TITLE: Title
Creation of an Affordable Housing Advisory Commission
PURPOSE: The purpose of this item is for the Board to consider approving a permanent resident advisory board for affordable housing to be called the Affordable Housing Advisory Commission
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DEPARTMENT: Town Manager’s Office
CONTACT INFORMATION: Nate Broman-Fulks, nbroman-fulks@townofcarrboro.org <mailto:nbroman-fulks@townofcarrboro.org>, 919-918-7314
INFORMATION: The Affordable Housing Task Force was established on June 26, 2012, for the purpose of creating recommendations for an affordable housing strategy. In June of 2014, this goal was accomplished when the Board of Aldermen approved the Town’s Affordable Housing Goals and Strategies document. Since the approval of the Town’s Affordable Housing Goals and Strategies, the Task Force has been assisting staff through guidance in the implementation of the plan. The Task Force term has been open-ended, meaning there has been no hard date to disband it.
Thanks to staff and Task Force input, the Town now has achieved several major milestones:
• Dedicated staffing for affordable housing issues and strategies.
• Adoption of the Affordable Housing Strategy by the Board of Aldermen.
• Significant expansion of the Affordable Housing Fund and initial revisions to the guidelines for deploying resources from the fund.
• Approval of nine affordable housing funding applications, totaling $443,867, since revisions to the guidelines were approved.
• The creation of new affordable housing programs to assist in the implementation of the Town’s strategies.
Since the town’s priority strategies are now well-defined and have dedicated staff support, and progress is being made towards implementing the Town’s strategies, staff would like to propose the Task Force disband and a permanent advisory commission be created. This commission is structured in a similar manner to other Town advisory boards, and with the purpose of providing guidance to the Board of Aldermen. The Task Force discussed this matter at its May 15th meeting and is in agreement with staff’s recommendation.
Attachment A is an ordinance amending Chapter 3 of the Town Code that would establish a Carrboro Affordable Housing Advisory Commission. This ordinance establishes the composition of the proposed Affordable Housing Advisory Commission, the rules governing it, and the work it would take on.
FISCAL & STAFF IMPACT: Staff will serve as a non-voting liaison to the Commission.
RECOMMENDATION:r Staff recommends the Board approve the creation of an Affordable Housing Advisory Commission by approving the attached ordinance.