CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The Chapel Hill Town Council convened on Monday evening to discuss zoning changes for new housing options.
If approved, the Land Use Management Ordinance, or LUMO, would be amended to allow for more duplexes, townhouses and other medium density housing. Medium density housing is defined as a category of residential development that falls between detached suburban housing and large multi-story buildings.
Community members were not allowed to comment at the meeting. Even so, members of the public packed the Chapel Hill Library room, with signs pleading council members to “Protect Our Community.”
Chapel Hill planning director Brittany Waddell stated that the LUMO amendment is essential to efforts to promote “incremental progress in this area.”
“We seek to provide a balance to find housing for all,” Waddell said.
Council members asked town planning officials with an economic analysis of the amendment’s impact on the community. Members also requested for the project’s next steps to be better defined.
Most council members indicated support for the amendment. Tai Huynh, the youngest member of the town council, was complementary of the proposal, reflecting on his own family’s experiences with housing affordability.
“We are fighting to make more people a part of our community,” Huynh said. “Full steam ahead.”
As of now, Adam Searing is the sole council member who has vocally expressed opposition to the proposal.
“This plan is not effective. It doesn’t do what we want it to do… We should focus on what’s effective,” Searing said.
The Town Council will reconvene next Wednesday for its regular meeting.