The Affordable Housing Strategy was adopted by the Town Council on June 13, 2011.  

• Affordable Housing Strategy
• June 13, 2011 Council Memorandum

Purpose

In June 2010, the Town of Chapel Hill Town Council adopted a goal to create one-page strategies for the following Council focus areas: Public Art, Communications, Sustainability, and Affordable Housing. The purpose of developing an affordable housing strategy is to build a more comprehensive understanding of the affordable housing system in Chapel Hill that would allow the Town Council to consider affordable housing issues in the context of the full spectrum of affordable housing needs and resources that exist throughout the Town.

Process

Throughout the months of March and April, 2011, Town staff met with over 450 people in 60 focus group or one-on-one sessions. In May, 2011 the feedback from these meetings was considered by a Technical Advisory Group of affordable housing and community stakeholders. The Affordable Housing Strategy represents the compilation of ideas that were expressed during the focus group sessions and the themes that were considered by the Technical Advisory Group.

• Focus Group Feedback
• Focus Group Themes

 

Technical Advisory Group

The Affordable Housing Technical Advisory Group supported the development of an affordable housing strategy for the Town through providing input and guidance to Town staff throughout the process.

• Handbook:  A handbook for the Technical Advisory Group with contact email addresses
• Contacts:
  • Delores Bailey, EmPOWERment, Inc., dbailey@empowerment-inc.org
  • Linda Convissor, University of North Carolina, linda_convissor@unc.edu
  • Molly DeMarco, Orange County Justice United, mollydemarco@gmail.com
  • Robert Dowling, Community Home Trust, rdowling@communityhometrust.org
  • Dr. Tara Fikes, Orange County Housing, Human Rights, and Community Development, tikes@co.orange.nc.us
  • Tish Galu, Orange County Justice United, galu@bellsouth.net
  • Susan Levy, Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, slevy@orangehabitat.org
  • Louise Mitchell, Chapel Hill Public Housing Program Advisory Board, Lmartin919@aol.com
  • Aaron Nelson, Chapel Hill Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, anelson@carolinachamber.org
  • Ben Perry, East West Partners, bperry@ewp-nc.com
  • Scott Radway, Radway Design Associates, scott@radwaydesign.com
  • Mary Jean Seyda, CASA, mjseyda@casanc.com
  • Nick Tennyson, Homebuilders Association of Durham, Orange & Chatham Counties
  • Laurie Tucker, Inter-Faith Council, ltucker@ifcmailbox.org 

 

Next Steps

The Technical Advisory Group will continue to work with Town staff to develop an affordable housing work plan to support the goals outlined in the Affordable Housing Strategy.  The work plan would identify implementation partners, develop measurable and specific objectives, and begin to prioritize the goals of the strategy. 

 

Reference Materials

The Technical Advisory Group worked with Town staff to integrate and synthesize the feedback from the small focus groups.  Information about affordable housing was also be drawn from other sources, including some of the following references:

• Chapel Hill Residential Market Study
• Chapel Hill Residential Market Study Presentation
• Inclusionary Zoning Rational Nexus Study
• Orange County Affordable Housing Analysis by UNC City & Regional Planning students