TO THE EDITOR:
The Daily Tar Heel’s coverage of Village Plaza Apartments (“Mixed use development project challenged,” Oct. 30) leaves the impression the project and form-based code are unpopular and bad for Chapel Hill.
That impression is wrong. The Town Council approved the Ephesus-Fordham form-based code by a decisive majority, yet the DTH quoted only Matt Czajkowski, who was not among that majority.
As councilmembers recognized in approving it, form-based code is a powerful tool Chapel Hill needs to transform an outdated suburban area into a vibrant urban one.
By outlining precisely where and what type of development should occur, how elements of that development should be designed, and streamlining development review, the form-based code addresses several major obstacles with the traditional development approval process.
The project provides 266 desperately needed units in our undersupplied housing market and lays the groundwork for adjacent future retail and commercial redevelopment.
Those who oppose Village Plaza Apartments because of affordable housing ignore a critical detail: The town’s Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance doesn’t apply to rental properties because, under state law, Chapel Hill cannot enact rent control.
Increasing the supply of affordable housing is a priority, but improving affordability requires more than adding affordable units; it requires reducing our overreliance on property taxes by adding commercial and retail development and adding housing supply generally to help reduce rents across town.
That’s exactly what these developments will do — and that’s great news for Chapel Hill.
