Council Approves Six-Month Affordable Housing Development Review Process

Wednesday November 16, Chapel Hill Town Council approved changes to the Town’s Land Use Management Ordinance (LUMO) that shortens the development review process for projects that include at least 25% affordable housing.  The changes reduce the timeline from 12-18 months to less than six months. The new policy will make it easier for developers to capitalize on funding assistance and incentivize the creation of more affordable housing in town.

“Wednesday night’s vote to adopt a new, expedited Community Priority process for affordable housing demonstrates the Town’s commitment to putting our values into action,” said Mayor Pam Hemminger. “We are fortunate to have dedicated housing partners in Chapel Hill and want to help them succeed at creating more housing for families here. Reducing both time and cost for those projects is a win for all of us.”

Eligibility requirements include:

• Development projects must include at least 25% of its units as affordable

• Rental projects must offer affordable units to households earning 60% or less of the Area Median Income (AMI)

• Home ownership projects must offer affordable units to households earning 80% or less of AMI

The new process supports the Town’s “Projected Housing Needs, 2020-2040” study, the Complete Community Strategy, and the Shaping Our Future initiative. 

Additional details of the adopted policy can be found at townofchapelhill.org/government/departments-services/planning/plans-and-ordinances/housing-access-text-amendments.

Council passed the amendment unanimously, and the Town will begin implementing the program immediately.

The Town’s Planning and Affordable Housing & Community Connections departments drafted the text amendment in response to a 2021 Council petition. The petition asked staff to create an expedited application process for developments with a significant affordable housing component. It also asked staff to implement strategies to rapidly promote increased production and availability of affordable and missing middle housing. 

After receiving the petition, staff explored potential solutions. They piloted several strategies to streamline review of affordable housing projects, gathered feedback from the community, and engaged key stakeholders about their experiences with rezoning in Chapel Hill and neighboring municipalities. Their findings helped shape the proposed changes, including:

• Eliminating the concept plan review process for qualifying projects

• Shifting some of the technical details required in the rezoning stage to later stages of plan review and permitting

• Exempting eligible applicants from review by all advisory boards except for Planning Commission

• Delegating authority to staff for minor project modifications after rezoning approval

Town Awards Largest Single-Year Contribution to Support Affordable Housing

Wednesday November 16, Chapel Hill Town Council approved a $9.1 million funding plan that will support almost 300 new affordable homes through five affordable housing development projects. These projects will provide homeownership and rental opportunities for households with a range of incomes, including extremely low-income households.

“This is a great day for Chapel Hill,” said Mayor Pam Hemminger. “We are fortunate to work alongside a number of community partners that are working to address the need for affordable housing in our town, and we are thrilled to be able to support their efforts. The funding approved this week will support a wide range of housing types and income levels in order to meet the diverse needs in our community.”

Each project will be along a Chapel Hill Transit line and/or within proximity of downtown. These projects will support the Town’s workforce and continue to advance the effort to make Chapel Hill a place where everyone can live, work, and play.

“The approval of the funding plan is a major step in the Town’s efforts to reach its affordable housing goals and provides an unprecedented level of support for affordable housing projects initiated by the Town and local partners,” said Sarah Viñas, Director of Affordable Housing and Community Connections.

The new affordable housing units will increase the Town’s supply of permanently affordable housing by more than 25%. The funding plan also provides rental subsidies for some of the hardest-to-serve households through a local master leasing program.

Town Council approved funding awards from the Town’s Affordable Housing Bond, Affordable Housing Development Reserve, American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), and Affordable Housing Fund.

Town Releases Affordable Housing Annual Report – Makes Progress Towards Council’s Affordable Housing Goals

Town staff presented the Fiscal Year 2022 Affordable Housing Annual Report to Council Wednesday night highlighting the Town’s housing needs and progress towards reaching Council’s affordable housing goals. 

“Even as we see the need for affordable housing growing and the challenges to deliver affordable housing projects become increasingly complex, the Town has made meaningful progress over the last year consistent with our affordable housing goals,” says Sarah Viñas, Director of Affordable Housing and Community Connections. “The fact that nearly 30% of all housing units approved last year were affordable, is a testament to the Town Council’s continued commitment to creating affordable housing opportunities for all in Chapel Hill.”

Highlights from the Annual Report summarizing the Town’s affordable housing progress over the last year include:

• Deploying $2.5 million in funding to community partners to support affordable housing development and preservation projects

• 28% (123) of the total housing units approved by Council were affordable; including 102 in Town-initiated projects on Town land at Jay Street and Trinity Court

• Enhancing our Employee Housing Program, resulting in our first homebuyer assistance award and increased interest from employees.

