It’s dubbed the “Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance” by Chapel Hill officials, who have voted to again thwart market forces by placing more rules and requirements on residential developers. Which means, of course, that developers will stay even further away from Chapel Hill than they already do, rather than buy into the completely arbitrary calculation that developers must provide, for example, a certain percentage of their units at a price equal to no more than 65 percent of median income.
I don’t question council members’ intent to help people find housing in an area that is expensive. What is sad and frustrating is that they continually fail to recognize that there’s a reason the area is expensive. Their own policies hurt the people they want to help. If the town would lift its many land-use restrictions, developers would find Chapel Hill a more viable investment. That would lead to market studies to assess the area’s demand for housing. Developers would build a business plan to meet that demand.
By the way, the town has included fascinating options for developers. According to the Herald-Sun, a developer (emphasis is mine): “can satisfy the requirement by dedicating land to the town or its designee, dedicating existing units, making payments in lieu of housing or bringing forth an alternative proposal that provides or enables the provision of affordable housing units.”
In other words, give the town something of value and they’ll let you in. Hmm.
