Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt wants to find the right balance of factors that will attract developers to build affordable housing in the city’s Ephesus-Fordham development district.

At Monday night’s Chapel Hill Town Council public hearing, council members and Orange County residents discussed factors like who qualifies for affordable housing and what percentage of housing units a developer must offer as affordable units. Kleinschmidt likened these factors to ingredients in a pot of soup.

“We might really really like a certain kind of ingredient, but it might spoil the pot,” said Kleinschmidt.

“The most serious problem is rental right now because, as you know, the Section 8 housing rental market simply collapsed,” said Ellie Kinnaird during the public comment period. Kinnaird served as an N.C. senator and as a mayor of Carrboro.

The current proposal would allow developers to erect one-story or two-story buildings without an affordable housing requirement. The proposal says a developer can build between two and five stories if the developer offers 10% of the housing units as affordable units. The proposal requires affordable rental units to remain affordable for 15 years.

Council member Jim Ward said developers should be required to build rental housing that remains affordable for more than 15 years. “I’m not supportive of 15 years of affordable rental,” said Ward. “It’s going to have 200 years of un-affordable rental after those 15 years.”

Kleinschmidt said he wants more than 10% of housing units to be built as affordable units.

The discussion revealed that the council will need to iron out details to accommodate different parties including developers and those looking for affordable housing in Chapel Hill.

The council invites public comment on this topic and will hold another public hearing on November 24.

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