Should COVID change Charlotte’s affordable housing strategy? Some on council think so

The unprecedented upheaval from COVID-19 is dramatically changing Charlotte’s economy, and some City Council members say that is reason to reconsider the city’s larger affordable housing priorities in addition to short-term relief.

Discussion about how the city will spend more than $5 million in expected federal stimulus funds for housing and homelessness programs this week prompted a broader debate about the city’s affordable housing goals under a new economic reality brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the best use of its Housing Trust Fund.

Charlotte officials anticipate an additional $3.5 million in Community Development Block Grant funds and $1.7 million in Emergency Solutions Grant funds from the federal stimulus, said Pam Wideman, Charlotte’s housing and neighborhood services director.

But several council members raised concerns that while the proposal would pay for mortgages, utilities, security deposits and hotel rooms, it did not include rental assistance.

“I’m sounding the alarm on that; it has to be looked at,” council member Renee Perkins Johnson said at Monday’s meeting. Although new eviction hearings are temporarily paused in North Carolina, tenants whose landlords file for eviction will have the action on their record, making it difficult to find future housing, she said.

Wideman said the block grant funds would pay for four months of mortgage relief for 500 low- and moderate-income homeowners who have participated in the city’s down payment assistance program; $250 in utility assistance for up to 1,000 households, and security deposits of up to $1,500 for 1,000 families to move to permanent housing.

ESG funds would pay for 50 extended-stay hotel rooms through December for people who are homeless. The federal money is expected in late April, city officials said.

Council member Marcus Graham asked the city to be “forward-thinking” to anticipate needs when the short-term relief expires, and implored his colleagues to “plan beyond the crisis today.”

Other council members echoed Johnson’s concern about the lack of rental assistance.

“There will be a time when we come out of this and people wouldn’t have paid those bills,” Matt Newton said. “Those bills are still going to come due, and I am wondering if we’re approaching this wrong, looking at security deposit assistance but we’re not helping people stay in their homes in the first place.”

Wideman noted that the first round of grants from the COVID-19 Response Fund organized by the United Way of Central Carolinas and Foundation for the Carolinas included awards to local non-profits for emergency rent payments. She also said she would determine if any of Charlotte’s existing federal funding could be used for rental assistance.

‘An extraordinary time’

Charlotte must reconsider its long-term housing priorities beyond the immediate COVID-19 crisis, including how it spends its Housing Trust Fund, some council members said.

“I think we as an organization need to step back and evaluate the role that we play in housing,” Braxton Winston said, noting that Housing Trust Fund projects can take up to two years to be completed after they are funded. He asked what flexibility the city has to be creative “to get more people housed right now.”

Wideman said the 2018 ballot language that voters approved directs the $50 million in housing bonds be used for capital construction on new and renovated affordable apartments.

Winston also said uncertainty in the construction industry and possible business closures should be taken into account.

“I don’t know about the wisdom about trying to invest in projects traditionally that are going to come in two years down the line, when the market is going to be completely different coming out of this,” he said. He called for an emergency housing framework to supersede the city’s current guidelines to address the current economic crisis.

Johnson, citing the “extraordinary time,” asked if restrictions around that fund and other city building codes could be amended to allow for projects using unconventional building materials such as shipping containers, which can be built faster.

Wideman told council members the next round of trust fund recommendations will be 10 development projects, including at least one renovation of existing affordable units and 194 shelter beds at the Statesville Avenue location of the Men’s Shelter of Charlotte.

Council will be briefed on the recommended Housing Trust Fund projects and discuss the federal stimulus programs at next week’s meeting.

This work was made possible in part by grant funding from Report for America/GroundTruth Project and the Foundation For The Carolinas.