The Martinsville City Council met on May 14 to discuss the Five Point Housing project and the 2024 Regional Housing Study presented by Sean Campbell, Housing Programs Director for the West Piedmont Planning District Commission (WPPDC).
Campbell discussed the results of a comprehensive housing study completed in April and conducted in collaboration with the Virginia Center for Housing Research at Virginia Tech (VCHR) and HousingForward Virginia (HFV).
The study’s aim was to address housing challenges and develop sustainable housing solutions for the region, which included taking a look at homeowners and cost-burdened households.
Martinsville currently has 13,457 residents in 5,656 households, Campbell said. He explained that 57.7 percent of households are homeowners, but another 25.5 percent are cost-burdened, which means that more than 30 percent of the income of the household goes to paying for rent. Additionally, 19.8 percent are severely ‘cost-burned,’ spending more than 50 percent of their income on housing.
“That puts them at a very high risk of homelessness,” said Campbell. Cheaper housing alternatives, like manufactured housing or trailer parks, currently aren’t allowed in the city of Martinsville.
“This is relatively consistent with the city of Danville, but both cities fall way below the homeownership rates in the counties,” said Campbell.
He noted that from 2014 to 2021, home prices in the city almost doubled.
Vice Mayor Aaron Rawls asked Campbell to expand on the current state of manufactured homes.
“On the inside, you can’t tell the difference between manufactured homes,” Campbell said, and added that modular homes have made many improvements over the years to be on par with standard housing.
“It does not mean what it meant in 1990,” Rawls said and asked whether any other localities had found a solution to severely cost-burned homes.
“I have not seen one local government yet that has found a solution,” said Campbell, but looking into potential solutions is a priority.
“The next step after being cost-burdened is not burdened at all, and that’s for not the right reason, it’s because you don’t have a home anymore. We definitely want to try and prevent that from happening,” said Rawls.
Suggestions to help reduce the number of cost-burdened households ranged from using lots owned by Martinsville, requesting innovative housing projects from private developers, and working with the WPPDC to identify grant opportunities to offset the costs.
“The creation of a landbank was brought up. The (West Piedmont) PDC can actually acquire properties and act to clear cloudy titles on them so that they are available for development,” Campbell said.
The Five Points Housing Project was approved for $50,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, needed to wrap up the project because previous grant funds have run out. The Harvest Foundation was previously helping the city to expand, but there are still some improvements left, like grass installation and stormwater work.
In other matters, the council:
*Heard concerns about the parking along Fayette St. Businesses situated on the street are currently sharing a parking lot with the apartment complex.
“That’s a concern that’s not going unnoticed with activity not just on that street, but activity on Main St. and Church St. as well, as we continue to grow, so that’s something we will definitely look into,” Mayor LC Jones said.
*Accepted a change to the zoning ordinance that will allow buildings of any height to be built inside city limits.
*Heard from Kendall Davis, public information officer, who documented changes to the city’s website and explained how the city plans to better market its internet service, MiNet. The city’s content strategy has seen more engagement from residents across social media.
He also noted several new events are in the works, including an Uptown Holiday Festival, a Food Truck Pull Up, and a Wine and Hops Festival.
*Recognized Building Safety Month.
*Congratulated Local Graduates.
*Acknowledged and congratulated the National Society of Black Engineers on its 25th Anniversary Celebration.
