Martinsville officials have started to reexamine a previously abandoned initiative that could result in new housing geared toward the city’s older residents.
On Tuesday, the Martinsville City Council will hold a public hearing to take the initial steps to restart the Aaron Mills Senior Housing Project. Specifically, council members will discuss temporarily restarting the Land Bank Authority, a now-defunct board that owns the land earmarked for the project.
City council meeting
The Martinsville City Council meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the city municipal building, 55 W. Church St.
The full agenda is available online.
Four years ago, in an effort to provide the city with more housing, Martinsville officials decided to use a recently donated piece of land on Aaron Street for a complex of 64 housing units. They abandoned the project when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, but with housing availability now a significant local concern, officials feel that this is the ideal time to resurrect the project.
Tuesday’s public hearing concerns the reestablishment of the now-defunct Land Bank Authority, a move that would allow the property to be transferred to the city.
Prior to Tuesday’s hearing, there was a question whether city council members had the legal standing to appoint themselves to serve on the Land Bank Authority. The city attorney advised against it.
“Just to make sure everything is nice and clean, we’re looking to appoint a small board of five,” said Community Development Director Keith Holland. “Their intention would be to transfer the property back to the Housing and Redevelopment Authority.”
Holland said the Land Bank Authority would have a short life and return to being defunct once the transfer is complete.
