Norfolk has tried to get a handle on housing issues in the city for years, recently creating a dedicated office of housing and hiring consultants to study the problem.
Now, it’s starting a city commission Mayor Kenny Alexander said will put together concrete action plans.
The City Council approved a resolution at the end of April to create an eight-member panel to study Norfolk’s housing needs “in order to develop a housing policy.”
The two newest council members — Superward 6 Councilman Jeremy McGee and Superward 7 Councilman Carlos Clanton — will lead the group. It willl’ll also include representatives from Norfolk’s city manager’s office, city attorney’s office and the housing authority.
The commission itself will determine how often it meets and how it reports to city council, whether giving periodic reports on its progress or compiling its findings into one final report.
The city already has several programs and policies regarding housing, including a raft of recommendations from consultants who studied Norfolk’s housing needs last year.
Alexander told WHRO he wants more targeted and specific courses of action. In an interview following the council approval, Alexander said the study presented to the council in 2024 lacked key details the city needs to hash out.
“Who's going to be tasked with running point? Who's going to quarterback this? Before, no one was named to quarterback,” Alexander said.
That could mean specific offices within the city, other agencies like the NRHA, or some new agency or public-private partnerships could be “quarterback,” he said.
Alexander wants the commission to plot detailed strategies specific to the city’s major development initiatives, like future public housing redevelopments in St. Paul’s and efforts to remake Military Circle.
The commission will also consider potential new requirements for developers to set aside portions of residential developments for lower-income residents.
That’s something the city has encouraged, though not codified. Alexander said the commission will study “the pros and cons of that.”
Many of the specific questions outlined in the resolution for the commission to answer — such as the proportion of renters to non-renters in the city — have previously been answered.
Real estate and economic development consultants HR&A Advisors presented a housing study to city council in 2024. It included breakdowns of housing affordability, property types and strategic plans to tackle these issues, some of which the city is already engaged in.
The primary recommendation was the establishment of a housing trust fund. Such funds provide dedicated support for the creation and preservation of housing for low-income residents. The study and city officials said the concept is essential to meeting the city’s housing needs.
Despite the promise of Norfolk’s leaders to establish one last year, the city has not. This year’s budget includes repurposing $2 million from an existing fund to support housing projects around the city, but no long-term funding.
Alexander said the commission would work on identifying an ongoing source of funds outside of raising taxes, and consider the purposes of a housing trust fund, potentially expanding the definition to aid homeowners in preserving and improving existing housing.
