Community Development/Housing/General Government Committee Meeting - April 14, 2025
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Community Development/Housing/General Government Committee Meeting - April 14, 2025
The Community Development/Housing/General Government Committee of the Winston-Salem City Council, chaired by Mayor Pro Tempore Denise D. Adams, met on Monday, April 14, 2025 at 4:00 PM. The committee reviewed and unanimously recommended approval of multiple affordable housing initiatives, including permanent financing for rental developments and the sale of city-owned lots for single-family homes and studio rentals. The committee also received an informational presentation on city employee sick and vacation accrual rates, focusing on disparities in the fire department. Although the minutes list three members present (Adams, Joiner, Burke), Council Member Hall actively participated in the meeting, and the chair stated all committee members were present at the call to order.
Consent Calendar
- Item C-1: Demolition Assessment Roll (Unsafe Nonresidential Buildings) – Resolution directing filing of preliminary assessment roll, fixing June 2, 2025 as the public hearing date, and authorizing publication of notice. Beverly Whitt (Acting City Revenue Collector) answered questions. Removed from consent for discussion, then approved unanimously. Referred to full City Council on May 5, 2025.
Discussion Items – Affordable Rental Housing Projects
G-1: Sage Pointe Apartments (North Ward)
- Resolution authorizing permanent financing for 60 units of affordable rental housing for families (income below 80% AMI). Developer: Greenway Residential Development LLC. Mark Richardson (Greenway) stated they are from South Charlotte and attracted by the need for affordable housing; noted there are 606 potential tenants in the market but only 60 units. Total development cost not specified in transcript. Unanimous recommendation.
G-2: McClain Crossing (South Ward)
- Resolution authorizing $1.44 million permanent financing for 72 units of affordable rental housing for families (income below 80% AMI). Developer: Workforce Solutions LLC (Greensboro). Patty Reeder stated rents range from $385 (1-bedroom) to $1,595 (3-bedroom). Total development cost $17.1 million. Unanimous recommendation.
G-3: Tulip Commons at Old Vineyard (Southwest Ward)
- Resolution authorizing $1.925 million permanent financing for 60 units of affordable senior rental housing (55+). Phase two of Old Vineyard project. Developer: Poplar Development Group LLC (Durham). Michael Rodgers reported phase one is closing and construction expected June/July 2025. Rents range $394 to $1,394 (2-bedroom at 80% AMI). Total development cost $19.4 million. Unanimous recommendation.
Discussion Items – Single-Family Home Development Projects
G-4: C2 Contracting (East Ward)
- Resolution authorizing sale of five city-owned lots for $1 each and $175,000 gap financing ($35,000 per parcel) to C2 Contractors LLC for five single-family homes for affordable homeownership. Sales price cap $238,338. Homes: 3-bedroom, 2-bath ranch style, approximately 1,100 sq ft, with covered porch, fireplace, energy-efficient appliances. Total development cost $1.191 million. Unanimous recommendation.
G-5: Denton Construction (East and Southeast Wards)
- Resolution authorizing sale of ten city-owned lots for $1 each and $350,000 gap financing ($35,000 per unit) to Denton Construction Services LLC for ten modular studio homes (400 sq ft) for affordable rental at $800/month, subject to 30-year affordability period (HUD 60% AMI). Units are container homes manufactured in China, assembled on site with helical piers. Developers Steve McSwain, Jake Denton, and Stuart Schulte presented, emphasizing innovative design, construction speed (5 days setup), and customization options (7 customizable features). Council Member Hall questioned rental vs. ownership and resale risks; staff confirmed affordability covenants apply. Mayor Pro Tempore Adams noted a pending state zoning law limiting local control. Unanimous recommendation.
G-6: Switzer Homes (East, North and Northeast Wards)
- Resolution authorizing sale of seven city-owned lots for $10,000 each and $195,000 gap financing ($20,000–$35,000 per parcel) to Switzer Homes LLC for seven single-family homes for affordable homeownership. Developer John Switzer (local with 25 years experience) noted he is building similar homes in partnership with Habitat for Humanity. Homes: 3-bedroom with one-car garage, construction timeline 90–120 days. Unanimous recommendation.
