AGENDA #4j
to: Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager
from: J.B. Culpepper, Planning Director
Loryn Clark, Housing and Neighborhood Services Manager
subject: Response to Council Petition Regarding the 2000 Affordable Housing Policy
date: June 25, 2008
The purpose of this report is to respond to a petition from a Council Member regarding the Council’s affordable housing policy adopted on March 6, 2000.
Adoption of the attached resolution would refer this petition to the Council Committee on Affordable Housing for discussion.
On March 6, 2000, the Council adopted a resolution to increase the availability of affordable housing for low and moderate income households in Town. The policy states that the Council’s expectation that any rezoning requests with a residential component incorporate a 15% affordable housing feature into their plans with mechanisms to assure ongoing affordability (see Attachment 1).
On May 5, 2008, a Council Member petitioned the Council to consider revising the March 6, 2000 affordable housing resolution to address development proposals that include the demolition of existing affordable housing. Specifically, the petition proposed an adjustment to the policy such that, upon completion the net result would be 15% more affordable housing than what existed.
The petition suggested that in the case of a redevelopment project that demolishes affordable housing, 100% of the affordable housing would have to be replaced, plus an additional 15% would have to be incorporated into the project. We recommend that the Council refer this petition to the Council Committee on Affordable Housing for discussion. We would recommend that the Council Committee and Town staff discuss the implications and consequences of the proposed policy on future development and redevelopment activities in Town.
We recommend that the Council adopt the attached resolution to refer this petition to the Council Committee on Affordable Housing for discussion.