5.8.24 BOA Agenda Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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166 The Special Use Permit for the Woodsedge Mobile Home Park was approved almost 40 years ago. The modification of the Special Use Permit today will open up a large area of vacant and underutilized land in a location recognized by both Orange County and Hillsborough as having the potential for increased density and mixed-use communities and is consistent with the land use plans shown in the exhibits above. Opening the southern portion of the Woodsedge property to the potential for future development would provide an opportunity to bring more badly needed moderately priced and affordable homes to Orange County. Communities across our region are experiencing a housing crisis where there simply aren't enough moderately priced and affordable homes to meet the needs of those who live and work in the community. A CNN report earlier this year put the national housing shortage at 6.5 million homes. Locally, a report by the North Carolina Budget and Tax Center given at North Carolina's annual Fair Housing Conference puts North Carolina's shortage at 900,000 homes by 2030. A shortage of homes has a direct and significant impact on home prices. When you don't have an adequate supply of homes, prices go up, making them unaffordable to more people in the community. The proposed Special Use Permit modification would allow for the potential of more workforce housing, and affordable housing to be built. Homes that are located near employment centers, close to schools and shopping, and surrounded by transit corridors that can provide opportunities for mass transit. The proposed Special Use Permit modification will greatly improve the location of open space previously dedicated by the Woodsedge Special Use Permit by applying the criteria found in the Orange County Unified Development Ordinance to thoughtfully allocate Open Space (Orange County UDO Section 7.12.4). The open space dedicated by the modification of the original Special Use Permit in 1991 was not chosen based on the environmental or culturally sensitive criteria that are currently used to evaluate the most appropriate areas for open space. The dedicated open space happened to be available within the previously surveyed lot and therefore easy to dedicate without delay or undue expense (See Exhibit A Plat Book 56, Page 11, and Exhibit B). It was easy just to move 25 acres from the western portion of the already platted lots to the southeastern corner of the platted lots.