Informational Item – Employee Sick and Vacation Accrual Rates
G-7: Presentation by Assistant City Manager Sharon Wojda
- Reviewed sick and vacation accrual disparities for 56-hour-schedule fire department employees compared to other city employees. Since 2015, fire employees accrue sick leave at 24 hours per day (9.9% of annual hours) vs. 4.6% for 40-hour employees. Vacation accrual also double (e.g., 8.2% vs. 3.8% in first year). Comparisons with other NC fire departments show Winston-Salem accrual rates roughly double. Higher accruals lead to increased overtime costs and long-term pension spiking; estimated five employees facing >$100,000 each in pension spiking payments upon retirement. Staff proposed adjusting accrual rates to align with other city employees (e.g., sick leave to 11.2 hours per day equivalent). Firefighter starting salaries ($46,000) are 4–7% below market average without education/military incentives (which can be stacked up to 15%). Staff recommends further analysis on holiday accruals, vacation caps, and language incentive expansion. Council Member Hall inquired about lump-sum PTO, police department disparities, and language testing procedures. No vote taken; information only.
Key Outcomes
- All six resolutions (C-1, G-1 through G-6) were unanimously recommended for approval by the full City Council at its May 5, 2025 meeting.
- Staff directed to provide average median income data for each project before full council vote.
- On G-7, no action was taken; staff will return with further analysis on holiday accruals, vacation caps, and language incentives at the May 12 committee meeting.
- Meeting adjourned at 5:51 PM.
Meeting Transcript
I think someone here talking about this control. Talking about demolition. Process of of evaluating those buildings, determining their own site. If you if you want a little bit more special, it's a little while this process. Housing and I'm finished residents. Restoring guard style buildings. Cover the area, playgrounds and site large cities. Uh attainment of all other sources of findings of budget. If you had any questions regarding the actual project, maybe helping also be able to do this, they are distributed on the needs that we could be going to build. No, this is really as conditional for funding actually receiving tax credits. And so that's why it's a condition for the focus. Without our condition, they would not be able to apply for the tax. Open for business. Okay, perfect. I know exactly all of the uh items will be given the last week. Uh the nine percent is yet. But uh right now with the cost of services and goods, I think every city in the country would be hard pressed. If the developers were not doing it on their own to initiate and say, hey, city, we get these tax credits, so you guys are willing to be a part of our capital stack so we can qualify for them because they won't give you the tax credits again if you don't have the money. If you don't have enough money to finish the project, uh we saw a lot of that back during the housing crisis years ago, uh, where communities like this or homes uh where they were just dropped, and the plats might have been there, the utility hookup might have been there, but the housing crash and the you know the need for money uh for the development to continue uh wasn't there, and there were a lot of vacant properties left throughout the country. So this particular uh project, if anybody knows Batalha Road and Indiana Avenue, whether Moravian settlement is a church, uh there's another church under kind of in front of it. And the first apartments built there years ago was with Tharborough Village. Uh they're still there, the older ones, and we'll probably be hearing some more about those too. The owners want to rehab those and make those better. But we're basically talking in this area right here, but Indiana, the corner, and Salem Town around the corner across the street. I might be thousands of block area because you got three or two apartments on the side of this. You got another project gonna go on behind it. Then you got another one up the hill that's hopefully will happen. You got North Hills. Yeah, I got I got housing apartments. You got you got a bunch of apartments, but that's that's part of what the Northwoods was back in the day. Is a lot of apartments, rentals, uh, weight forests, whatever. But uh again, because this is the first one we're kicking off. May I have a motion, please? Move for approval. Second. Is the mood and properly seconded by council member Burke and Councilmember Jordan? Uh, all those in favor, please let it be known by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed, like sign. Resolution authorizing 72 units of affordable rental housing for families as McLean. Up there the whole time, I will be up here for a while. So, item G2 is a resolution authorizing permanent financing and amount of 1.44 million dollars to see. Development is for 72 units of affordable rental housing for families with incomes below 80 percent area median income. The development will be known as McLean Crossing and will be located at 3613 Stafford Place Boulevard in the South Ward. The development will consist of three three-story garden buildings, the 12 one-bedroom, 36 two-bedroom, and 24 three-bedroom apartments. Some amenities will include resident computer center, laundry room, playground, cover picnic area, and outdoor seating. The total development cost for this project is 17.1 million dollars, and workforce solutions LLC has applied taxes. God is but uh I think the public needs to hear from you as to where this money comes from that we're using to help finance these these housing projects. So a few months ago, the council approved us combining uh funding that we had left over from ARPA dollars, uh federal APA dollars and state ARPA dollars, and so now we have an affordable housing pot of funding with approximately 10 million dollars in it. We're going to use five million for this cycle, four million towards the LITEC projects, one million towards the single family home, yep financing, and then the next cycle that we will open up in June and November of this year, we will utilize the other five million.
openpublica.com