ELIZABETHTOWN — The Town Council in Elizabethtown is considering properties for potential installation of income based multi-family housing.
Sarah P. Odio, project manager, with the UNC School of Government, explained the process to the board in a PowerPoint presentation at last Monday night’s meeting.
“The locations have not been determined yet,” Town Manager Eddie Madden said before the meeting. “That is going to be part of the closed session discussion.”
Madden asked Odio during the meeting if there was any requirement that it all be in one place. Odio said that the housing does not have to be all in one place, but that it can be more difficult to spread them around.
The program would be considered a public-private partnership set up through the state with DFI, known as the development finance initiative. This involves creating affordable housing for “low or moderate income households in hurricane impacted communities.”
“We work on identifying the sites, the pre-developement process, and the selection of a development partner,” Odio said. “Affordable housing is defined by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development as costing no more than 30 percent of a household’s monthly gross income.”
Income limits would vary based on family size; rent would be set accordingly as well.
To sweeten the pot for investors there are tax credits. The goal is to decide if the project is feasible. The town first has to secure a site, and then the process could start.
Sites have to be outside the 100- and 500-year flood areas, have a minimum of 60 units, public ownership and a clear path for site control. In addition there has be existing connections for public utilities and a close proximity to amenities.