continued from page 25 relationships with developers. Asked to best describe that relationship, a full 75% of respondents said that they “generally enjoy a good working relationship” with developers, that the development community understands the constraints faced by staff, and that staff works to accommodate their needs. None of those surveyed characterized the relationship as “difficult.” What is clear, though, is that growth can create tension among residents. Fifty percent of respondents said that residents have differing views about growth, depending on the development or project, while 22% reported palpable tension between those favoring and opposing development. CONCLUSION Communities across North Carolina clearly are grappling with housing affordability, and local officials have been at the forefront in attempting to find solutions to a complex and difficult challenge. Given the complexity of the problem, no single magic wand can be waved that will suddenly produce more affordable housing. What North Carolina can do is attempt to build upon and bolster the successes that are already working, and recognize that, when it comes to building approval processes, streamlining though technology and investing in human capital are likely to produce the most noticeable improvements. Local governments do have the ability to look to their neighbors and determine best practices that are creating better results for homeowners, developers and the larger community. Local government best practices include: • Approve concurrent review processes intended to speed overall building approvals and allow development to proceed more efficiently. • Establish an option for pre-submittal meetings in which developers meet with planning staff to discuss the planned use ahead of subdivision or other development plan submissions. • Create an ongoing process that allows developers, staff and citizens to meet to discuss development plans, land-use planning and building review processes, as well as development generally. • Establish interlocal agreements with neighboring jurisdictions to allow for resource and personnel sharing during times of high-volume building or staffing issues. At the state level, a focus on how to put more people into the building inspections profession, or conversely, assisting them to be more efficient, would ameliorate a key concern of builders. Potential state policy changes that could accomplish those goals: • Expand a state Department of Insurance pilot program to train more building inspectors. • Create and fund uniform software for small jurisdictions that could streamline and speed up permitting processes and create more certainty for builders. • Build a state-of-the-art educational lab where building inspectors and other personal can be trained in seeing realworld examples of trade construction and how to correct code issues. • Incentivizing investment in housing designed for various family income levels, whether through tax credits, landing banking or public-private agreements, is time proven in addressing housing affordability. Bringing together the expertise and experiences of everyone involved in housing, whether in the private, public or nonprofit sectors, would result in a better understanding of the causes of the housing affordability crisis and better solutions in addressing it. With that in mind, the creation of a legislative study committee, to meet over a period of months, would acknowledge the importance of housing affordability to the state’s economy and residents’ quality of life. SOUTHERN CITY Quarter 2 2023 26
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