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B. RELEVANT PUBLIC POLICIES. <br />1. orange County. Orange County enacted a density bonus for affordable <br />housing in 1990, allowing up to 50% increase in density for developments <br />that are all affordable and sold to qualifying low and moderate- income <br />households. Other public policies generally do not have an adverse <br />impact on the cost of housing. <br />2. Chapel Hill. The Town of Chapel Hill has adopted zoning and <br />development regulations that, while protecting the quality of life desired <br />by its residents, add cost to the development of new housing <br />opportunities. Within the designated urban services area, where access <br />to employment, transit, day care, schools, and public utilities is located, <br />the supply of vacant land is small and the price is high. In addition to the <br />high cost of available land, development costs in Chapel Hill are high: <br />plan preparation, processing fees, utility installation, street improvements, <br />and lengthy review schedules all add to development costs. In Chapel <br />Hill, the Town Council has responded by special accommodations for <br />assisted housing development: waiving processing fees, expediting <br />review schedules, and modifying street improvement requirements. <br />Currently, the zoning ordinance provides a density bonus for rental <br />projects that include units affordable to low- income families. As <br />developers and non - profit organizations interested in housing <br />development begin to identify the actual cost impact of local development <br />regulations, the Town can provide subsidies or regulatory flexibility to <br />encourage development of affordable housing. <br />3. Carrboro. Carrboro's zoning ordinance offers flexibility in the design of <br />infrastructure, and includes a wide variety of allowable housing types, <br />including mobile homes, modular homes, townhouses, and condominium <br />developments. The review process is streamlined to avoid unnecessary <br />delays, and the resulting supply of affordable units is relatively large. <br />4. Hillsborough, Public policy for affordable housing in Hillsborough is in <br />the process of being assessed by staff to determine the current situation <br />and to compile a housing element to the Comprehensive Plan. While <br />density bonuses are not provided for in the Zoning Ordinance, other <br />regulations are supportive of affordable housing including numerous <br />overlay and mobile home park districts that allow single -wide mobile <br />homes. Also, doublewide mobile homes, duplexes, and modular homes <br />are allowed in all residentially zoned areas including the Historic District. <br />Site plan review for multi - family development is expedited by the use of <br />consultants and approvals can generally be obtained in about three <br />28 <br />