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Residents and experts press council to keep 2024 zoning reforms to expand housing
Summary
Multiple speakers, including planners, local developers and nonprofit leaders, urged the council to retain or build on the 2024 zoning reforms, arguing they increase missing-middle housing and are essential to reduce homelessness and housing costs.
A series of public commenters and some council members urged the council to retain the 2024 zoning reforms rather than roll them back. Advocates argued that allowing accessory dwelling units, duplexes and small multifamily by right helps create the missing-middle housing that Roanoke needs.
"Zoning can make new housing legally possible, but implementation determines whether that housing is practical, responsible, and supported by the community," Cody Jones said, urging safeguards like neighborhood review, parking considerations and reporting. Allison Jorgensen, representing the Council of Community Services, warned that homelessness and rent increases have continued and that removing barriers will make it harder to place funded clients into housing. Health and social-service speakers linked housing supply to public-health outcomes and to the practical ability of providers to use existing funding to house people.
