing program or being served by the seasonal hypothermia shelters.

"Each year, at the end of the hypothermia prevention season, the County’s lack of sufficient emergency shelter and permanent housing for chronically homeless individuals becomes very evident," Foust said, in a release. "That was especially true this year when QPID ended at the same time the hypothermia program ended."

Also see: FAQs — Temporary Shelter During COVID-19 Pandemic

The joint board matter also directed staff to investigate using vacant commercial or industrial properties for private entities to use as sheltering or transitional services for the homeless people they support. The staff could formulate this into a possible addition to the Zoning Ordinance for the board's consideration.

Reston Strong, a local advocacy group, called for the board to adopt such a measure last spring in order to provide emergency shelter for individuals sleeping outside once the QPID money ran out and the hypothermia shelters closed for the season.

In April, the group set up tents outside of the North County Governmental Center, which houses the Reston District Station of the Fairfax County Police and Alcorn's office. The demonstration was meant to draw attention to the number of unhoused people in the county.

At its April 12 meeting, the supervisors approved a board matter introduced by Alcorn calling on the county's Office to Prevent and End Homelessness in the Department of Housing and Community Development to evaluate the performance of county agencies and nonprofit organizations dedicated to preventing and ending homelessness. The results of the review would help the county update its homelessness strategies in collaboration with the Continuum of Care committee of the Affordable Housing Advisory Council.

On Jan. 27, the county conducted its annual Point in Time count of homeless people in the county. It found that 1,191 people were experiencing homelessness during one night in the Fairfax area.

Since 2008, Fairfax County and its partner jurisdictions Fairfax City and Falls Church have used a "Housing First" approach to ending homelessness. As the name suggests, the first step in helping unhoused individuals and families is to identify appropriate housing.

By using Housing First, the county and its partners have reduced the number of people experiencing homelessness by 50 percent, according to Tuesday's joint board matter.

The board also unanimously approved a measure introduced by Alcorn on Tuesday to begin the master planning process for a new regional library and affordable housing on county-owned land located to the north of Reston Town Center. Former Board Chair Kate Hanley has agreed to run the task force in charge of overseeing the proposed project.

Also see:

New Reston Library, Shelter Master Plan Process Launched: Supervisors