Published: June 11, 2009 03:16 pm      

Shortage of rental housing plagues county

Rental housing in Wyoming County is becoming a rare commodity, according to officials.

At least two people in Oceana are living in their cars because they can’t find affordable rental housing, according to Jennifer Conley.

Conley, and her friend, who both work at a local fast-food restaurant have looked in Oceana as well as other areas of Wyoming County, and are now pursuing housing in Raleigh County.

Conley said she’d been living out of her car since May 1.

“I’m basically trying to rent with no money,” she explained.

Conley moved from California in February, hoping to find a lower cost-of-living in West Virginia.

Repairs to her car took most of the money she had, Conley said.

Though she is still working, she has yet to find affordable housing.

“We are on a waiting list,” she said.

Conley’s problem is typical of the area.

“(Rental housing) is in short supply,” noted Steve Clark, a West Virginia State University Extension agent in economic development.

Clark readily admits he is more familiar with housing in Mullens than Wyoming County as a whole.

“There is more demand than supply,” he said.

“And there is also a quality issue,” he said, adding decent, affordable housing is difficult to find. “You might find something, but don’t want to rent it.”

Housing is where Wyoming County has really dropped the ball in terms of economic development, specifically relating to the new federal prison about to open in McDowell County, just across the border, noted Sen. Richard Browning, D-Wyoming.

Nearly 350 jobs are expected to be created when the new prison opens.

More than 600 additional jobs in service industries could be generated by the prison, once it is up and running, according to officials.

Federal Bureau of Prison employees moving into the area to work at the new site will need housing, but it will be difficult to find that housing in Wyoming County, Browning believes.

The warden will be hired in July, he said, and that will mark the first official staffing of the prison.

One of the problems is available land, Browning said.

Another is providing modern infrastructure — water, sewer, roads — to that land, Browning explained.

A third factor is the price, Browning noted.

“The price of the land is so high, we can’t get a developer to come in here,” the senator said.

He cited as an example a developer who might build 10 houses on land that is priced too high, then have to try to recoup the cost of construction as well as the cost of the land. That puts the price of the housing out of reach of most potential buyers.

One housing development is going up in McDowell County. On Tom’s Mountain, formerly a FEMA housing site, upgraded water and sewer have been installed, Browning said.

While FEMA has bought several sites in Wyoming County through mitigation programs, only properties offered by willing owners have been purchased, Browning explained. Additionally, only those properties that were flooded repeatedly were purchased by FEMA to remove people from harm’s way.

Another factor is that large tracts of land in Wyoming County are owned by land companies unwilling to let go of it.

Browning, and other legislators, have proposed bills that provide tax incentives and other motivating factors to increase housing opportunities, all to no avail.

“I’ve banged my head against the wall,” Browning said of the issue.

“I don’t know what the answer is.”