Agenda - 05-01-2008-4e - Laserfiche WebLink

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ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: May 1, 2008 Action Agenda Item No. ~- ~ e. SUBJECT: Housing Bond Program -Orange Community Housing and Land Trust DEPARTMENT: Housing/Community Dev. PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No ATTACHMENT(S): Location Map INFORMATION CONTACT: Tara L. Fikes, 919-245-2490 PURPOSE: To consider awarding housing bond funds in the amount of $100,000 to Orange Community Housing and Land Trust (OCHLT) to purchase a dwelling and lot on Milton Avenue in Chapel Hill. BACKGROUND: An application for $100,000 was received to assist in the acquisition of an existing dwelling and•lot (0.156 acre or 7,159 square feet) at 1.13 Milton Avenue in Chapel Hill from a current land trust homeowner that OCHLT intends to lease as an affordable rental unit. The property will be leased to a family earning no more than 60% of the area median income. This proposal is slightly different from the normal land trust model that provides for the purchase and resell of land trust properties when they become available. In this case, OCHLT has determined that this house has structural problems that prohibit them from reselling the property. The dwelling next door, at 111 Milton Avenue has similar problems and OCHLT now leases that property at below market rates as well. Future plans for both properties - 111 and 113 Milton Avenue -are to raze the existing dwellings and redevelop these lots with three (3) townhomes that would be available for purchase by first-time homebuyers. OCHLT expects to begin this process in the next two to three years. As required by the Orange County Housing Bond Policy, the Project Review and Selection (PRS) Committee held apre-application conference with staff from OCHLT to discuss the proposed application and reviewed the submitted applications. The Executive Director was then notified of the committee's recommendation and offered the opportunity to discuss the committee's funding recommendation. That offer was declined since there were no outstanding questions from the committee or OCHLT officials. Members of the Project Review and Selection Committee include: County Staff Members: Willie Best, Paul Thames, Craig Benedict, Perdita Holtz, and Tara Fikes; Commissioner Valerie Foushee; and Affordable Housing Advisory Board Members Barbara Mull, Jabrina Robinson, and Gary Gaddy. The Committee also includes representatives from the Towns of Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and Hillsborough in the persons of James Harris, Loryn Barnes, and Margaret Hauth respectively.