Blacksburg residents participated in the first of three meetings that will decide how the town will leverage density to achieve equitable, affordable and energy efficient housing.
Liz Kirchner
communitynews@ourvalley.org
On folding chairs and blue linoleum in the Program Room at the Blacksburg Community Center, about 30 people attended the first of three community meetings that will weave community input into a complex two-year, four phase multi-institute process that, in the end, will establish structured policy aimed to advance affordable housing and promote green development as Blacksburg’s population booms in the coming years.
Virginia Tech is expected to grow by nearly 10,000 students in the next 5 years.
The conversation seeks to address what to do with that influx of people while clawing back affordable housing while at the same time protecting the town’s climate action mandate and its quality of life.
Increasing density in the redevelopment of aging, energy-spewing housing stock at walkable distances from the school along already existing infrastructure and transportation corridors seems to be the answer.
How much density and where it will happen will be determined, with work and conversation, through Building a Better Blacksburg over the next two years.
In this educational meeting, it was first established that the town faces impediments, represented squarely by a giant boulder on the meeting’s PowerPoint presentation.
Market incentives don’t line up in Blacksburg’s renter-dominated market where renters, principally students, can afford to pay higher than the market rate, artificially inflating the local economy necessitating three out of five workers to commute into town from more affordable surrounds.
Add to that, the town’s 2016 comprehensive plan established an emissions reduction target of 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
But to stay on track to reach those emissions goals, the town is impeded by an aging housing stock, especially its apartment complexes.
It’s here the town sees an opportunity.
As aging apartment complexes redevelop, developers seek to build more densely giving the town what it sees as leverage to nudge that new development toward both green and affordable.
“We don’t have a policy in place right now,” Blacksburg’s Sustainability Manager, Carol Davis said to the small crowd. “The planning commission and town council encourage developers to present green building sustainable site development practices in their proposals. But there are not clear standards and there are no criteria describing what the town is requiring and what it is willing to offer.”
To establish that policy, the town and the Virginia Center will carry out a detailed timeline that will unfold in four phases for Housing Research represented by Research Associate Mel Jones (also a member of the town planning commission), each step punctuated by citizen feedback and public hearings ultimately producing guidelines by 2020.
“Our chief objective is to establish a voluntary program that we think developers will find ‘economically persuasive,’ but also well supported by the community. “We’re saying to developer “If you want that [density] then we want to see these other goals advanced,” Jones said. “But we’re not giving up too much.”
“Incentives” mean tax implications or density bonuses decided on by research, analysis and community feedback.
That evening, the voluntary nature of the incentives was troubling to citizens during the question and answer period.
The end result will be an ordinance and it’s voluntary. “If you’re not going to enforce it. How does it work?” they asked.
“Even if it is voluntary,” developers say, “it makes sense to be part of that program. That’s how I’ll get the density I need.” Jones said.
Most towns in Virginia, a Dillon Rule state, are not able to adopt an ordinance that mandates affordable housing and green building guidelines to developers unless allowed by the General Assembly. But generally incentives can sweeten the deal.
“The best lever we can pull is to create those voluntary incentives,” Davis said.
Other citizens voiced concerns about affordability.
“Will this housing be affordable for people who work at Virginia Tech on the grounds and in the cafeteria?” Phyllis Albritton said.
“What the levels of income are will depend on what level of density we will decide to allow. When you’re looking at the lowest of the low paid at Virginia Tech, you’re looking at poverty wages,” Jones said.
“Amen,” Albritton said.
“It’s shameful, but in order to subsidize, in a way, housing through density, it’s going to require a higher density. So we have to think about he balance. There will be some very low-income units. So, what is the trade-off we want to make? The more housing we provide, the better the economics will become. That’s why prices are increasing because we have a supply issue,” Jones said.
Developing at a higher density is already desirable to aging apartment complexes, Davis said, usually housing students as they seek rezoning permission from the town.
“If the aging development wants dense redevelopment, there are other community goals we want advanced,” Jones said.
Leveraging denser development, the town will use these two years to develop a policy and structure to encourage developers to define and put in place energy efficient components into a new, more densely packed redevelopment.
”Developers often don’t know what “green building” is,” Davis said. “They come to us and say, “Is this green building? “Is it a green building yet?”
The 2016 Comprehensive Plan asked “What matters to citizens?” she said.
Affordable Housing, traffic, and keeping that small-town feel were the most common answers.
“We’re trying to address those things here,” Davis said.
The second meeting that will explore scenarios and potential strategies is expected to take place some time in February 2019, and the third, reviewing draft policies that “Explore Tradeoffs and Implications of Inaction” will happen some time next July, completing the whole process in early 2020.
Elisabeth Willis, project coordinator of the town’s Housing and Neighborhood Services, stood in for Assistant Town Manager Matt Hanratty on this occasion.
To follow the progress, visit www.blacksburg.gov.