NEW HANOVER COUNTY — Supportive housing for New Hanover County’s most vulnerable populations could have its own zoning designation in the county’s land code per an amendment presented to the planning board Thursday.
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The amendment defines supportive housing as a “residential group living community or campus that combines residential and/or supervisory personnel for residents needing increased assistance and/or specialized services to assist with transitioning to household living or other dwelling arrangements.”
The amendment allows for this to be accomplished with a range of housing types — single-family, multi-family, facility or dormitory — alongside support services to promote a continuum of care for all residents.
While the most obvious beneficiary of this amendment is homeless services, supportive housing can also be offered to those with disabilities or substance use disorders, teenagers in or aging out of foster care, survivors of domestic violence or adults re-entering society after a prison sentence.
According to planning staff, the intent of the land code amendment is to reduce development barriers for providers. Staff said they have received several inquiries for supportive housing models that do not fit directly into a land use classification in the county’s UDO.
“This need was also noted in a recent mental health and substance substance use disorder strategy, which was presented to the board of commissioners by the Office of Strategy in December, where this lack of specific land use in the UDO was noted as a barrier to providing this type of service in the community,” planning manager Ken Vafier said to the planning board on Thursday.
Staff said the amendment will also reduce subjectivity in the interpretation of the UDO when it comes to supportive housing.
Supportive housing would be allowed by-right, meaning without approval from the county commissioners, in seven classifications: rural agriculture, low density residential (R-20S, R-20, R-15, R-10), planned development, and office and institutional.
The developments must meet the density requirements in their respective district, though the developer could request a conditional zoning that would need approval from the county commissioners. They also must meet all dimensional standards design requirements per their zonings.
Structures that don’t meet building code — campers, trailers, pods — will also be prohibited. Zoning requirements are also applicable to the property’s support services for residents, which could include amenity centers, offices and clinics.
“One of the themes we heard consistently from stakeholders was this, to the minimum extent possible, should not be treated so differently as any residential subdivision,” Vafier said. “It’s very common for our by-right subdivisions to have amenity centers and other things, and they have to meet those same design requirements that are referenced here.”
Additionally, 0.5 parking spaces per unit would be required in off-street parking, plus 2.5 spaces per 1,000 square feet of office, amenity or other building space.
Planning board chair Jeffrey Petroff questioned the proposed requirement that supportive housing developments cannot be approved to exist within 2,00 feet of each other. Petroff asked whether it would prevent the service provider from expanding its services on an adjacent property to benefit from the same amenities.
Vafier contended it would be an obstacle, noting as written it would tie those services just to the original community.
“We had a lot of discussion on that these services should be geared toward the residents themselves … We don’t envision, or at this point we don’t think, that these support services are going to be open to the general public or any other individuals,” Vafier said.
Another question that arose during the planning board’s discussion was how the City of Wilmington handled supportive housing in its UDO. The city classifies supportive housing as group homes, delineating by small, medium and large homes.
“That definition [of group homes] in our code is tied closely to some parameters in the Fair Housing Act, which govern that,” Vafier said. “So as a new use, we thought it would be best to kind of break this out from the individual group homes.”
Vafier said staff also considered including a provision like the City of Raleigh, where the providers must be licensed or be in receipt of some grant funding. However, Vafier said they learned there are not necessarily any licensure requirements applicable, though that could become a topic of conversation as staff move along in the feedback process.
The county is soliciting public feedback on its website until 8 a.m. on March 22. The amendment’s public hearing at the planning board will occur on April 4.
Reach journalist Brenna Flanagan at brenna@localdailymedia.com.
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