THE FWD #276 • 708 words

The Moores, a new workforce housing project coming to the County, provides a snapshot into successful local government-supported housing.

This April, heading northwest down Richmond road from Williamsburg into James City County, Habitat for Humanity Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg (PGW) is expected to be breaking ground on the first units of The Moores. The Moores are a 47 unit affordable housing infill project that will be the first development in the new James City County Community Land Trust. Habitat for Humanity PGW will be the developer for the first eight units of The Moores.

To learn more about this project, we sat down with Vaughn Poller, Administrator of James City County’s Department Neighborhood Development. Poller has spearheaded this effort for the last five years.

The Story of The Moores

Next to the Sentara regional hospital and about a mile southwest of I-64 in James City County, a bundle of adjacent parcels were put up for sale on Clark Lane and Old Mooretown Road. Poller persuaded the County in 2023 to purchase the undeveloped land for workforce housing. While it is common for localities to purchase land through their Economic Development Corporations for commercial uses, it is rare for localities in Virginia to purchase speculatively for housing. Especially when the property needs to be rezoned.

James City County has previously used Pandemic-era federal ARPA funds for future housing developments, says Poller. Despite this and having ARPA funds at that moment, Poller and the County felt fiscally confident enough to purchase this land for The Moores using only local funds “accumulated from program income from various past housing programs, primarily CDBG and IPR.”

The County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to purchase the land in June 2023. They also unanimously approved the rezoning from R2 to R3 a year later. Poller credits the Board as being primed to support the acquisition of property for affordable housing after they had recently completed a “Workforce Housing Task Force“; The County had been laying the groundwork for action around workforce homeownership for some time.

Behind the Sheetrock

Units will be available for families earning between 40% and 120% of AMI. This will be the first time the County and Habitat PGW are partnering to build multi-story duplexes.

While the County purchased the land initially, they intend to place these new homes and the land underneath into its newly formed Community Land Trust (CLT). The CLT will steward the land in perpetuity, so the units at The Moores will be sold and preserved workforce housing for generations.

Poller says that the decision to have a CLT wasn’t made overnight. Once the need for affordable housing was understood by the public and electeds, Poller says the CLT model emerged from a number of other ideas that were proposed and considered.

Achieving higher density, especially in areas with suburban or rural character, can generate resistance from both the public and local governments. Poller says The Moores, an infill project, luckily did not ultimately face “NIMBY” opposition. According to Poller, residents near the site stated in outreach that they didn’t oppose the development because they both expected further infill development in the area and recognized the benefits they received from living in older infill developments.

When asked if higher density for The Moores was under consideration at any point, Poller said “Yes [but] considering and achieving are two separate things.” Poller points out that even with hypothetical community support for higher density, the fear can remain that “you’re setting a precedent.” Poller also added, “There needs to be much more education in the Commonwealth among its residents about different ways to provide density and how density affects affordability. And until that happens, it will be a struggle.”

Final Thoughts

The Moores is a reminder for other municipalities of the possibilities that they could achieve. “We [municipalities] don’t turn on a dime”, reminds Poller. The Moores is the product of a decade of work by local government staff and planners, lining up factors in order to create the environment where an affordable housing project like The Moores can emerge.

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