Affordable Housing and Community Connections Releases Annual Report

Fiscal Year 2023 (July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023) was a big year for Affordable Housing and Community Connections. Together with our partners, our team achieved many key milestones to continue advancing the Town Council’s affordable housing and equitable community engagement goals.  Thank you to all of the residents and community partners who contributed to our shared efforts to build an inclusive community where all residents have access to affordable housing and opportunities to thrive.  There is still so much more work to be done and our team looks forward to working together to continue addressing some of the community’s greatest challenges. 

To learn more about highlights of our work over the last year, see our Annual Report.

Town Secures Historical $5M Contribution from UNC Health to Establish Affordable Housing Revolving Loan Fund

On June 21, the Town Council approved the Eastowne development, a project of UNC Health to expand their existing medical office facilities at the Eastowne campus in Chapel Hill. As a condition of the approval, UNC Health committed to providing $5 Million to the Town to establish an Affordable Housing Revolving Loan Fund.

The Affordable Housing Revolving Loan Fund will be used to preserve and create between 500-1,000 units of affordable housing in Chapel Hill. The Fund will leverage substantial additional resources from other sources and allow the Town to establish a loan fund of $20-40 Million.

"The Town is thrilled to see UNC Health come to the table as a partner to address our community's affordable housing challenge in such a meaningful way," says Sarah Vinas, Director of Affordable Housing and Community Connections. "This is an unprecedented level of investment in affordable housing by an institutional partner that will allow the Town to preserve and build hundreds of units of affordable housing in the community."

Affordable Housing and Community Connections will soon move forward with selecting a Fund administrator and work to secure additional contributions to the Fund.

Chapel Hill Approves Source of Income Protections Policy

On May 24, 2023, the Chapel Hill Town Council approved a Source of Income Protections policy. The policy requires housing developments that receive Town funding or involve the conveyance of Town property to accept all lawful sources of income, including housing choice vouchers.

The new policy is designed to prevent discrimination based on source of income and increase the supply of units that accept income-based housing subsidies. 

Housing choices vouchers and similar housing subsidy programs provide valuable financial assistance for low-income families seeking affordable housing.  However, there are limited opportunities for households with housing subsidies to use their voucher within Orange County, and especially in the Town of Chapel Hill. Despite generous incentive packages and outreach efforts to landlords, typically there are around 100 unleased vouchers at any given time, or about 15% of the County’s available vouchers.

Sarah Viñas, Director of the Town’s Department of Affordable Housing and Community Connections explained that “because North Carolina state law does not include source of income as a protected category in housing discrimination, municipalities are limited in what they can require of landlords.”

Several other North Carolina municipalities have addressed this by adopting narrow policies focused only on housing that receives local resources.

“This policy takes an important step forward in expanding protections for households relying on housing subsidies to live in Chapel Hill,” Viñas said.

The new policy supports the Town Council’s 2023-25 strategic focus area for Affordable Housing and Housing Production that seeks to increase housing access across a range of incomes and housing types and achieve equitable housing outcomes for historically marginalized populations.  The Town will begin implementing the policy immediately.

Chapel Hill Town Council Approves $629,000 CDBG Plan for Affordable Housing and Community Development

Chapel Hill Town Council recently approved the 2023-2024 Annual Action Plan for the use of $629,892 of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding provided through a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

The Town of Chapel Hill has received CDBG funding from HUD each year since 1975 to be used for affordable housing, community development, and public service projects proposed by local non-profits that benefit low to moderate-income residents in Chapel Hill. Over the last 20 years, Chapel Hill has deployed over $10.5 million in CDBG funding into the community.

This year’s plan includes funding for:

• EMPOWERment Inc.’s acquisition of 2 affordable rentals in Pine Knolls;

• The purchase of a house in Northside neighborhood to be rehabilitated and resold to one of Community Home Trust’s low-to-moderate income homebuyers;

• ·Home repairs for at least 7 low-income homeowners through a partnership with Rebuilding Together of the Triangle and the Orange County Home Preservation Coalition;

• Homeownership counseling and down payment assistance for 8 low-income homebuyers through an expansion of Community Empowerment Fund’s successful first-time homebuyers program;

• Part-time employment for 14 youth through the Town’s Summer Youth Employment Program;

• Transplanting Traditions Community Farm’s Growers School that will provide small business development and training for 13 refugee-owned farms;

• Inter-Faith Council for Social Service’s case management for households experiencing homelessness to access resources and secure permanent housing; and

• Crisis case management for limited English-proficient refugee and immigrant households experiencing housing instability or homelessness provided by Refugee Community Partnership’s multilingual staff.

