Orange County NC Website
ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: January 20, 2011 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. ~ " Q <br />SUBJECT: Long-Term Affordability Policy Exception Request <br />DEPARTMENT: Housing, Human Rights and PUBLIC HEARING: (YIN) No <br />Community Development <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />Long-Term Affordability Policy INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Letter from Community Home Trust Tara L. Fikes, 245-2490 <br />PURPOSE: To consider a request from the Community Home Trust (CHT) to allow a change in <br />the period of affordability for aloes-income housing tax credit project known as The Landings at <br />Winmore. <br />BACKGROUND: In 2000, the Orange County Board of Commissioners approved along-Term <br />Affordability Policy that requires all housing projects receiving County funding to execute a <br />Declaration of Restrictive Covenants that requires the property to remain affordable for 99 years <br />after receiving public funding. Since that time all housing projects have been subjected to this <br />requirement with the exception of projects utilizing the land trust model which utilizes a 99 year <br />ground lease model to ensure long-term affordability. <br />The Community Home Trust (CHT) received $300,000 in local HOME Investment Partnership <br />Program funds in 2007 to assist with the development of a 58 unit low income housing tax credit <br />project in Carrboro known as The Landings at Winmore. Crosland LLC is the project developer <br />and has entered into a partnership agreement with CHT that provides a right of first refusal to <br />Community Home Trust to purchase the property in 15 years and maintain the units as <br />affordable rental property. <br />The NC Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Program has a 30 year period of affordability <br />requirement and both CHT and Crosland are petitioning to have the County's Declaration of <br />Restrictive Covenants also require a 30 year period of affordability instead of 99 years. This <br />request is primarily being made because of the NC LITHC Program requirement of a 30 year <br />affordability period and because CHT contends that this arrangement "meets the spirit of the <br />County's desire for 99 year affordability". <br />County staff have reviewed this request, spoken with officials from the NC Housing Finance <br />Agency about the requirements of the State's LITHC Program, and have determined that the <br />County's 99 year requirement does not cause any undue hardship to this project. Thus, staff <br />cannot identify a reason to allow this exception to policy. Additionally, there have been no <br />exceptions to the 99 year affordability period since policy implementation. <br />