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Expedited Review of Affordable Housing.
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Staff: |
Department: |
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Colleen Willger, Director |
Planning |
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Judy Johnson, Assistant Director |
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Corey Liles, Planning Manager |
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Sarah Osmer Viñas, Director |
Affordable Housing & Community |
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Nate Broman-Fulks, Assistant Director |
Connections |
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Emily Holt, Affordable Housing Development Officer |
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Overview: On September 22, 2021, Council members submitted a petition calling for strategies to rapidly promote increased production and availability of affordable and missing middle housing. Updates on addressing the interests in the petition were provided to Council on November 17, 2021 <https://chapelhill.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5215738&GUID=923F0316-857B-4193-8CC4-69D4E56BDC32> and March 9, 2022 <https://chapelhill.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5478246&GUID=1EF1D4C9-C058-4610-BCA7-299160B42A27>. This work session discussion is an opportunity for direction on the creation of an expedited application process for projects with a substantial amount of affordable housing.
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Recommendation(s): |
That the Council receive the presentation and provide direction on which potential solutions staff should explore in greater detail.
Decision Points:
Which of the following potential solutions for expedited review of affordable housing should the Town continue to explore and analyze?
1. Consolidating/reducing the number of steps in the Council review process
2. Consolidating Advisory Board review
3. Simplifying requirements for application submittal at the Council review stage
4. Other solutions
Key Considerations:
• A successful review process must balance elements such as timeliness, complexity of application materials, and number of meetings. Improving performance on timeliness requires tradeoffs.
• As this effort moves forward, qualifying affordability criteria and performance metrics for expedited review will also be solidified.
• Staff used the following research and study topics to inform potential solutions:
o Piloting incremental solutions in spring 2022 for projects proposing 100% affordable units
o Documenting streamlined review processes already in effect in Chapel Hill
o Meeting with staff from nearby communities in February and April 2022, to learn about their approaches for facilitating affordable housing review
o Meeting with developers of affordable and market-rate housing in April 2022, to get feedback on process challenges and the potential value of a streamlined process
o Identifying potential affordable housing projects on the horizon
Where is this item in its process?
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Attachments: |
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• Draft Staff Presentation |
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• Staff Report |
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• September 22, 2021 Petition |
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The Agenda will reflect the text below and/or the motion text will be used during the meeting. |
presenter
PRESENTER: Sarah Osmer Viñas, Director of Affordable Housing & Community Connections
Colleen Willger, Director of Planning
The purpose of this item is for staff to present and update and for Council to provide direction on which potential solutions staff should explore in greater detail.