The Town of Hillsborough recently hosted its first Affordable Housing Workshop, the first of several that the town plans to host in an effort to inform a strategic approach to affordable housing.
The town currently does not have a dedicated housing department, and Hillsborough Mayor Mark Bell said the series of meetings will hopefully refine the town’s affordable housing initiative outlined in its 2023 Comprehensive Sustainability Plan, which seeks to guide plans for future town developments, keeping social, environmental, and economic goals in mind.
Monday’s workshop invited a variety of Orange County nonprofit housing providers and assistance programs to engage in a back-and-forth conversation about existing affordable housing in Hillsborough and how the town can move forward in developing a strategic plan. In future workshops, the council also plans to speak with current and former residents with lived experience in affordable housing, as well as host a meeting about zoning and market rate housing.
Bell opened the discussion by asking the community partners for guidance as to what affordable housing types and projects the town should prioritize. Habitat For Humanity President and CEO Jennifer Player said Hillsborough is short in supply of all unit types.
“The sad answer is we have to do it all,” she said. “It’ll be interesting to see how this conversation develops, but we really need to find a way to invest in all of those different parts of the housing spectrum because they all rely on each other.”
Most of the subject matter experts stressed the need for a variety of affordable housing types serving both low- and moderate-income households.
CASA Project Manager Cornelis Verkerk said rent prices in Hillsborough have “skyrocketed” since the pandemic. He explained more than 50 percent of renters in Orange County are cost burdened, spending more than 30 percent of their income on rent. He said there are currently few affordable homeowner opportunities for even those earning the median income, which increases the pressure on affordable rental units available.
“That only further squeezes people at lower income levels when you have people that are earning the median income and above who can’t afford to own a home,” he said.
Verkerk suggested the town provide the middle housing types, like accessory dwelling units (ADUs), duplexes, triplexes, and other housing types that he said typically tend to be more affordable.
Several partners also asked the town to consider the housing options for Hillsborough’s various communities, especially those of lower incomes. EmPOWERment, Inc. Executive Director Delores Bailey said she’s concerned for the elderly community, teachers, hospital workers, and high school graduates, for example.
“EmPOWERMENT is a HUD-approved housing counseling agency, and we can bring people through our housing program that educates them around what they should buy and how they should buy, but if there’s no inventory for them, then that’s for naught,” she said. “Hillsborough ought to be a place where people can live affordably.”
The town also sought guidance on how to best leverage the town’s limited affordable housing budget. The town’s Comprehensive Sustainability Plan has committed to providing the equivalent of 2 cents of the tax rate to support affordable housing, about $325,000 per year.
Player said it generally costs nonprofits like Habitat $300,000 to build just one affordable housing unit. She suggested the town’s budget could see a higher impact if dedicated towards repairs for existing units and properties.
Several nonprofit partners also stressed that the town will need to seek additional monetary support through grants and federal funds. Player specifically cited Orange County’s Capital Project funding grants and Chapel Hill’s $15 million affordable housing initiative, urging to see if there is a way to leverage county funds to areas with fewer housing programs.
“So if Carrboro has funds, or Chapel Hill has funds, or whatever that looks like, then could we then actually use the county funds more for places like Hillsborough where there aren’t additional funds available,” she said.
Player continued by asking how the town is prepared to keep affordable housing processes quick and streamlined – especially with no dedicated staff to affordable housing. For Habitat’s projects in Chapel Hill, she said it’s been helpful to have a designated town employee to communicate with. Without one, she said projects can be tricky and expensive.
“We have a project right now that has been delayed, and delayed, and delayed, and we have families who have been waiting for 18 months to move into this home, and only because of some sort of red tape process issues are they still not in their homes,” she said.
Player continued by stating that the town’s lack of an affordable housing team will likely place a larger burden on the town’s existing staff, asking if the town plans to explore adding additional staff for the plan in the future.
“We’ve been asking for years to have a representative from Hillsborough on the Housing Coalition,” she added. “There’s no one who attends the regular meetings so there’s this real vacuum of information, and collaboration, and partnership between the providers and the town of Hillsborough.”
Hillsborough Town Manager Eric Peterson said there were no general fund positions added for the next three fiscal years. Especially for a small town like Hillsborough, Commissioner Kathleen Ferguson said she grapples with what a realistic staff commitment looks like. She said she’s hopeful, however, that the meetings will allow for continued discussion and collaboration towards creative solutions.
“It’s a daunting issue thinking how can we stretch the limits of our authority, how can we stretch those dollars,” she said. “Housing is a human right, and I’m so glad the upside is that everyone in this room deeply believes this.”
The Town of Hillsborough plans to host a second workshop in the fall, but the date has yet to be finalized.
Featured photo via the Town of Hillsborough.
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