Local NAACP Lobbies for Uses of Chapel Hill Affordable Housing Bond

Earlier this year, the Chapel Hill Town Council approved a $10 million bond referendum for affordable housing on the November ballot.

Last Week, president of the Chapel Hill – Carrboro NAACP Anna Richards penned a letter to the council recognizing the bond as a “first step” in the fight for affordable housing in the area but urging for more action.

Among her concerns listed in the letter is the lack of a clear, well-defined plan for the $10 million.

“How is it going to be spent,” Richards asked in an interview with WCHL. “Where is it going to have any real impact to the goals that we say we want and town says it wants as well?”

According to the letter, the average apartment rentals in Chapel Hill are unaffordable for anyone earning less than 80 percent of the area median income and about 70 percent of the bond would be needed just for developing affordable housing on town-owned land, leaving just $3 million for other affordable housing projects.

Richards and the NAACP would like to ensure that this funding reaches those earning 60 percent of the area median income and less.

“When we talk about affordable housing, we’re talking about maintaining housing at a level where our policemen, our teachers, our firemen can afford to live in Chapel Hill,” said Richards, “which, today, that is not the case.”

The lack of affordable housing in the area is an issue which is inherently socioeconomic and racial in nature, according to Richards. She said that was reflected in the percentage of African Americans living in Chapel Hill dropping over the last 25 years.

Statistics like that have Richards considering the implications of a less-diverse town.

“We are seeing people leave not because they want to, but because they can’t afford to live here,” said Richards.

The bond will be up for vote on the November 6 election.