Solutions for housing affordability slow in coming
Good morning! Today we complete our three part series on why affordable housing has become scarce in the Historic Triangle.
Williamsburg and James City County established task forces years ago to recommend ways to make housing more affordable for lower income residents. To date, only a handful of those recommendations have been acted upon.
More than 25% of James City County households, and one third of Williamsburg’s, are spending more than a third of their income on housing, those task forces found. And they suggested a variety of solutions to increase the supply.
The James City County task force recommended strategies that included:
1. A policy for mobile home parks, specifically exploring the option of the county buying out parks temporarily to revitalize them before returning them to the private market.
2. Define specific redevelopment/revitalization areas, with zoning policies that would support mixed-income and mixed-use development.
3. Amend the zoning ordinance to allow for a wider range of housing types, sizes and forms.
4. Decrease minimum lot size requirements and increase the maximum number of units permitted in multifamily structures.
5. Modify the accessory apartment ordinance to allow more units that could help existing homeowners to obtain revenue to keep their homes.
6. Expedited permitting process for projects that include workforce housing.
The county is looking at creating a land trust that would allow first time home buyers to essentially lease county land, own the house that is built on it, and share in the upside of the home when they sell. This allows the county to keep the cost of the home below market value when the next family buys it.
County staff discussed the concept with the board of supervisors last week, adding they could jump start it with 47 affordable housing units the county already has in the pipeline.
Using a ground lease does away with the deed restrictions currently used for such projects and makes the buyers eligible for potential subsidized mortgages from the Virginia housing authority.
James City County has also identified redevelopment and revitalization areas as part of its comprehensive plan update.
But none of the other recommendations from the task force have been acted upon in the past six years, according to Director of Development Paul Holt.
Many of those recommendations would address restrictions that economists say are most responsible for higher home prices because they restrict supply.
James City County has tracked 463 affordable units that have been built thus far, said Tammy Rosario, the assistant director of community development. That number is a fraction of the need for the more than 8,000 households living in unaffordable housing at the time of the 2019 task force report.
Williamsburg convened its own housing task force in 2021, which issued various recommendations. The group said the city could add 843 new units by allowing existing older hotels to be converted into apartments.
The task force also recommended building 35 workforce units on city property surrounding the Waller Mill Reservoir for city employees, while encouraging mixed use and mixed income properties along Capitol Landing Road.
“These recommendations were never meant to be a step-by-step plan for the city to follow,” Williamsburg spokesperson Nicole Trifone told us.
But she said the city has expanded the conversion of hotel rooms to affordable housing units and has increased its workforce housing units from four to 14.
The Williamsburg Planning Commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing on Oct. 15 to consider a developer’s request to convert the MainStay Suites on Capitol Landing Road into another 88 workforce housing units, the Williamsburg Independent reported.
The planning commission will be able to issue a recommendation on the proposed changes, but the decision will ultimately be up to the City Council at a later date to be decided.
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Don’t forget: Candidate forums start next week
Williamsburg Watch and our news partner, WHRO, will begin the first of our two candidate forums next week, Oct. 8, at the main theater of the Williamsburg Regional Library on Scotland Street.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m., the forum begins at 6 p.m. and ends at 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 8 will feature local candidates for the James City County board of supervisors and the Williamsburg-James City County school board.
Oct. 15 will host candidates for the House of Delegates.
We will be taking written questions from the audience prior to the start of the forum to submit along with our moderators’ questions.
We recommend you reserve your spot at these links:
https://www.whro.org/whro-events/event/williamsburg-candidate-forums-17-09-2025-12-40-06
Please do not bring campaign literature or signs to the event.
State headlines
Overall spending down, other takeaways from historic governor’s race in Virginia
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Government meetings next week
Williamsburg-James City County School Board:
Work session. Oct. 7, 4:30 p.m. School Board Central Office, 117 Ironbound Rd., Annex Room 300.
Joint meeting of the Williamsburg-James City County school board with the James City County supervisors and Williamsburg City Council. Oct. 10, 8:30 a.m. Legacy Hall in New Town
Williamsburg City
Williamsburg City Council work session. Oct. 6, Stryker Center. 4 p.m.
Williamsburg Historic Triangle Recreational Facilities Authority. Oct. 8, 412 N. Boundary St. 3 p.m.
Williamsburg Economic Development Authority,.Oct. 8, Stryker Center Room `127, 3 p.m.
Williamsburg City Council regular meeting. Oct. 9, Stryker Center. 2 p.m.
York County
York County Board of Supervisors meeting. Oct. 7. York Hall East Room. 6 p.m.
York County School Board. Oct. 8. York Hall. 11:30 a.m.
Passings
Joel Halbert Berry Jr., 97, Sept. 28.
Ronald Taussig Curtis, 80, Sept. 28.
Patsy Faye Bowden Driscoll, 80, Sept. 30.
Check out the work by Sarah Vogelsong in the Richmonder. She has tons of great coverage on what Richmond metro is doing on this issue.