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Caution on housing

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Staff

Letter from the Editor

We ask our leaders to be forward looking about things, to take the next generation or two or seven into account when making decisions. But we also ask them to respond during times of crisis, and want to make sure that our society’s institutions don’t crumble and those in need are tended to.

That’s a tough balance to find during times like these when the economy is showing signs of life but is still dragged down by high unemployment, continuing foreclosures and tight credit.

For the past few years, local governments have been relatively frugal, putting off projects, deferring purchases and holding down personnel costs. In the year ahead, it will be tempting to be a little less frugal and move ahead with plans on pause.

But signs out of our national and state capitols are pointing to the need for caution. With leaders unwilling to tackle meaningful reform in either the tax code or entitlement programs, the discretionary budget at the state and federal level is being whacked at with a fervor unseen in recent times. And while this nibbling around the edges of our budget problems won’t change the long-term fiscal trajectory by much, it will have great impact at street level.

Among the early targets is federal and state support for local housing programs. These funds have been an important part of our housing strategy. They underpin attempts to keep a diverse housing base in a market that easily skews the other way. Affordability is not just some pie-in-the-sky goal, it is public policy that has seen concrete results. The partnership between local governments, the Community Home Trust and Habitat for Humanity has put hundred of homes in the hands of people for whom ownership was just out of reach. Most importantly, it has allowed people who work here to live here.

Now, with a hefty amount of affordable housing on the books, both organizations are faced with the difficult task of maintaining their investments so as to guarantee that they remain not just affordable, but attractive places to live.

The convergence of the looming loss of HOME and block grant money and the steadily increasing maintenance costs they face is why the leadership of the housing organizations appealed to the Chapel Hill Town Council Monday night to opt for a payment in lieu from the developers of the Aydan Court condominium project rather than add a dozen or so condos to their stock of housing.

Aside from the issue of whether condos have appeal to the families that are the main targets of the affordability program, the need for the funds is fairly clear-cut.

Given the environmental challenges on the site, Aydan Court still has a ways to go to win council approval. But the issue of whether to gather housing funds through payment in lieu or insist on affordable units onsite will continue to pop up as developments work their way through the boards of Carrboro and Chapel Hill.

Naturally, the towns should carefully weigh their options in every case. Given the times and the uncertainty over federal and state support, protecting the stock of housing we have could outweigh the need to increase it.

1 thought on “Caution on housing”

  1. Elliot Baron says:
    February 27, 2011 at 10:44 am

    I am glad to see that the Carrboro Citizen endorses an affordable housing policy that goes beyond the construction of additional units. The biggest financial threat to the future viability of this community involves the crippling costs of expanding the capacity of Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS).

    The cost of constructing a new elementary school has grown from $10 million dollars at Scroggs, to over $25 million at Morris Grove, which is already over capacity. The latest school proposal came in closer to $35 million. The fees and taxes derived from new construction provide but a drop in the bucket, compared to the burden these additional units place on the existing community’s infrastructure.

    Chapel Hill and Carrboro residents cannot continue to shoulder the tax increases that new housing forces them to endure. Larger affordable units carry a double whammy. They have a greater than market impact on school enrollment and provide a below market contribution. We are rapibly building our way towards the enevitable outcome of underfunded schools.

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