Roanoke City Council is set to decide the fate of proposed changes that would address housing development, vape shops, data centers, and more.
The proposals have been in the works for a year, with some growing out of initiatives launched by members shortly after taking office.
Several involve how new housing is built; they grew out of a backlash to a major zoning rewrite in 2024 that was intended to incentivize construction of new, more affordable housing.
At a public hearing in May, residents and developers expressed conflicting views. Like Adele Carliss: "The zoning amendment in 2024 took away the right for property owners to have a say in what was being developed in their own backyard."
And Shane Ware: "I implore you to keep the dimensional regulations and density of the 2024 amendments intact.. We need to let people build. Our city's future depends on it."
Others expressed opinions on the city's plan to restrict vape and tobacco shops, data centers, self-storage areas, rehab facilities. So many spoke, in fact, city council ran out of time and scheduled the meeting to continue with another public hearing next week.
Community activist Misty Dawn told council that flurry of opinion is a good thing.
"This is what democracy looks like," Dawn said.
The public hearing continues at 7 pm on Monday.
