The City of Williamsburg has taken the first steps in a process to grant ailing hotels in the city a new life as apartments.
The Williamsburg City Council approved a resolution that would allow hotels and motels in Williamsburg to transform a portion of their rooms into apartment units in a 4-0-1 vote at Thursday’s meeting. Councilman Doug Pons abstained from the vote.
The resolution begins the process of evaluating a proposal to create a new zoning district in the city – Planned Development Housing PDH. The new designation would be used to allow up to 100 hotel room units in the city to be repurposed as “adaptive housing” apartments.
Individual hotels and motels would be limited to 50 or fewer repurposed units each.
The proposal came about through consideration of a proposal from Pons, who owns the Knights Inn at 620 York St., to convert 60 of the hotel’s 120 rooms into 40 apartment units.
Pons did not participate in the discussion Thursday, or in a lengthier discussion of the zoning proposal at Monday’s work session, to avoid a conflict of interest.
Planning Director Reed Nester said similar new zoning designations had been crafted for unique residential properties in the city, including the mixed-use City Green development near the Williamsburg Shopping Center and the College of William & Mary’s Tribe Square dormitory downtown.
During Monday’s discussion, council members pushed for a limit on the number of hotel rooms available for repurposing, and opening the application process to other interested businesses.
With these changes in place, the four participating members of the council were uniform in their support for the resolution.
“When this first came up, there were questions of how to move forward,” Vice Mayor Paul Freiling said. “We took our time, and what we got was a good collaboration of viewpoints. It allows businesses to adapt and reuse property, and it meets a pressing need for certain sectors to find reasonably affordable housing.”
In his proposal to the city, Pons suggested possible rent ranges for apartment units from $650 to $1,050.
The council was divided on how best to approach Pons’ extant proposal. Freiling and Councilman Scott Foster suggested the council approve Pons’ request for a special use permit to allow the transformation of the Knights Inn to begin immediately, and readdress it when the ordinance could become effective July 1.
Mayor Clyde Haulman and Councilwoman Judy Knudson disagreed.
“My problem with it … is, frankly, how it looks,” Knudson said. “Approving something for one person and then changing the rules so no one else can do it? … It looks bad that no one else can do it for three to four months.”
Haulman added the city would be better served with a comprehensive housing policy, while an approval of the SUP request would be a piecemeal approach.
Foster and Freiling eventually joined with Haulman and Knudson in voting to delay consideration of Pons’ proposal until the council’s April meeting.
The proposed changes to the zoning ordinance now go to the Planning Commission for consideration, which will hold a public hearing on the proposal. The Planning Commission will vote on whether to recommend the City Council approve the resolution, but its vote is non-binding.
The City Council will likely take the issue up again at its April meeting. If the proposal is approved as currently written, it would go into effect July 1.
Related Coverage:
- City Council Considers Zoning Changes to Repurpose Hotels
- City Council Delays Consideration of Plan to Concert Hotel Rooms into Apartments
- Planning Commission Supports Proposal to Transform York Street Motel to Apartments
- Knights Inn Seeks City Approval for Partial Transition to Apartments
- City Council Increases Occupancy Limit at Apartment Complex for Students
- City Planning Commission Backs Modified Floor Plan for Student Apartments
