Knightdale limits affordable housing

Town has its share, leaders say

KNIGHTDALE -- Eager to shed its reputation as one of the Triangle's lowest-cost towns, Knightdale is capping its supply of subsidized housing.

Knightdale's Town Council has unanimously enacted an "affordable housing policy" that limits its inventory of subsidized low- and moderate-income homes to 120 -- a dozen more than it has now.

The policy prohibits any more than that until the town's proportion of affordable housing drops below Wake County's average, almost two-thirds less.

"It's a great policy," Mayor Doug Boyd said last week. "We've got our fair share, and we don't need anymore."

Knightdale buys public water from Raleigh under a contract that limits the town's consumption. Town leaders prefer to allocate the water to more expensive housing, which boosts overall property values and burnishes the public's perception of the growing town of 8,400 just east of Raleigh.

"Every community wants mixed use types of housing, from low-affordable to the high end," Councilman Mike Chalk said. "That's what we're looking for. We want something for everybody."

But as Knightdale joins Wake's growing upscale movement, affordable housing advocates ask where will be left for the county's low-wage workers to live.

Wake already has too little housing for low-wage workers, said Chris Estes, executive director of the private nonprofit N.C. Housing Coalition. More and more Triangle workers live in neighboring counties, and their commutes add to local road congestion.

"The whole notion that affordable housing is being 'dumped' on them is incredible," Estes said. "It's a misguided view of housing that serves workers in the Knightdale area. It's the kind of housing you should want to have."

Besides discriminating unfairly, capping affordable housing is illegal under federal law, Estes contends. He said his group and others might sue the town over it.

Town officials say they think their unique policy is legal. The initiative is officially couched as a policy to use part of the town's limited water and sewer supply to promote affordable housing, although the effect is to limit it.

"Our purpose is to ensure a diverse housing stock," Town Manager Gary McConkey said. "We are therefore setting aside a certain amount [of water and sewer capacity] to be used for low- and moderate-income housing."

Knightdale's unusual move was prompted by a Raleigh developer's proposal to build a residential subdivision that would include 92 subsidized apartments off Hodge Road on the town's south side.

Some residents of the adjacent Mingo Creek neighborhood and other nearby subdivisions oppose the plan because they fear that subsidized housing would hurt their property values.

Others oppose any development that dense because of the school crowding and dangerous traffic congestion it could cause.

"We would not feel comfortable with either a low-end apartment complex or a high-end apartment complex," said Tabitha Hagen, 31, president of Mingo Creek's homeowners association. "Some people worry for their home values. Some people, like me, worry for their children."

Rest of Wake has less

Town officials calculated that the development would have almost doubled Knightdale's stock of subsidized low- to moderate-income homes to 216, or 6.3 percent of the town's housing.

That might not seem like much, but it's a greater percentage than that of any other Wake town, including Zebulon, the county's current leader in affordable housing.

In Raleigh, by contrast, 1.4 percent of the housing stock is "affordable" subsidized housing, according to a countywide tally.

Cary, Apex, and Garner have relatively less still -- and Rolesville and Morrisville have none.

"You can have too much of anything," said Knightdale Councilman Russell Killen, a lawyer who works in Raleigh. "We don't want to be another Morrisville. We want affordable housing. But we don't want so much that we become the place for affordable housing in Wake County."

Killen said Knightdale's council will review the policy each year and could make exceptions. For example, he said, the town might accept more subsidized housing for the elderly, which it wants.

Meanwhile, the opening of the U.S. 64 Bypass is fueling more commercial development and bringing the more expensive homes town leaders want.

Town 'cutting edge'

Knightdale has taken other unconventional steps to boost the town's image and life for its residents, including an anti-graffiti law and a 9 p.m. teen curfew.

Two years ago Knightdale's council established a policy calling for new single-family homes to be worth at least $185,000, above the town's average.

"Knightdale is cutting-edge," said Mike Frangos, the town's planning director. "The town does a lot in response to citizen demands, and we are not afraid to push the envelope."

Boyd said now is not the time for more affordable housing that could invite crime.

"We don't have a high crime rate in Knightdale, and we don't want it to increase," he said.