We are publishing statements made during the May 24, 2023 public hearing on the Town’s housing choices proposal.

My name is John Wallace, I work in the School of Public Health at UNC, and am fortunate to be able to afford to live in Chapel Hill.
As a public health researcher supporting community health improvement in communities across NC, I’m doing our community in Chapel Hill a disservice if I highlight inequities in other communities while being silent about those in my own community. Affordable housing is a structural barrier to the health and well being of individuals and communities and we must also acknowledge that much of the existing residential zoning is rooted in segregationist policy and white supremacy culture.
I enthusiastically support the text amendment as a policy lever to alleviate the strain of available housing and to further strategies for addressing housing affordability. I want to thank Town staff for providing opportunities for community members to learn and engage on these issues, for adapting their plans based on community input, and I encourage them to address misinformation and half truths that are reductive and harmful to progress.
To the Mayor and Council, thank you for your time and your service, and I strongly urge you to adopt the text amendment for the LUMO.

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