Affordable Housing Hypocrites,
A perspective from Matt Bailey
“We don’t need luxury apartments. We need affordable housing!”
Chapel Hill’s No Growth Gang has uttered that mantra every time anyone attempted to address our housing crisis with the novel solution of building new housing.
They said it when 140 West Franklin replaced an ugly parking lot downtown.
Correction: CHALT did not exist at this time.
They said it when The Berkshire replaced an even uglier parking lot next to Whole Foods.
Correct statement however the parking lot remained vacant because of a process error the Council made.
They said it when they convinced Chapel Hill to spend $9 million we didn’t have to buy the American Legion property, just so a developer wouldn’t build apartments on the site. (Remember that bond you supported to improve Chapel Hill’s parks? Yeah— the town spent it instead to stop new homes for new neighbors. Then — they raised taxes, in part, to address a housing shortage.)
Correction: mixing up many inaccurate statements.
– Wrong purchase figure.
– Bond funds were not used
– Since there is no recreational space in the surrounding communities, the parks plan called for a park.
Local officials have heard the call for affordable housing — and they’re exploring it for an area where neighbors have wanted it for years — the Greene Tract.
Correction: CHALT did not speak nor did we make any statements about the Greene Tract. We do, however, support RENA and the surrounding neighborhoods (the Unity Task Force) in moving ahead with the transportation and environmental studies needed to determine what can be built there.
The Greene Tract is a 164-acre parcel jointly owned by Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro next to the Historic Rogers Road Neighborhood. After decades of neglecting, (or more accurately, abusing,) its residents, local officials are finally addressing long-broken promises to invest in the area. Tentative ideas would use 45 acres for a mix of affordable housing and economic investment, 11 acres for a new school and four acres for public recreation space — all while permanently preserving 86 acres as untouched nature. After decades of, (or more accurately, abusing,) its residents, local officials are finally addressing long-broken promises to invest in the area. Tentative ideas would use 45 acres for a mix of affordable housing and economic investment, 11 acres for a new school and four acres for public recreation space — all while permanently preserving 86 acres as untouched nature.
Correction: The current Chapel Hill mayor and council have been leaders in making up for past injustices to the RENA community. Under this council’s leadership, the town has paid for the installation of water and sewer, extended bus service and written protective zoning codes. RENA representatives and neighbors agree on what they want to happen and said so at the start of the public meeting. The community got some, but not all, of what they wanted because the interfering comments of officials from other communities confused some council members.
Unlike Chapel Hill’s affluent neighborhoods, who wield their privilege to block new homes in their neighborhoods through exclusionary zoning and neighborhood “conservation” districts, Rogers Road residents actually want local officials to use the Greene Tract for affordable housing and economic stimulation in their neighborhood.
Comment: We agree, yet RENA and their neighbors want it done right. They also want problem of access to the property resolved and the studies completed to enable them to determine how much and where affordable mixed income housing should be located. This is what the Chapel Hill resolution called for.
You’d think those opponents of “luxury apartments” would be thrilled to finally have “affordable housing” to support.
You’d be wrong.
A group calling itself “Friends Of The Greene Tract” sprung up to urge the Chapel Hill Town Council to scrap plans they’ve worked on for years with Orange County and Carrboro. They don’t oppose housing on the site, they claim. They merely oppose the current plans for housing on the site.
We can’t speak for this group, as it is not CHALT.
Problem is, Chapel Hill wasn’t voting on any specific concept plans for the Greene Tract. The town council was merely voting to move forward with a resolution to explore creating affordable housing on the site. Even after years of working with our local government partners to get to this point, we’re still years away from anyone moving in to a new home there.
This is incorrect. The resolution moves the process forward by setting deadlines for the studies to occur.
Ultimately, the Chapel Hill Town Council adopted an alternative resolution for the Greene Tract. Intended as a compromise, the new resolution not only kills 22 acres of possible housing, it will require Orange County and Carrboro to go back and vote to approve the changes, further delaying any work on a plan for months.
Correction. This statement is false as the process can move forward. A timeline and environmental studies are in place, along with deadlines. The results of the study are needed to determine how much of the land is actually buildable.
Even with the watered-down proposal, two council members flat out voted “no”: Hongbin Gu and Nancy Oates.
Coincidentally, both Gu and Oates won their seats with support from CHALT, the group that has opposed every significant effort to increase Chapel Hill’s desperate shortage of housing, all while claiming they merely oppose “luxury apartments” and would gladly support “affordable housing”.
Correction: While CHALT endorsed these candidates they vote their own minds and we don’t always agree. Hongbin Gu and Nancy Oates did not oppose affordable housing. They opposed specifying a specific land use before a study determined if the land was buildable.
The “no” vote of Hongbin Gu and Nancy Oates reveals the truth: Chapel Hill’s No Growth Gang only supports hypothetical affordable housing. When an opportunity arises to build real homes for real families, they’ll oppose “affordable housing” as vehemently as they oppose the privately built homes they deride as “luxury apartments.”
Now that the Greene Tact has separated the affordable housing advocates from the affordable housing hypocrites, let’s hope Chapel Hill voters replace the hypocrites with the advocates during this fall’s election.
That is Matt’s opinion. CHALT supports both affordable mixed-income housing, and the right of RENA and its neighbors (the Unity Task Force) to self-determination.