Since when did affordable housing mean homes for people who earn 100% of the Area Median Income? Chapel Hill passed the Inclusioinary Zoning Ordinance in 2010 that 15% of all new for-sale housing units built must be affordable to people earning no more than 80% or 65% of the AMI (the affordable units split evenly […]
All posts in category Housing
Excluding Inclusionary Zoning?
Posted by Nancy Oates on December 28, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/12/28/excluding-inclusionary-zoning/
The big money at stake
This election boils down to economic theory. One theory, held by the incumbents and a challenger who as an advisory board member voted in lockstep with them, aims to add enough luxury housing filled with high-wealth individuals that national chain stores will open branches in town. This group is banking on sales tax revenue and […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 2, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/11/02/the-big-money-at-stake/
Who determines livability?
Elkins Hills homeowners and renters turned out in force last Wednesday to convince council members to grant the protections of a Neighborhood Conservation District from what they see as the too-fast pace of development townwide. But one lone property owner and landlord gave council pause when he asked about how an NCD should be used. […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 19, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/10/19/who-determines-livability/
How about yours?
Community members at last Monday’s Town Council meeting turned the “not in my backyard” philosophy on its head, asking instead, “Why not your backyard?” At the Sept. 21 meeting, developers presented their proposed plan for Amity Station, a tall apartment building on West Rosemary Street where Breadman’s sits now. The parcel is in the Northside […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on September 28, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/09/28/how-about-yours/
Putting B&B’s to rest
When I read town staff’s original proposal for an ordinance to allow bed-and-breakfasts in the historic district, my first thought was: We’re eating our seed corn. In August, town staff unveiled a plan to allow homes in the historic district to convert to B&B’s of up to 12 bedrooms and as many as 25 guests […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on September 7, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/09/07/putting-bbs-to-rest/
Just because they can
Last week a man carried a loaded assault rifle into the Atlanta airport while he dropped off his daughter for her flight. Georgia passed a law last year that allows permitted gun owners to carry loaded weapons in an airport, as long as they don’t go through the TSA security checkpoint. The man said he […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on June 8, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/06/08/just-because-they-can/
The other 1 percent
“Lies and misinformation,” Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt responded to a Dogwood Acres resident who questioned whether and how much Obey Creek would cost taxpayers. I have heard what could be called lies and misinformation during the Obey Creek Development Agreement process, and it has come from the development team. A case in point: Affordable housing. Obey […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 18, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/05/18/the-other-1-percent/
Smart shoppers
As a value shopper, I perked up my ears at economist David Shreve’s message that we should choose new development projects because we want what they will bring to the town, not because we mistakenly think they will bring in additional revenue. Shreve, president of Advocates for a Sustainable Albemarle Population and a former professor […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 4, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/05/04/smart-shoppers/
Who we want to be
Everybody lives somewhere, Lisa Sturtevant of the National Housing Conference in Washington, D.C., reminded the audience at Chapel Hill’s Affordable Housing Seminar on April 9. The seminar was the final in a series of four excellent sessions in which nationally recognized experts shared their insights into challenges and solutions to creating and preserving housing for […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 13, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/04/13/who-we-want-to-be/
Saving grace
On a recent Friday, Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt tweeted that UNC was poised to make a Big Announcement about Northside, leaving us on tenterhooks all weekend. On Monday, the mayor and UNC Chancellor Carol Folt, along with some neighborhood and nonprofit dignitaries, took the stage and said UNC would lend $3 million interest-free for 10 years […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 16, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/03/16/saving-grace/