Fairfax County officials are working to get to know roughly 1,750 residents of the area’s eight manufactured homes better.
“We are really hoping to understand the needs,” Fairfax County Department of Housing and Community Development Affordable and Manufactured Housing Program Manager Ivana Escobar told the Board of Supervisors housing committee at a Tuesday (Nov. 26) meeting.
Centered mainly in the southern part of the county, local manufactured home communities range in size from 45 to 700 units. County officials aim to be “really engaging, building trust” with the people who live there, Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik said.
“We’re learning from them, absolutely moving in the right direction,” Palchik, who chairs the housing committee, said.
To gauge the needs of those living in the community, county officials will be doing their first comprehensive survey of residents. They’re also planning a roundtable forum bringing together all stakeholders.
In addition, the county government has put cash into a home repair and renovation pilot program that will be conducted at the Harmony Place community of about 90 units in Hybla Valley.
As with most mobile home communities, residents at Harmony Place own their abodes but lease the land. Residents of that community have managed to push back against redevelopment proposals that imperiled their future residency.
The home repair program will provide assistance with improving water and sewer pipes and updating roofing, among other efforts. A contractor designated by the county government will do the work.
The Board of Supervisors established a Manufactured Housing Task Force in 2021 that delivered a report a year later with a slew of recommendations.
About 350,000 Virginians live in manufactured housing, according to the advocacy group Manufactured Home Community Coalition of Virginia.
According to the advocacy group, manufactured homes are completely constructed in a factory setting. They are then transported to the site, placed and affixed to a permanent foundation, and connected to utilities.
“These neighborhoods can be just a small handful of homes on a small property, or hundreds of units in a master-planned community,” the organization says. “They are found throughout the state, in our cities, suburbs and rural neighborhoods.”
Photo via Google Maps
