Minutes 03-19-2019 Regular Meeting

Browse Search

16 the projects. She said, otherwise, there has been no monitoring of these projects, and she and her team are trying to put such checks in place. Commissioner Marcoplos referred to the transportation category and the point value assignments, and asked if it would be worth assigning more points to those projects that provide transportation to residents. Sherrill Hampton said it could be, and that is at the pleasure of the Board. She said staff likes to work with the transportation department to see how projects coincide with available public transportation. She said it is important to look at the totality of the transportation needs (bus, on demand, etc.), and how the County can meet those needs. Commissioner Marcoplos said if a development has its own transportation, then the on demand services may not be necessary. Commissioner Greene said she wants to know how serious the Board is about investing in new affordable housing that is transit accessible, as transit costs are a huge burden to many people. She said she would like the Board to think about only investing in new projects that have access to transit/transportation, and she proposed that#5 in section E say, "the project is located in the area of the County traditionally underserved by housing development, and if it is a new development, has proximate access to transportation, whether public or provided by the new development." Commissioner Dorosin said there are some challenges here, and asked if that would mean that affordable housing is only built where there is access to transportation. He said the Board would need to be clear as to what it meant, and just because a development provides a van does not mean it offers on-demand service. He said it would be good to have more discussion about the point Commissioner Greene is making, and at some point the cost of building housing in areas traditionally underserved by housing development is going to be significantly cheaper than building it in Chapel Hill or Carrboro. He asked if there is a way to factor in the transit costs, whatever type it may be, to do that. Commissioner Greene said it would not be cheaper to build in the County, and then have to drive into the towns to work. Commissioner Dorosin said it might be comparable, and if the desire is to disperse some of the housing throughout the County, then it is a consideration. He referred to #5 in section E, and said the wording "traditionally underserved by housing development" is fairly ambiguous, and he would like to see more specificity. Commissioner Dorosin referred to the question of the non-profit and for-profit, and said he appreciated adding the points for the non-profits, but the points that go to a project that repays the funds and pays property taxes should be at least equal. He said right now a developer would get 12 points, and a non-profit would get 15 points. Sherrill Hampton said both should be 12, and staff will correct this. Commissioner Dorosin said the change in the number of units is good. Commissioner Dorosin asked if there is a timeline for implementation and putting out the request for proposals (RFP) and the next round of money. Sherrill Hampton said the second phase of$2.5 million will be put out between August and September, and she said these will be brought to the BOCC by December, with letters going out in time to sync with an applications being made for low income housing tax credits. Commissioner Greene said transit is an environmental issue, and asked if item D-4 could include access to transit as an environmental impact. She said D-5 refers to projects that are connected to a water and sewer community, and asked if the Board would ever support a project that did not meet these criteria. Sherrill Hampton said the board had this in the original plan, and she did not want to delete it. Commissioner Greene said this seems to be a given. Sherrill Hampton agreed.