Alderman Alex Zaffron and Mayor Mark Chilton will take a look at the town’s affordable housing strategy with the hopes of finding some solutions to an ongoing conundrum about how to deal with a slew of downtown condominium projects.
As part of a preliminary review of affordable housing plans for the Robertson Square development, the board, at its meeting Tuesday night at Town Hall, was faced with another developer asking to provide payments in lieu rather than provide the three units to meet a 15 percent affordable housing requirement.
And even though the idea has merit according to Robert Dowling, director of the Orange County Land Trust, the town’s recently adopted affordable housing ordinance won’t allow it.
Dowling, who said he remains a strong proponent of affordable housing downtown, reminded the board that they will be faced with heavy requests for subsidies as the Land Trust tries to sell a rapidly growing inventory, including more than 100 condominiums. Dowling said in some cases it makes more sense to accept the payment than to build the units.
In the case of Robertson Square, the payment would be roughly $90,000 per unit. Developer David Ripperton has told the town that condominium fees would make the units less affordable over time and offered to provide the payment in lieu. But Ripperton wants the payment to allow him to claim the three additional units in density bonus he would get if he actually provided the affordable units.
Town Attorney Michael Brough said the ordinance won’t allow a developer to claim the density bonus for a payment in lieu, even if the money goes to the Land Trust for other projects. “It may be a commendable objective, but it’s not what the ordinance says,†Brough said.
With more projects in the pipeline, Zaffron and Chilton agreed to look at some strategies to give the board additional options when considering similar proposals.
In the meantime, the board asked Ripperton to look at an arrangement similar to one adopted in Chapel Hill, where a transaction transfer fee collected whenever the market-rate condos turn over helps cover the cost of fees for affordable units.