• Partnering with the other local governments in Orange County to create a County-wide Manufactured Home Action Plan to address the preservation needs and displacement threats to manufactured home residents.

• Creating and presenting options to the Council to expedite our review process for affordable housing development. If approved, an expedited review process could drastically change the Town’s ability to create more affordable housing more quickly.

• Completing renovations at several of our Transitional Housing and affordable rental units and supported one of the families in the program in achieving their dream of homeownership

To help best make progress towards addressing the community’s significant housing needs, the Town is implementing an Affordable Housing Plan that focuses on: funding affordable housing projects, initiating development and preservation of housing, owning and managing housing, and creating and implementing housing policies.   The Affordable Housing Quarterly Report is a tool to monitor the Town's progress in implementing the plan, share the status of projects funded with Town resources, and summarize key community indicators related to housing in Chapel Hill.

Interested in learning more about the Town’s affordable housing efforts? See the Town’s Affordable Housing Quarterly Report and staff’s Annual Report to Council, and www.chapelhillaffordablehousing.org!

Town Receives Exceptional Innovation Award for Affordable Housing Efforts

On September 8, 2022 the Town received an "Exceptional Innovation Award" from Community Home Trust (CHT) for the many ways that the Town is advancing affordable housing using creative strategies, such as inclusionary housing, master leasing, employee housing, local funding investments, development on Town land, and more.  The award was presented at CHT's annual meeting and block party at Southern Community Park. 

To learn more about the Town’s affordable housing efforts, visit www.chapelhillaffordablehousing.org. 

Town Releases Up to $7.8 Million to support Affordable Housing Projects

The Town of Chapel Hill is making up to $7.8 million available to support Town-initiated and outside agency affordable housing projects. Outside agency applications will be accepted through noon Friday, September 30. Awards will be made from the Town’s Affordable Housing Bond, American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, and the Affordable Housing Development Reserve (AHDR). 

“This is the largest amount of funding made available at one time to support affordable housing projects in Town history,” says Sarah Vinas, director of Affordable Housing and Community Connections. “Now, more than ever, these resources are critical to the Town making progress towards addressing the dire need for affordable housing in our community. We look forward to receiving proposals from community partners through this upcoming process.”     

Eligible uses of these funding sources are:

• Acquisition

• New construction

• Home repairs

• Land banking (AHDR only)

• Future development planning (AHDR only)

Since establishing the AHDR and Bond, the Town has provided support for the development of more than 450 homes in Chapel Hill, deploying more than $10 million to community partner projects.

The Town’s Housing Advisory Board will evaluate applications, and its recommended funding plan will be presented to the Town Council for final approval in October or November of 2022. Access the funding application and learn more here.

The Town plans to hold a virtual information session for potential applicants at 2 p.m. Thursday, September 1.  Email Nate Broman-Fulks, nbfulks@townofchapelhill.org, to learn more or register for the information session.

Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Report

Check out our new Annual Report, which highlights the Town's key affordable housing and community connections results for Fiscal Year 22 (July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2022).

Thank you to our partners for your many contributions to our shared efforts to build a vibrant and inclusive community where all residents have access to affordable housing and opportunities to thrive.

Affordable Housing and Community Connections Names Broman-Fulks Assistant Director

Affordable Housing and Community Connections Director Sarah Viñas has selected Affordable Housing Manager Nate Broman-Fulks as the department’s Assistant Director. His first day in the new role will be Monday, April 18.

“Nate stood out in a competitive pool of applicants and has demonstrated excellent leadership over the last several years in managing key affordable housing initiatives within the Town of Chapel Hill,” said Viñas. “I look forward to continuing to work with him in this important senior leadership position within the Town.”

Broman-Fulks joined the Town as Affordable Housing Manager in 2017. He earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of South Carolina. After receiving his Master of Public Administration and Master of International Studies from North Carolina State University, Nate began his local-government career in 2014 as Assistant to the Town Manager in Carrboro where he managed strategic initiatives, including the Town’s affordable housing and community development efforts. 

In the last nearly five years, Nate has worked with the Town of Chapel Hill’s affordable housing team to implement the Town’s affordable housing work plan and performance measurement systems.

