Town gauges housing choices

Chapel Hill officials took another step toward stiffer affordable housing regulations Monday - a move that could force stricter regulations on developments in a town where the average cost of a single-family home is about $400,000.

Town Council members established the Inclusionary Zoning Task Force to look into mandatory affordable housing by surveying statistics and future need for more housing.

Between 15 and 18 people could sit on the task force, which is charged with determining the necessity of affordable housing within town limits.

"This is going to be a big step," Mayor Kevin Foy said. "We're going to need some people to give us some good advice."

Based on what the task force finds, the town could strengthen an existing affordable housing recommendation - that 15 percent of all future housing units be built as low-income housing - into a mandatory code.

Chapel Hill's 2000 Comprehensive Plan includes a clause strongly encouraging developers to allocate 15 percent of units under construction to low-income housing.

The council already has received two applications for positions on the task force.

Robert Dowling, executive director of Orange Community Housing and Land Trust, submitted one in hopes the task force can facilitate fair discussion on the possibility of setting up the ordinance.

"It seems (the task force) is a good thing to do," he said.

Dowling said while standing policy hasn't ruffled too many feathers, the task force should begin its sessions with open ears.

"The current policy that has been in place, I don't think there's anybody complaining ... but I would hope that the council will include developers in the discussions," he said.

The Home Builders Association of Durham and Orange County likely will oppose the ordinance, Executive Vice President Nick Tennyson told The Daily Tar Heel in June.

The council considered proposing an inclusionary zoning ordinance this April, two years after an effort to attach it to a land-use management ordinance fell through.

A plan for setting up the ordinance was established at a June 27 meeting.

A town consultant, along with the Orange County HOME Consortium, is conducting a study of affordable housing in the county.

Approximately 18 percent of homes sold in Chapel Hill in 2004 were deemed affordable, according to town documents.

But Dowling pointed out that when looking at these issues more than just the statistics need to be studied - legal ramifications also must be considered.

A judge told the Arlington County, Va., board last December that it could not impose a mandatory 10 percent ordinance.

"I believe there's some question marks on the legality of this," Dowling said. "That's an issue."

 

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