§ 6-233 — Public housing subsidy repositioning requirements.

(a) In any repositioning of a Housing Property's federal subsidy, the Authority shall adhere to the following principles to the extent applicable and practicable:

(1) The Authority shall honor the right of households relocated from the Housing Property in connection with the repositioning, including any household transferred to a housing voucher program at any point after the inclusion of the Housing Property in a repositioning plan submitted to HUD, to return to living on the site of the Housing Property.

(2) The Authority shall engage the residents and resident council of the Housing Property to jointly develop relocation and continued occupancy plans before any relocation, detailing resident relocation plans, if required, and continued occupancy both before, during, and after the subsidy conversion; provided, that the Executive Director may order relocation without a jointly developed plan to the extent necessary to ensure human safety.

(3) The Authority shall establish an advisory team that shall participate in, at minimum, the planning, entitlement, relocation, and return phases of the project. Residents of the Housing Property shall constitute at least 25% of the advisory team.

(4) The Authority shall provide residents of the Housing Property with clearly written plans and schedules for each phase of the project. These plans will be project specific and will be amended as necessary in response to resident input.

(5) In the design of the improvements or redevelopment, the Authority shall ensure the inclusion of amenities that make a positive contribution to the life of the residents of the Housing Property and shall not include products and services that contribute to the devastating health indicators that impact residents of low-income communities, such as childhood asthma.

(6) The Authority shall negotiate with any development partners to include in the project and operating budgets a community fund for the benefit of the community of former Housing Property residents. The sources and uses of any fund shall be worked out with the Housing Property residents through their elected resident council, subject to approval by the Board or compliance with regulations adopted by the Board.

(7) The number of housing units reserved for extremely low-income households following repositioning shall exceed the number of preexisting affordable housing units at the Housing Property.

(8) The Authority shall not submit applications to federal authorities, or seek Board approval submission of, a Rental Assistance Demonstration or federal Section 18 repositioning, unless the Authority has:

(A) Conducted at least 2 resident meetings with residents of the Housing Property; and

(B) Provided details of the proposal to the City-Wide Resident Advisory Board, the Mayor's administration, the chair of the committee of the Council with jurisdiction over the Authority, the Councilmember of the Ward in which the Housing Property is located, and the Attorney General, and allowed 15 days for such authorities to provide comments.

(b) As part of any request to the Board to approve a contract, HUD application, or other formal action in support of a federal subsidy repositioning, the Executive Director shall provide a written status update for each implicated Housing Property explaining how the Authority is complying with each of the principles listed in subsection (a) of this section or, to the extent any such principle cannot be satisfied, an explanation of any relevant efforts the Authority is pursuing in lieu of adherence to that principle.

(c) In addition to any summary required under § 2-352.02(c) , any contract that the Authority submits to the Council in support of a federal subsidy repositioning of a Housing Property shall contain a status update in the form prescribed in subsection (b) of this section.

(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to establish a new private cause of action.

Legislative History

May 9, 2000, D.C. Law 13-105, § 27