A 126-unit affordable apartment complex in James City County is one step closer to coming to fruition.
The James City County Planning Commission voted 5-2 Wednesday night to recommend the Board of Supervisors approve the application, which proposes an affordable housing apartment complex at 7581 Richmond Road in Toano.
The recommendation for approval is contingent upon the Board of Supervisors also approving an easement with the application. A staff report mentions an easement that would ensure affordable housing would be made available through the development, as well as accommodations for increased traffic in the area, water conservation measures, a sidewalk down Richmond Road, certain building certifications and a nutrient management plan.
While commissioners expressed concerns about traffic and impact on schools, those who voted in favor said they did so because the application was aligned with the county’s Comprehensive Plan.
“The comprehensive plan is in effect our bible,” Commissioner Julia Leverenz said. “This parcel has been in the comp plan designated for moderate density residential for more than 25 years. Most of you probably didn’t even know that when you moved in to the area, so start paying attention to how you want our county to develop.”
Since it was first proposed last year, the application has garnered both support and opposition.
Some residents have cited concerns with increasing traffic at the Croaker Road intersection, draining county resources and over-developing rural areas.
At the meeting Wednesday more than a dozen residents publicly spoke in opposition of the project. Many of them were residents of Oakland Estates, a neighborhood behind the property Oakland Pointe is proposed.
“We have to change in order to keep our county viable for the future,” Oakland Estates resident Lee Anderson said. “We should want to change to work in the best interest of the citizens of James City County. Oakland Pointe, for all its noble intent, does not do that.”
A James City County Planning Department report indicated the apartment complex could generate 887 additional vehicle trips in the area each day, as well as have a $463,425 annual negative fiscal impact because of its drain on county resources, such as area schools.
Some residents have supported the project and building affordable housing in the county — an issue a James City County task force is currently working to tackle.
“I’ve heard a lot of talk about character and culture of the county,” said Adam Davis, housing and resource coordinator for 3e Restoration. “What does it say about the character and culture of the county if we keep finding respectful ways to say, ‘These people are not welcome in our backyard?’”
Background on the project
Oakland Pointe, if approved, will be built by Connelly Development LCC, a South Carolina-based developer that specializes in affordable housing.
For Oakland Pointe, Connelly Development has sought low-income housing tax credits offered by the federal government.
The tax credit program doesn’t provide housing subsidies, but instead creates tax incentives to encourage developers to build affordable housing.
State-run agencies give a limited number of tax credits to eligible developers, then after the developers receive those credits, they sell them to investors, creating a cash equity to build housing, according to the National Housing Law Project.
Under the tax credit program, developers rent the housing at an “affordable” price below market, with a certain percentage of tenants below the area median income.
Rents would be between $495 for a two-bedroom, 1½-bath apartment and $940 for a three-bedroom, two-bath unit, property owner Lisa Marston told WYDaily in April.
“I have less concern about physical impact because where ever we build affordable housing the physical impact will be the same,” Leverenz said. “I think it’s a worthwhile investment for the county.”
