CARY, NC – The Town of Cary has received a proposal for a new planned unit development that may bring hundreds of affordable homes to its typically higher-priced housing mix. After months of investigation and discussions with Wake County and the Town, a group known as the White Oak Foundation Inc.--a 501(c)3 non-profit based in the Cary area--has formally submitted a proposal for a 71-acre traditional neighborhood development west of Cary off White Oak Road at Ridgeback Road. The development, called White Oak Village, would be phased in over several years and include a variety of housing types such as single-family homes, duplexes, and townhomes, supporting the Foundation’s main focus of homeownership--not home renting—especially for young families and professionals. About 85% of the 389 total units are proposed to meet the Town of Cary’s definition of affordable, and sixty units will be designated for the elderly in the Village’s Independent Living Center, consisting of one bedroom studio type condominiums in an assisted living environment.

In addition to the affordable housing and assisted living aspects, highlights of the plan include:

• Compact, pedestrian-friendly layout
• Extensive sidewalk system
• Access link to the American Tobacco Trail
• Town Square with a mix of commercial and office uses as well as public areas
• Transit stop
• Nonresidential land uses limited to the interior of the development to limit any impact on surrounding residential areas

The Town of Cary took its first step to increase affordable housing opportunities in 1998 when it added its first fulltime housing planner. Since then, the Cary Town Council has committed $1 million towards developing affordable housing solutions based on its Affordable Housing Plan, adopted in May of this year. In addition to analyzing Cary’s current housing options, the Plan lays out strategies to meet the following affordable housing goals:

• Provide for a full range of housing choices for all income groups, families of various sizes, seniors, and persons with special challenges.

• Promote the preservation of the Town of Cary’s existing housing stock through housing rehabilitation resources to maintain the affordable housing that already exists in the community.

• Facilitate the creation of a reasonable proportion of the Town of Cary’s housing as affordable units through additional homeownership opportunities for individuals and families earning between 60% and 80% of area median income and affordable apartments for individuals and families earning up to 60% of the area median income.

• Strive for innovation and partnerships in the creation of model ordinances, policies, and programs in the area of providing expanding housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income persons.

• Facilitate the affordable housing activities of other entities within the Town of Cary, including construction of affordable housing units, rehabilitation of existing housing, homeownership training, and marketing of assistance programs.

• Encourage the location of high density housing within walking and convenient commuting distance of employment, shopping, and other activities, or within a short walk of a bus or transit stop, through "mixed use" developments, residences created on the upper floors of nonresidential downtown buildings, and other creative strategies.

• Actively participate in the renewal of neighborhoods suffering from physical deterioration or from the inequitable distribution of public resources in the past.

• Assure a quality living environment and access to public amenities for all residents, present and future, of the Town of Cary, regardless of income.

Data in the Affordable Housing Plan shows that within Cary’s corporate limits, only about 22% of all homes sold in Cary in 1999 were affordable--$137,600 or below--to a family of four earning up to $47,600 (the top of the moderate-income range in 1999). This breaks down as 12% of single family homes and 79% for townhouses and condominiums in Cary being affordable.

To move forward with its proposal, White Oak Foundation has requested annexation into Cary in order to get water and sewer services since, while outside Cary’s corporate limits, the property is slated to be served by Cary under a utility service agreement between local governments in the county. White Oak Village is scheduled for public hearing before the Cary Town Council at their regular meeting on January 11^th with a vote now slated for March.

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