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Council accepts updated housing study recommending 156 rental units, 267 owner units over 10 years
Summary
Consultant Burke presented Parkside’s housing study showing population and housing demand growth; council voted to accept the report and asked staff and Lenox Area Development Corp. partners to use it to guide planning.
Lenox — The city council accepted an updated housing study conducted by Parkside Planning, which projects population and housing demand growth through 2033 and lays out specific rental and ownership targets.
Burke, a consultant with Parkside, presented the study and told council the analysis combines building-permit data, a visual inspection of housing stock and renter surveys to project demand. “The basic reality is Lenox, your housing is in very good shape,” Burke said, summarizing the condition of existing housing stock.
The report projects the city population rising from 2,587 (2023) to about 3,098 by 2033 and estimates a 10‑year need of roughly 156 multifamily rental units and 267 owner‑occupied units if current demographic trends continue. Burke told the council that lower‑income renters (household income below $50,000) were often cost‑burdened—paying more than 30% of income for rent—and that mobile homes were currently meeting some rental demand.
Key recommendations in the report include a focus on rental housing (smaller multifamily developments compatible with Lenox’s scale), continued single‑family construction at current permit rates for owner demand, managed growth and code enforcement to preserve the town’s small‑town character, a collaborative remediation approach for dilapidated mobile homes, and investment in community amenities to support growth.
Councilmembers asked practical questions about product type (Burke clarified that multifamily could mean fourplexes or small apartment buildings rather than large urban complexes) and whether developments already in process—such as Countryside—were counted in the study; Burke said in‑process permits were included in the 2023–2033 modelling.
Following the presentation, a councilmember moved to accept the housing study report. The motion was seconded and passed by voice vote. No ordinance or regulatory change was enacted at the meeting; council and the Lenox Area Development Corporation were urged to use the study to guide implementation and developer outreach.
Ending — Staff will use the study to inform zoning, codes and development conversations and to coordinate with the Lenox Area Development Corporation as appropriate.
