Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing Supply topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Chamber presents housing study: Rowan County needs 1,200 units, recommends zoning, infrastructure and a housing director
Summary
The county's economic development arm presented a housing study that estimates a shortfall of about 1,200 housing units and recommended conditional-use regulation for businesses, updated zoning/building rules, targeted infrastructure investments and a joint housing development director.
The Rowan County Chamber and Economic Development Commission presented findings from a county housing study and proposed six major recommendations to address a reported shortfall of about 1,200 housing units.
Jason Sloan, president and CEO of the Chamber, told the Feb. 18 fiscal court meeting the EDC's subcommittee led by Russ Ward compiled data to quantify housing gaps and identify actions the county can take to attract residential development. "We are 1,200 units short and that number is not getting smaller," Sloan said.
The study's core recommendations include: establishing conditional-use permit requirements for businesses locating in residential areas; reviewing and updating county building and zoning regulations to allow appropriate density and height where suitable; creating a comprehensive site-selection inventory for housing development; coordinating strategic infrastructure investments (especially water and sewer) to enable denser development; employing targeted incentives such as industrial revenue bonds; and hiring a full-time housing development director, ideally as a joint city-county position.
Why it matters: County leaders said the study provides a data-driven foundation for planning and for leveraging city, county and utility partnerships to bring water and sewer capacity to parcels where higher-density housing can be built. Sloan recommended a joint city–county director to coordinate planning, zoning and incentives across jurisdictions.
Officials encouraged the public to view the full report on the Chamber's website (moran?chamber link noted in the meeting packet) and said the EDC had approved the recommendations at its meeting the week prior. No formal fiscal action was taken at the meeting on the recommendations.
Ending: The Chamber and EDC will work with county planning staff and elected officials to evaluate regulatory changes, site inventories and potential incentives; the hiring of a housing director would require a separate funding and governance decision by the county and city.