“I’m incredibly grateful and excited for the opportunity to continue to serve the Chapel Hill community in this new role,” said Broman-Fulks. “I look forward to building on the great work already underway to make the town a vibrant, inclusive, and accessible community for all residents.”

Nate and his wife Kristi are the parents of three daughters and a newborn son.

Homestead Gardens Affordable Housing Project Receives $2 Million Federal Funding Award

The Town of Chapel Hill is excited to announce that the Homestead Gardens mixed-income affordable housing development (2200 Homestead Rd.) has received a $2 million Community Development Fund grant from the Community Project Funding (CPF) program. The Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) omnibus spending bill, which the President signed into law on March 11, 2022, includes $1.5 billion in CPF funds, also described as congressional earmarks for local community development projects.

“I’m proud to have secured money in the (U.S.) House to fund the new affordable housing units in the development,” said Congressman David Price (NC-04) after visiting the site. “Developments like Homestead Gardens are an important step in ensuring our neighbors have access to housing. Homestead Gardens was one of ten requests submitted by Congressman Price in April 2021. The FY22 omnibus bill includes all ten of the CPF requests Congressman Price submitted.

“Chapel Hill and our community partners are excited about creating 120 new, affordable homes for individuals and families at Homestead Gardens,” said Mayor Pam Hemminger. “With the help of this funding, we are one step closer to making this project a reality.” 

The Homestead Gardens project is one of the Town’s first efforts to develop affordable housing on Town land as a strategic way of addressing the critical need for affordable housing in Chapel Hill. The project represents a unique partnership between the Town and four local affordable housing partners—Self-Help Ventures Fund, CASA, Community Home Trust, and Habitat for Humanity of Orange County. These partners formed the Homestead Housing Collaborative to achieve the project’s vision of an inclusive, mixed-income community offering a variety of housing types that serve a variety of housing needs. 

Since 2018, the Town has been working closely with the Collaborative and its design team—CJT, PA and MHAWorks, PA— to design and plan the project. Chapel Hill Town Council approved the Homestead Gardens development plan in May 2021, which includes about 120 units of affordable apartments, townhomes, and duplexes surrounded by community amenities, such as a multi-use greenway, a basketball court, and a community garden. The project is scheduled to break ground in 2022.

To learn more about this project and the Town’s other affordable housing efforts, visit chapelhillaffordablehousing.org. 

Town Accepting Applications: $2 million Available for Affordable Housing Tax Credit Projects

The Town of Chapel Hill has released funding applications for affordable housing projects financed with nine-percent Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC).  Applications are due at noon Wednesday, April 6.  Awards will be made from the Town’s Affordable Housing Bond and contingent on the project receiving a nine-percent LIHTC award in 2022.

In November 2018, Chapel Hill voters expressed their overwhelming approval of a $10 million Affordable Housing Bond Referendum. The first $5 million of the bond has been allocated and will assist five organizations to develop about 275 affordable housing units.

The process for allocating the remaining $3+ million of the bond funds is planned to kick-off in late summer 2022 to create and preserve affordable housing in Chapel Hill.

The Town’s Housing Advisory Board will evaluate applications, and their recommended funding plan is scheduled to be presented to the Town Council for final approval in early May 2022. To access the funding application and learn more, visit https://bit.ly/2vDWWne.

Town Releases Its Affordable Housing Mid-Year Report

Town staff presented the latest progress report to Council Wednesday night on the Town’s housing needs and progress towards reaching Council’s affordable housing goals.  Highlights from the report include:

• Five new affordable homes were added to the permanently affordable inventory.

• The Town allocated all available Affordable Housing Development Reserve funding ($688,395) in the first application cycle for the second year in a row.

• Trinity Court and Jay Street Affordable Housing Development Projects completed Concept Plan review and submitted Conditional Zoning Applications to provide over 100 affordable housing units total.

• Council authorized a site-development agreement with Self-Help Ventures to begin affordable housing development at 2200 Homestead Road.

• Even with additional Town support, the affordable housing gap has grown to over 3,800 units for households below 60% of the Area Median Income (~$50,000)

To help the Town make progress towards addressing the community’s housing needs, Council has set five-year targets for affordable housing preservation and development. The Affordable Housing Quarterly Report is a tool to monitor the Town's progress towards meeting our targets, share the status of projects funded with Town resources, and summarize key community indicators related to housing in Chapel Hill.

Interested in learning more about the housing needs of the community and what the Town is doing to address them? Check out the Affordable Housing Quarterly Report and staff’s Mid-Year Report to Council!