Affordable Housing Fund

At a glance

What: the Town's Affordable Housing Fund, supported by a one-cent property tax, and how developers' contributions to it are set.
Where it stands: on May 28, 2026 three residents spoke in the public forum about affordable housing, and Council used the staff-recommended contribution as a yardstick in the Holland Road Rezoning hearing, where the applicant first offered $50,000 and then agreed to the full $218,000 recommended under the policy. Council denied that rezoning for other reasons (street connectivity).
Next: none recorded.

Welch continued a series of talks on housing instability. He cited the North Carolina Housing Coalition on a five-year inventory gap of over 760,000 homes statewide and said 75 percent of households facing homelessness in 2025 were experiencing it for the first time. He listed local progress: 164 affordable apartments by DHIC at Stone Glen, nine Habitat homes on Cassena Lane, 12 affordable townhomes through the Raleigh Area Land Trust, and home repairs under the Apex Cares program. He said the penny tax puts Apex ahead of nearby towns but is not enough, and urged other housing types (accessory dwelling units, modular and tiny homes) and contributions from businesses, institutions and faith communities.
Davis, a lifelong Apex resident, said low-income housing let him stay in the town where he grew up.
Pastor Matthews, a pastoral advocate for survivors of trafficking and domestic abuse, said her clients still struggle to find affordable housing, often relocating to Sanford, Fuquay-Varina or Carthage, and asked landlords to work with residents who fall behind and for relief from large security deposits.

Zegerman asked staff to repeat the commitment; Senior Planner Bielen said the offer was $50,000 to the Affordable Housing Fund before recording the first plat, while the policy amount would be $218,000. The applicant's attorney later said the offer had been raised to $218,000. Mu said the amount should be $218,000.

Public forum remarks by Welch, Davis and Matthews; contribution discussed in the Holland Road hearing.