Chapel Hill’s public housing program presented its updated master plan during the town council’s meeting on April 10. It’s part of Chapel Hill’s larger strategic plan for improving housing options across all income levels.

Chapel Hill’s public housing population makes up about two percent of the town’s residents. But out of the 336 units available, more than 89 percent of them are full, with nearly half of the public housing communities at full capacity. It’s one of the many reasons the federal Housing and Urban Development department rated Chapel Hill’s public housing system as ‘troubled.’

Faith Thompson, the town’s public housing director, said her team has worked to change that rating and the master plan will improve the system’s condition even further.

“That was definitely an eye-opener for me,” Thompson said. “It was based on activities that occurred prior to my coming into the position, but we’ve taken several steps now to turn that around.”

The Public Housing Master Plan is a five-year plan meant to renovate and improve the existing units in the town. Between 2020 and 2022, the town expects to replace appliances and lighting within all units and resurface some communities’ parking lots. After that, updates to windows, heating and cooling units, and cabinetry in the developments will be scheduled as two of the oldest communities undergo major renovations.

Chapel Hill mayor Pam Hemminger said in an interview with WCHL the lack of new public housing developments is a big element of why these existing units need renovation.

“If you look at the age of the public housing,” said Hemminger, “the oldest ones started in 1967 and have only had minor renovations since then. We haven’t built anything [new] since the 1980s. So, it’s time to do something.”

Another important part of the master plan is expanding its community engagement. The program hopes to reestablish a resident council for its public housing communities to be an active voice in the town. Thompson also said they are exploring more ways to connect people in public housing to available jobs in Chapel Hill.

Council member Nancy Oates commended Thompson at the meeting for her program’s current efforts and plans for community engagement.

“You’ve taken a comprehensive approach to this,” Oates said. “You’re looking at the whole person and dealing with skills development, jobs, and preparing the children to succeed and getting the communities involved. That goes beyond just providing a nice place for people to live.”

The next step for the master plan is the major renovation of the Trinity Court development, which has been closed for roughly a year.

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