Conservation-Based Affordable Housing

Conservation planning for affordable housing can be used to create high-quality affordable neighborhoods that preserve open space and help lower the cost of development.  Through a grant by the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, conservation planning for affordable housing is being done in seven sites located throughout the state.

Conservation and Affordable Housing

Both affordable housing and conservation bring numerous benefits to the community. Affordable housing results in wealth creation for homeowners, provides housing for a diverse workforce, and ensures that economic benefits remain within a community. Similarly, land conservation brings benefits as well, including: higher water quality, wildlife habitat protection and the preservation of working farms and forests. 

Yet, issues of affordable housing and conservation often seem unrelated. At best, a disconnect exists between the strategies used to promote greater housing options for low- to moderate-income residents and strategies used to preserve land. At worst, the goals of affordable housing and conservation can seem in direct opposition — unchecked development can consume large areas of land that could be preserved, while preservation can create scarcity in land availability, driving up the cost of development.

Conservation-Based Affordable Housing

Conservation-based affordable housing (CBAH) is a strategy that merges the goals of affordable housing and land conservation to create high-quality neighborhoods for residents who might not otherwise be able to afford a home. CBAH preserves open space (including forests, streams, wetlands and other key amenities) by clustering the homes and allowing large swaths of open space to remain. This results in such benefits as: less impervious surface (and therefore, less pollutant runoff), more open space and natural areas preserved and higher aesthetic and recreational values. 

The figure below demonstrates the difference between a traditional subdivision (left) and a conservation subdivision (right).  Although both sites have the same number of lots, the conservation subdivision preserves much more open space.

Left: Traditional Subdivision                                    Right: Conservation Subdivision

If this type of development is coupled with affordable housing, the benefits are even greater. Clustering homes reduces the overall cost of development—infrastructure, landscaping and maintenance costs are all lessened. If applicable, conservation easements or other types of conservation funding can be used to preserve the remaining open space and lower the cost of development even further.

What's Happening in North Carolina?

In North Carolina, a grant by the Clean Water Management Trust Fund given to the Conservation Trust for North Carolina, the North Carolina Community Development Initiative, the Black Family Land Trust and The Conservation Fund has enabled seven community development corporations (CDCs) to do conservation planning for their proposed affordable housing developments.  Click on the links below to learn more about each project. 

• Asheville: One of the few urban sites, a conservation plan will protect water quality and extend a greenway project.

• Brunswick County: Located near the rapidly growing area of Wilmington, this will be a model development.

• Grifton: This project brings about a partnership between Metropolitan CDC and the Black Family Land Trust.

• Henderson: A conservation plan will protect a wetland on-site and establish an outdoor education opportunity for neighborhood residents and a nearby elementary school.

• Hoke County: A partnership between Blue Springs-Hoke County CDC and Sandhills Area Land Trust will develop two CBAH sites. One site will be border a future community forest, while the other site will protect an extensive and impaired stream system.

• Kannapolis: Prosperity Unlimited is developing two sites as well:

  • A model development in the Lake Fisher watershed.

  • A site to revitalize a distressed neighborhood.