The Holly Springs Town Council is getting ready to approve its first-ever Housing Affordability Action Plan, a three-year road map to updating the town’s zoning code, permitting process, and staffing structure to facilitate the creation of more affordable housing.
This week, the council held a public hearing and discussion about the plan, with members indicating their support for it despite lingering questions about concrete goals.
In 1990, Holly Springs’ population was 908. Last year it was over 51,000. All that growth—driven most recently by biotech companies like Amgen and Fujifilm setting up shop in the once-sleepy town—has put pressure on the housing market. Sean Ryan, Holly Springs’ planning division manager, told the town council Tuesday night that rental prices are up 22% and home prices are up 62% since 2019.
“Holly Springs is facing growing housing pressures driven by population increases, rising
construction and infrastructure costs, and a lack of diverse, affordable housing options,” the action plan reads. “Regulatory hurdles and financing challenges make it difficult to build small-scale or affordable units such as Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), infill housing, and
missing-middle homes. These barriers are compounded by local factors including an
increase in high-wage job opportunities, an aging population, and limited utility capacity.”
The action plan doesn’t identify the number of additional homes the town needs, nor does it explicitly prioritize certain housing types or price points or set any deadlines. Ryan said that open-endedness is by design, and the town will identify concrete goals as it conducts rounds of community engagement with residents and developers following the adoption of the plan.
The plan under consideration right now is based on a 2023 “Housing Affordability Study” that was commissioned, but never formally adopted, by the previous town council. Since then, Holly Springs has elected a new mayor and two new council members who seem motivated to get the plan approved.
The action plan lays out nine goals, which the town will tackle in phases over the next three years. They include:
- Updating the Housing Resources Webpage to be more useful and user-friendly
- Building relationships with affordable-housing partners, including developers, nonprofits, low-income housing authorities, and major employers
- Establishing a volunteer Housing Advisory Group
- Creating an affordable housing incentive zoning policy
- Creating an expedited approval process for affordable housing
- Creating a pilot program for Owner-Occupied Rehabilitation & Repair (OORR) of existing housing
- Hiring additional town staff and providing dedicated funding to support housing affordability
The sole speaker at Tuesday’s public hearing was Melissa Kelsey, a 25-year resident of Holly Springs who wanted more specifics on what the plan will accomplish.
“It’s a nice three-year plan of a plan,” Kelsey said. “My questions are, what does affordability mean to you? It doesn’t say in the plan. And what’s it going to cost us?”
Councilmember Chris Deshazor agreed with Kelsey.
“I think it’s an elephant in the room. … What do we mean by affordable housing in Holly Springs?” Deshazor said during the meeting. “I really feel like we maybe need to spell that out in the plan.”
Councilmember Danielle Hewetson countered that affordability is “a moving target” given the town’s rapid growth, so it’s good to have some flexibility.
“Looking at the [housing] study from a few years ago, some of those numbers have [already] changed,” she said.
Councilmember Kara Foster suggested using the median income and purchasing power of Holly Springs town staffers as a baseline for the level of affordability the town should be striving for.
The Housing Affordability Action Plan will go to the planning board on September 22 for review and then come back to town council on October 20 for final approval.
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