Goal

​Create 1,500 new affordable housing units by 2026. 

Definitions
  • Affordability: An individual spending no more than 30% of their pre tax income on housing.
  • Qualification: People making up to 120% AMI (with no more than 300 units for folks earning more than 80% AMI).
  • Location: Within all of Orange County and a 20 minute commute radius of UNC.

​Assumptions
  • $75,000 of local subsidy: 1 permanently affordable unit.
  • $150,000: 1 permanently affordable unit. 
  • $150,000: $420 rent subsidy per month for 30 people for 1 year. 
  • $150,000: $420 rent subsidy per month for 1 person for 30 years. 
  • 1 acre: 12 affordable housing units 

Strategies (6) & Tactics (19)

1) Generate more funds to create affordable housing.
  • Pass $30 million in county and municipal affordable housing bonds.
  • All local governments dedicate at least 1 penny of property tax revenue to affordable housing.
  • Create and staff a County (or Regional) Housing Trust Fund.
2) Dedicate available land to build affordable housing.
  • Allow affordable housing in specific areas within the Rural Buffer.
  • Acquire mobile home parks for preservation or redevelopment of affordable housing.
  • Formally designate affordable housing development zones and create a regional map of these zones. 
  • Build on county, municipal, and public school owned land.
  • Build on UNC and UNC Health owned land.
  • Build on land owned by religious organizations and other non profits.
3) Make affordable housing easier to build.
  • Projects with 50% or more units affordable will receive all legislative and quasi judicial entitlement decisions in 3 months.
  • Meaningful density bonuses are given to affordable housing developments.
  • Revisit land use standards including but not limited to: minimum lot widths, parking, and setbacks to increase units per acre.
4) Increase employer sponsored and employer supported housing.
  • More Employer built housing (e.g. faculty housing).
  • More Employer direct rent subsidy for employees.
  • More Employer down payment assistance for employees.
5) Increase acceptance of housing choice (section 8) vouchers.
  • Expand property owner/manager incentives and bonuses for accepting vouchers.
  • Prevent discrimination based on a household's source of income. 
6) Increase availability of affordable housing.
  • Duplexes and Triplexes are permitted uses in most zones with limited exceptions for NCDs.
  • Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) are permitted in most zones with limited exceptions for NCDs. 

Timeline
  • Aug 2020-Dec 2021: Housing committee met (almost) monthly
  • January 2022: Draft report and recommendations finalized
  • February 2022 - May 2022: Soliciting feedback and meeting with key stakeholders
  • June 2022: Final report printed and distributed
  • Ongoing: Monitoring and tracking

Committee Members
  • Aaron Nelson, The Chamber For a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro
  • Alice Jacoby, Orange Habitat
  • Allison De Marco, UNC School of Social Work
  • Allison Freeman, UNC Center for Community Capital
  • Ben Edell, Eller Capital
  • Bruce Warrington, UNC Real Estate
  • Delores Bailey, EmPOWERment 
  • Dan Levine, Self Help
  • Eliazar Posada, El Centro Hispano
  • Emila Sutton, Orange County
  • Holly Fraccaro, Home Builders Association of Durham, Orange, and Chatham Counties
  • Jason Dell, Bold Construction
  • Jennifer Player, Orange Habitat, Committee Chair
  • Jess Brandes, CASA
  • Leigh Kempf, Merrill Lynch
  • Loryn Clark, Town of Chapel Hill
  • Kimberly Sanchez, Community Home Trust
  • Mark Shelburne, Novogradac
  • Melvin Hurston, UNC Hospitals
  • Michael Rodgers, DHIC
  • Michael Webb, UNC Center for Urban & Regional Studies
  • Nicole Galiger, Acorn & Oak
  • Rebecca Buzzard, Town of Carrboro
  • Sarah Viñas , Town of Chapel Hill
  • Yolanda Winstead, DHIC

Contact

For questions, contact Chamber Director of Community Engagement and Assistant to the President, Jenson Anderson. 
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