Bill Summary — HB 645: Inclusionary Zoning / Workforce Housing Funds
Status & Context
- Bill: HB 645 — “Inclusionary Zoning/Workforce Housing Funds”
- Origin: North Carolina General Assembly (2023 session text)
- Effective date: July 1, 2023
- Subjects: housing, local government, planning & zoning, housing finance, appropriations
Purpose / Intent
The bill is intended to increase the availability of affordable and workforce housing by (1) clarifying and authorizing local governments to adopt inclusionary zoning requirements in their zoning regulations and (2) providing state funding to the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency (NCHFA) to support the Workforce Housing Loan Program.
Key Provisions
- Amendment to G.S. 160D‑702 (local zoning authority):
- Explicitly allows a local government’s zoning regulations to "provide for inclusionary zoning" as a tool to supplement affordable housing availability.
- Inclusion is permissive — the statute authorizes local governments to adopt such requirements but does not require them to do so.
- Appropriation to NCHFA:
- Appropriates $10,000,000 from the General Fund to the Housing Finance Agency in recurring funds for the 2023–2024 fiscal year.
- Funds are directed to the Workforce Housing Loan Program established under G.S. 122A‑5.15.
- The appropriation is made notwithstanding G.S. 143C‑5‑2 (i.e., an explicit allocation overriding certain standard budget limitations).
Who is affected
- Local governments: gain explicit statutory authority to adopt inclusionary zoning provisions (density bonuses, set‑asides, developer requirements or incentives — specifics are left to local ordinance).
- Developers and builders: where localities adopt inclusionary rules, development projects may be subject to affordable‑housing requirements or eligible for incentives.
- NCHFA and state budget: NCHFA will administer the $10M recurring funds for workforce housing loans; the General Fund bears the recurring appropriation.
- Renters/homebuyers: potential increase in affordable housing units in jurisdictions that choose to adopt inclusionary ordinances.
Potential impacts and limitations
- Positive: provides a statutory tool for local governments to create affordable units and injects $10M/year (recurring for FY 2023–24 per the text) into the Workforce Housing Loan Program to support production/preservation of workforce housing.
- Fiscal: the bill creates a recurring $10 million General Fund obligation for the specified year; broader fiscal impacts depend on continued appropriations and program implementation.
- Operational: the bill does not prescribe model inclusionary ordinance language, specific affordability targets, compliance rules, or mitigation for development cost impacts — those details are left to local governments and program administrators.
- Adoption: because the change is permissive, statewide effects depend on the number and design of local ordinances that individual jurisdictions enact.
Procedural / Timeline notes
- Effective July 1, 2023 (per statute language in the bill).
- The statutory change simply authorizes local action; local governments must separately draft and adopt ordinances to implement inclusionary zoning in their jurisdictions. NCHFA must allocate and manage the appropriated funds under existing program rules.
