Haywood County commissioners unanimously approved a developer agreement and a budget ordinance for $2,497,828 to Mountain Projects to develop 9 to 18 low- to moderate-income (LMI) housing units under HUD CDBG Disaster Recovery funds administered by the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency. Hannah White, the county’s Community and Economic Development Manager, presented the project materials and timetable.

White told commissioners the project — originally part of Tropical Storm Fred recovery funding — focuses primarily on infrastructure and will ensure all lots and homes are deed-restricted to LMI households. "All the units go to your LMI, so your low and moderate income households," White said. She said Mountain Projects’ board approved the updated developer agreement in mid-June and that the county received the final paperwork in May.

White described a conservative plan that would preserve the county’s eligibility for CDBG-DR funds even if other funding sources change, noting the project requested $2.5 million of an estimated $10,000,000 total project cost. The county will use CDBG-DR funding to complete a full site plan and perform required environmental reviews. She said the projected timeline, if everything goes smoothly, would start environmental and site planning in the current quarter and aim for project completion by 2027.

White and staff identified other funding sources and program partners: a Dogwood (bridal) grant for acquisition and Phase 1 environmental work, and USDA self-help (sweat-equity) housing programs to provide admin capacity, construction supervision, training and equipment. White also presented HUD area median income figures for Haywood County (HUD AMI for 2025 $88,500 for a family of four) and an income chart tied to LMI eligibility.

Mountain Projects CEO/board representatives and county staff stated the organization has a strong track record locally; a commissioner commented that Mountain Projects builds more houses in the county than Habitat, according to his remarks. The board voted unanimously to approve the agreement and budget ordinance authorizing the county manager to execute related documents.