Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

A proposed low- and middle-income housing project my be built on farmland along Merrimac Road in Blacksburg.

BLACKSBURG -- A workforce-housing project proposed for land along Harding Avenue in Montgomery County may have died for lack of neighbor support and timely governmental action.

But a Christiansburg-based nonprofit developer hasn't given up on the idea, which could provide more than 150 homes for low- and moderate-income residents.

Community Housing Partners President Janaka Casper said this week that he's in discussions with representatives of Kipps Farms LLC of Blacksburg about a 65-acre site along Merrimac Road for the housing.

The development could be subsidized with several million dollars in federal affordable-housing funds channeled through Blacksburg's Housing and Neighborhood Services Office, making the homes affordable to Montgomery County residents who meet federal income guidelines.

Casper and Blacksburg housing officials have been working on the idea for several months and had planned the project on what is known as the Poff property off Harding Avenue.

That 27-acre parcel sits just outside the town limits but within walking distance of downtown Blacksburg. Developing it would have required a boundary adjustment to bring it into the town limits, a step that required approval from the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors. But the majority of supervisors were reluctant to go along, citing fears of overcrowding schools and other infrastructure. It was also controversial among many would-be neighbors.

After lengthy one-on-one negotiations, written correspondence between the government bodies and two formal public meetings with neighbors, Casper confirmed this week that time had likely run out on the Harding Avenue site.

Community Housing Partners has until early November to exercise an option to purchase the 27 acres. The land's price was never made public. But public hearings and governmental votes by both the supervisors and the Blacksburg Town Council necessary to move the project forward simply cannot happen by then.

"I just can't take the risk of buying a property that I might not be able to develop," Casper said.

At a work session Tuesday, council members expressed frustration that supervisors hadn't acted more quickly.

"All I've asked the county to do for four months is just to put it on the agenda and let's talk about it openly," Mayor Ron Rordam said. "They haven't done it."

More than once during the meeting, Councilman Tom Sherman expressed disappointment that the county hadn't moved ahead to consider the boundary adjustment.

"An enormous amount of work went into this," he said.

Councilman Derek Myers also expressed dismay.

"How do we get across the point that this lack of dialogue is simply unacceptable?" he asked.

Councilman Don Langrehr criticized supervisors for holding most of their discussions about the project in closed meetings.

"We have discussed it in closed session, which is the appropriate place to do it right at this time," said Annette Perkins, chairwoman of the board of supervisors.

Perkins said Wednesday that follow-up questions forwarded to council had not been answered satisfactorily, and that the supervisors were waiting to hear back before taking any further action.

"I'm sorry they feel that way," Rordam said. "But it's gone on too long."

Rordam added, however, that the impasse would not affect future relations with the county.

"It is our job to work with the county in productive ways to benefit our citizens," Rordam wrote in an e-mail. "Blacksburg will continue to do so."

On Tuesday, the council gave Blacksburg Housing Manager Matt Hanratty permission to work with Casper on a feasibility study for the new site in the 2300 block of Merrimac Road, adjacent to St. Michael's Lutheran Church.

According to town records, the property is assessed for tax purposes at $845,100. It was purchased by Kipps Farms LLC in 1998 for $1.25 million, town records show.

Casper is working with the property owners on the possibility of an option on the land, but nothing had been signed as of Wednesday. Casper also stressed that neighbors of the property would be consulted in the very beginning stages of any effort to develop the Merrimac site.

If it's built, the project would provide housing for families living on 80 percent or less of the median income. In Blacksburg, a family of four living on $49,300 or less could qualify.

Officials describe the project as "workforce housing," pointing out that it will allow teachers, janitors and police officers who are currently priced out of Blacksburg's housing market to live in town.