Chapel Hill
In November 2013, the Chapel Hill Town Council voted 7-1 to sell 8.5 acres of town-owned land on Legion Road to Durham-based affordable housing developer, DHIC, Inc, for $100 (the property was valued at $2 million) for the development of 170 units of affordable housing. One of the steps in that development was the need for DHIC to apply for tax credits from the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency to assist with funding for the development.
On Monday, DHIC president Greg Warren announced that, because a document was missing from the application, the application had been eliminated from consideration. Because of the incomplete application, DHIC must wait until 2015 to apply for the opportunity again, delaying the completion of an important affordable housing project as we continue to face a housing crisis.
Friends and allies for affordable housing in Chapel Hill---
There are numerous developments in various stages of the planning process in both Carrboro and Chapel HIll, so many that it is hard to keep track of them. Here we provide a rundown of the status of developments of most interest in Southern Orange County.
Carrboro
A summary of active development applications can be found here and is updated monthly. The Town staff also created a map of the active developments. Active or recently approved developments are:
Addressing affordable housing so that all people can afford to live in our community is an extremely important issue to many in our community. It has been given as a reason to develop and redevelop our towns and as a reason not to. Many organizations including the Community Home Trust, EmPOWERment Inc., Habitat for Humanity, the InterFaith Council, CASA, Orange County Justice United, and The Marion Cheek Jackson Center have been working with the towns and county to provide and/or advocate for housing at prices attainable across all spectrums of income.
In this season of municipal budget discussions, a rundown of what our towns and elected boards are working on around affordable housing seems appropriate. I asked members of each elected board what their board is focused on this year. Here is a summary.
I just returned home from a three plus hour meeting about Obey Creek. This was the last meeting before Chapel Hill decides to enter a development agreement negotiation. Phase I the Compass Committee ended last winter, Phase II addional information gathering has been during the last six months and phase III negotiations will probably begin soon. The first hour was a repeat of the traffic analysis presentation that was given last month at the library. More data will be obtained from additional studies but the analysis incorporates 1.2% traffic growth rate as the back ground increase in traffic. It projects 10% of the Obey Creek development traffic to be carried by mass transit. The next two hours were devoted to the general Obey Creek plan, modifications and potential points for negotiation. The general plan would allocate 50 acres for green space ( part of which could become come a school if needed) and 30acres developed near 15-501. At the end Roger stood up and stated that if Council permitted less than 1,000,000 square feet he would use current zoning for creating 120 homes on the 85 acres.
The Town of Chapel Hill will hold public information meetings related to the proposed mixed use development on the east side of U.S. 15-501 South across from Southern Village. The meetings are scheduled for noon to 1:30 pm on Wednesday, May 7, and 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 15, in Room B of the Chapel Hill Public Library.
Residents will hear from the Town and the development team on several topics including design, transportation, housing strategies and the environment. Both meetings will follow the same format and topics, so residents can choose the more convenient day to attend.
Obey Creek is a 124-acre property under consideration for a proposed mixed use development. It is one of two potential developments using a new development agreement process.
Obey Creek is within Area 6: U.S. 15-501 South, one of six future focus areas outlined in Chapel Hill 2020, the community's comprehensive plan. Future focus areas are portions of Chapel Hill most likely to change in the future due to vacant land, underdeveloped sites, and their locations along transportation and transit corridors. In total, these areas represent about 24 percent of the land in Chapel Hill, and they do not include the predominately single-family areas and neighborhoods of Chapel Hill. The town’s other focus areas are Area 1: Downtown Chapel Hill; Area 2: North Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard/I-40; Area 3: South Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard/Homestead Road to Estes Drive; Area 4: Highway 54; and Area 5: Ephesus-Fordham.
For more information on the Obey Creek Development Agreement process, visit http://www.townofchapelhill.org/obeycreek.
Questions? Email developmentagreement@townofchapelhill.org with “Obey Creek” in the subject line.
Date:
Thursday, May 15, 2014 - 6:00pm to 7:30pm
Location:
Chapel Hill Public Library, 100 Library Drive, Chapel Hill (Meeting Room B)
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