To learn more about the Town’s CDBG program, visit www.townofchapelhill.org/cdbg or contact Megan Culp, Community Development Program Manager, at mculp@townofchapelhill.org.

Town Council Approves Funding for Tanyard Branch

On April 26, the Chapel Hill Town Council approved the allocation of up to $1,950,000 in affordable housing funding to the Tanyard Branch Trace Project (formerly Jay Street). The Council approved a rezoning for the project in April 2022, which allows for 48 affordable apartments as well as a community building, playground, and an accessible connection to the Tanyard Branch Trail. The Town’s development partners, the Taft-Mills Group and Community Home Trust, are working to secure the remaining funding and permits needed to begin construction, including an application for a 9% Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) from the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency. The Town funding is contingent on the project receiving a LIHTC award in 2023.

Affordable Housing Plan

In November 2022, Town staff began the process to update the Town's Affordable Housing Plan to set a path forward for the Town's affordable housing efforts into the future.

On Wednesday, April 26th, the Council received an update on our progress towards developing the Affordable Housing Plan and received input from the community and Council on potential strategies.

The Town's selected consultants, HR&A Advisors presented an overview of their work to date and potential policy, program, and investment options that could be included in a Draft Affordable Housing Plan.

Stay tuned for additional updates and opportunities to provide input on the Plan. 

To learn more, see the Council Item.

Town Released Affordable Housing Mid-Year Report

Town staff will present the Fiscal Year 2023 Affordable Housing Mid-Year Report to Council this evening highlighting the Town’s housing needs and progress towards reaching Council’s affordable housing goals. 

Highlights from the Report for the period from July 1 – December 31, 2022 include:

• Trinity Court received a 9% Low Income Housing Tax Credit Award from the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency. The award brings more than $10 million in funding to support the redevelopment of 54 units on the site of the currently vacant Trinity Court public housing community

• Town Council approved an affordable housing funding plan that allocated $9.1 million to support affordable housing projects, the most funding ever allocated for affordable housing projects in Town history.

• Council unanimously approved an expedited review process for affordable housing that reduces the development review timeline for projects with substantial affordable housing components to a maximum of six months.

• Council approved the dedication of 8-9 acres of land on the Town-owned Legion Road parcel for affordable housing development.

• Self-Help oversaw the rehabilitation of three units in the Northside neighborhood.

• The Town released a Request for Proposals for Consulting Services for the creation of an affordable housing plan and is evaluating the responses received. The plan will inform the development of an Affordable Housing Investment Plan that will be incorporated into Council discussions about the Five-Year Budget.

• This quarter, 184 Chapel Hill households received assistance through the County-wide Emergency Housing Assistance Program. This assistance is reflected in the total units preserved.

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 Launching Update to Affordable Housing Plan

Affordable Housing and Community Connections is working with HR&A Advisors to update the Town's Affordable Housing Plan and Investment Strategy. The 6-month process will connect and build off of the Town's many existing strategies and plans and chart a path forward to resource the Town's affordable housing work into the future. The consultant team will engage Council on a preliminary set of proposed strategies in April with the goal of Council taking action on the plan by June. Preliminary work is currently under way as the affordable housing team is helping HR&A gather data and coordinating stakeholder engagement. Stay tuned for additional updates and opportunities to provide input on the Plan. 

Accepting Applications for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Funding

Program Highlights! The Town of Chapel Hill receives funding for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program to use toward providing decent housing, suitable living environment and expanding economic opportunities for primarily low and moderate-income residents. This year the Town supported programs that provided case management for 214 individuals and households experiencing homelessness, rehabilitated 4 homes for low-income homeowners, and provided after-school academic support for 145 students to improve educational outcomes after the pandemic, among others. To learn more about all of the initiatives funded through CDBG, check out our 2021 CDBG Program Summary.

Applications Open Today! Organizations who operate programs or provide housing to benefit low to moderate-income residents of the community can apply one time each year for funding to support their programs. Applications will be available on the website starting November 18, 2022, and due no later than 12:00pm on January 13, 2023.

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