Regulations Hamper Affordable Housing Development Project By Frank Ruggiero Coupled with the availability of water, the town of Boone’s recently imposed steep slope and view-shed regulations may hamper a proposed affordable housing development. Tom Honeycutt, manager with Laurel Ridge Housing LLC, returned before the Boone Town Council at last Thursday’s regular meeting to request water and sewer service for an affordable housing development that would be located at the corner of N.C. 105 and Poplar Grove Road in Boone. At January’s meeting, council members decided to table action on the matter, since the property is located within a secondary pressure zone. In Boone, land located 3,476 feet above sea level is designated as secondary pressure zone because additional pumps are required to transport water above that elevation. Ordinance 05-01 dictates that service extensions into the secondary pressure zone will not be approved, though a connection to an existing water main in such a zone may be considered where the connection is within corporate limits. Considering the water main would have to be extended to reach Laurel Ridge Housing’s property, the council decided to wait until a meeting of the water committee discussed secondary pressure zone issues before reaching a final decision. The project would contain six buildings with a total of 84 units, Honeycutt said. The number of units was scaled back from 120 due to view-shed requirements. He said the buildings would be two-three level splits, with two stories on one side and three on the back. At the January meeting, Honeycutt said this particular project would include one- to three-bedroom units for families earning 60 percent or less of the area median income of $53,000 a year, with no rental subsidy involved. Prices would range from $450 for one-bedroom units, with two-bedroom units coming in between $450 and $600, and three-bedroom units starting at $600, Honeycutt said, adding it depends on the market. Too Steep? Council member Lynne Mason said she’d visited the property and noted, “The land appears to be pretty steep.” She asked Honeycutt if he’d be developing above the 100 foot view-shed line, which determines allowable building densities. “I’m not sure I agree with that, but you’ve got a map,” Honeycutt said, referring to the view-shed preservation map. He said building heights would not exceed the 35 foot limit, and town manager Greg Young said the map doesn’t attempt to determine whether or not development could be seen from the major corridor, in this case N.C. 105. Council member Bunk Spann asked if Honeycutt had an analysis done on the portion of land in the view-shed protection area, and Honeycutt said it appears three and a quarter acres are not in the view-shed, “which probably doesn’t work.” “The question, really, is the view-shed situation is a little bit confusing, because on one hand it talks about 100 feet above the floor of the valley, wherever that is, yet on the other hand I’m hearing discussion about 100 feet above the major highway,” Honeycutt said. Spann clarified that only the highway determination applies. Mason reiterated that the property is located in the secondary pressure zone and is not served by a main water line. She noted that W.K. Dickson, the consulting firm that aided the town in its water plan, encouraged the council to address the secondary pressure zone in its water system analysis master plan. “It’s my understanding … that we need to work towards consolidation of the pressure zones,” she said. Rick Miller, director of Boone Public Utilities, agreed, saying the town should avoid approving ad hoc systems. “If we want to serve the secondary pressure zone, it has to be the entire zone and not just portions of it,” he said. Area businessman Roger Wright spoke in support of the project, stressing to the council that it would mean affordable housing in Boone. “I would remind us all that one of the reasons we tabled this (in January) was because we had a real desire to see if there was some way we could make this work under the current regulation,” Spann said. “A current barrier to this project is the fact that the majority of it is in the secondary pressure zone, which creates a problem for us under the current regulation.” Spann said the council will need to find a “way to move forward.” Wrong piece? “Unfortunately, it’s the wrong piece of land for this project right now,” Mason said, adding she’d be in full support of the project were the land in the primary pressure zone. “I think the project itself is something we need,” council member Janet Pepin said. “The issue has been how do we make it happen. We have been talking about changes to the secondary pressure zones, but that is a comprehensive change that needs a little more discussion. It’s a question of timing – not ‘wanting to do this,’ but ‘timing to do this.’” Council member Dempsey Wilcox acknowledged the council is restrained by the water ordinance but said it seems, at this point, that the council is merely hiding behind it. All it would take is a 3-2 vote to repeal the ordinance, he said. “It will be a generation before we do anything about secondary pressure zones, and huge parts of the town available are in secondary pressure zones,” Wilcox said. “To say we can’t have affordable housing because of 05-01, I think is just hiding behind it. We can’t say we want to have good affordable housing; we just can’t have it there. Well, where?” Mason said the land seemed challenging for development, and Mayor Loretta Clawson agreed, calling it very steep. Council member Rennie Brantz expressed concern that if the council didn’t seize this opportunity, there probably wouldn’t be many others. “If we can’t find a way to support this now, who will make a proposal like this in the future, considering the limitations and obstacles that appear to exist?” he said. Wilcox said the water committee delved into the subject of the secondary pressure zone but adjourned without a result, and Pepin agreed. “For it to be on the agenda tonight before we explored all that is a timing issue,” she said. Mason said she’d be comfortable examining the policy before making a decision, and Spann said he’d like another meeting of the water committee to deal solely with secondary pressure zone issues. Wilcox moved to table Honeycutt’s request, Mason seconded, and the motion passed unanimously. The council and water committee will meet March 8 at 5 p.m. in town council chambers, located at 1500 Blowing Rock Road.