Roanoke Mayor Joe Cobb says the city must create more “missing middle” housing options to grow and respond to a rising unhoused population, as City Council prepares to resume a contentious zoning debate Monday.
Cobb discussed the issue during a live interview with WFIR following last week’s nearly 12-hour council day focused on housing and land use. He said Roanoke’s status as a landlocked city means leaders must use zoning, vacant lots, rehabilitation and land bank properties to add affordable homes.
Addressing the 4,000-unit shortage
The Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority says more than 4,000 people are on its housing voucher waitlist, highlighting the city’s inventory crisis. Cobb said the city cannot ignore the need for a wider range of affordability.
“We’re looking at all of our options, but in order for Roanoke to grow and in order for us to address what appears to be a growing unhoused community, we have to create more housing and we have to have that range of affordability,” Cobb said. “So it’s not just creating more $850-per-month rent for a one-bedroom and up. We’ve got to find some in that missing middle or lower range along the way.”
City Council is expected to continue the discussion Monday. The meeting will begin by hearing from the remaining public speakers who did not get to speak at the previous session.
Moving past historic restrictions
Cobb said the proposal is intended to create more inclusive housing opportunities across the city and move away from older housing patterns shaped by redlining and restrictive covenants.
He noted that the goal is to open up more areas of the city to new housing types in an equitable way.
“It creates inclusionary zoning,” Cobb said. “So any remnants of redlining, of deeds of covenant that had restrictions on housing or who could buy or access housing in their neighborhood, all of that’s gone, and it creates throughout the city in an equitable way opportunities for builders, contractors, developers to create new housing that aligns with the character of the neighborhood.”
Opponents of the changes argue the new rules could threaten the character of historic neighborhoods. Supporters say Roanoke needs more flexibility to address affordability and homelessness. Cobb said existing neighborhood overlays remain in place to protect the integrity of established areas.
The road to Monday
The zoning conversation follows a recent shift in the framework for Evans Spring, a 150-acre undeveloped parcel near Valley View. Council members voted unanimously this month to add a conservation option to the plan and remove language calling for a direct interstate connector to I-581.
Cobb emphasized that the Evans Spring vote established parameters for future development rather than a final plan. Any specific proposals for that land would still require a full public process, including planning commission reviews and public hearings.
On Monday, City Council will hear from the final group of scheduled speakers before eventually considering possible amendments aimed at refining where and how more density would be allowed.
