NC town commissioner: We need to rethink housing codes to make ownership attainable | Opinion

The Orange County Tax Assessor’s Office recently sent out property revaluation notices, sparking the usual debate over methodology and accuracy. But this year’s average increase of 49.5%, with many homeowners seeing spikes over 100%, underscores a bigger issue: we still have no real plan for housing affordability, or as I like to describe it, housing attainability.

Our community hasn’t made the tough calls needed to modernize land use policies or expand housing supply. We often act as if the usual economic rules don’t apply here, but they do and with detrimental effect. The core drivers of rising housing costs are supply, demand and restrictive land-use regulations.

Consider Austin, Texas. Once one of the least affordable cities in Texas, it’s seen rents drop for 19 straight months thanks to a housing boom. Or right next door in Durham where rents have decreased nearly 12% from last year! The lesson is clear: more housing brings down prices.

Across Orange County, however, slow and rigid approval processes that attempt to legislate taste and scrutinize innovation actually increase project costs and delay new construction. Each hurdle — whether a design change or bureaucratic holdup — adds time and expense, reducing the chance for naturally occurring affordable housing to emerge or be preserved.

During a recent Chamber-led visit to Ann Arbor, Michigan, its city manager offered a powerful insight: policymakers should be facilitators of results, not gatekeepers of process. That means embracing flexibility in land use rules, trusting streamlined systems, and removing barriers to building. Build and they will come as the saying goes. Don’t build and people will still come and prices will only rise because supply remains low.

A promising bipartisan bill in the state legislature, Allow Housing Near Jobs (SB499), would allow “by right” housing development in commercially-zoned areas and allow for converting commercial buildings into residential use. Another bipartisan bill, the Parking Lot Reform and Modernization Act (HB369), would prohibit parking minimums statewide. This is the kind of forward-thinking policy we need.

We rightly focus on helping those with fixed or low incomes, but by restricting supply we drive up land values, making it harder for everyone — especially lower or middle-income earners — to find attainable housing. Those at the bottom face long waits for limited assistance with limited options, while those at the top face few obstacles. And the middle gets squeezed out.

This revaluation should be a wake-up call. Orange County as a whole must finally commit to a clear housing strategy that addresses all income levels. We’ve needed this for decades. It’s time to act.

As a community, are we willing to accept the restrictive covenants and zoning laws that have squeezed housing availability for generations? Some neighborhoods still have covenants on the books that once barred people of color from home ownership. We must confront the legacy of exclusion and the current policies that perpetuate housing attainment inequity.

NIMBYism (not in my back yard) protects the property values of some while systematically pricing out others. You may dislike your revaluation, but if you believe you could sell your home for that new value on the current market — then it’s correct. That number reflects a market shaped by scarcity, barriers to new development, and a resistance to change.

This is not just a local problem — it’s a nationwide crisis, made worse here by our long standing habit of prioritizing idyllic notions of the past rather than building for the future. We need massive changes — nationwide, statewide, and locally — including reforms to zoning laws, building inspection regimes, process improvements, and greater support for factory-built and component housing that can scale affordability.

We need action, not nostalgia. We need the courage to build.