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Mooresville board to consider formal housing authority powers with policy barring town as landlord
Summary
Staff recommended the Board repeal an initial resolution and adopt a replacement policy granting the board statutory housing authority powers while prohibiting the town from acting as a landlord or directly operating rental projects.
Town staff asked the commissioners to adopt a resolution designating the Board of Commissioners to exercise the powers of a housing authority and to adopt a related policy that would limit how those powers are used.
Amber Goudreau, community development planner, told the board the proposed policy (BPPCD 3) would give the town the statutory tools available to a housing authority but also explicitly forbid the town from directly or indirectly engaging in residential property management or the operational construction and management of rental projects. The policy clarifies that necessary compliance activities tied to grants or legal requirements would not be considered “operational management.”
Goudreau summarized key policy elements: the board would retain discretion and must vote to exercise authority on any particular project; projects using housing-authority provisions must restrict occupancy to households at or below 80% of area median income (AMI); conveyed properties would carry a reversionary interest until disposal; and the policy includes single-undertaking language to prevent piecemeal use of the authority. Staff said the policy does not prohibit private or nonprofit developers from pursuing rental development.
Goudreau and staff recommended repealing an earlier limited-power resolution adopted Nov. 18 and replacing it with the full-authority resolution together with the new policy. She said the Home Consortium Report supports a finding that a lack of affordable housing exists, which meets the statutory finding required to designate the authority.
Commissioners praised the policy’s approach to giving the town tools without making the town a landlord. Commissioner West and Commissioner DeWise said the policy avoids the “slippery slope” of direct property management while allowing the town to assist in other ways. The board held a public hearing as part of the agenda item; the transcript records the presentation and commissioner discussion but does not record the final vote outcome in the provided excerpt.
