CHARLOTTE, N.C. — On Monday night, Charlotte City Council is planning to cover a lot of ground from leveraging city-owned land for high-quality affordable housing, to deciding who to give millions of dollars of COVID-19 relief funds from the American Rescue Act.
Affordable housing in Charlotte
Right now, the city is working with developers to finalize affordable housing proposals at four vacant city-owned properties which they identify as suitable for affordable housing developments.
At Monday's meeting, City Council approved four city-owned lots to be made into affordable housing properties:
- 11217 Providence Road West
- 1654 Newland Road
- 7605 University City Boulevard
- 7204/7202 South Boulevard
Multi-family rental developments are tentatively slated for the properties off Providence Road West, University City Blvd, and South Blvd. A single-family, for-sale townhome development is proposed for a property on Newland Road.
According to the City of Charlotte, the city needs an additional 32,000 affordable housing units to meet the current need.
Housing is considered affordable if a family spends no more than 30% of their income to live there.
"In Mecklenburg County right now, we have about 30%, 31% of households that are cost-burdened," Samuel Gunter, executive director of the North Carolina Housing Coalition, said. "They're spending more than 30% of their income on their housing, and that burden is disproportionately born by renters."
Using the 30% rule, the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners recently received data that a person in Charlotte needs to make a salary of $56,268 a year to afford a one-bedroom apartment and $70,704 to live in a two-bedroom apartment.
WCNC Charlotte is always asking "where's the money?" If you need help, reach out to the Defenders team by emailing money@wcnc.com.
COVID-19 relief funds
COVID-19 relief funds were also up for discussion, and city council members approved the use of the American Rescue Plan to fund up to $19 million for small businesses and hospitality, more than three million in grants for nonprofits, and more than a million dollars for local food production.
The city already received $71 million from the U.S Treasury last year, with another installment expected in May.
Charlotte City Council also discussed a five-year contract for new body cameras for CMPD with an estimated cost of $4 million.
Contact Tradesha Woodard at twoodard1@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Contact Kendall Morris at kmorris2@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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