The Mayor’s Committee on Affordable Rental Housing should be applauded for its hard work to create concrete strategies aimed at creating affordable housing in Chapel Hill.
The committee will present the draft of a comprehensive plan to the Town Council on Wednesday. The draft lists resources for funding and outlines short-term, mid-range and long-range strategies to implement affordable rental housing. Strategies include pursuing a low-income housing tax credit project and incentivizing property owners to make available more affordable units.
The strategies are aimed at providing housing for all low-income residents, from those making only $9,000 a year to families making about 80 percent of the area median income.
In the past, nonprofit housing providers in Chapel Hill have targeted only families at the bottom of the low-income spectrum. The town should be praised for its efforts to finally address the needs of all low-income residents.
Chapel Hill is an inclusive community, and providing housing options for all incomes is an essential step in maintaining diversity. Many workers earning salaries in Chapel Hill cannot currently afford to live in town, but the strategies set forth by the committee will allow these people to consider housing options in Chapel Hill.
Despite the optimistic future, there are some inevitable hurdles the committee cannot address. Many existing housing units are not affordable, and private property managers are not required to accept the Section 8 voucher program, which helps low-income families afford private housing.
However, the committee’s model for affordability can be expected to encourage existing housing in the area to follow suit.
The town should implement these strategies and continue exploring ways to ensure affordability.
