02. February 2021 minutes
New Hanover County-City of Wilmington Workforce Housing Advisory Committee
February 3, 2021 Regular Meeting
Committee Members Present: Sharm Brantley, Patrick Brien, Don Harris, Katrina Knight, Katrina
Redmon, Frank Smith, Steve Spain, David Spetrino, Paul Stavovy, Glenda Tate, Lori Wainright
Staff Present: Tufanna Bradley (NHC), Joe Donohoe (NHC), Rachel LaCoe (NHC), Thom Moton (CoW),
Suzanne Rogers (CoW), Rebekah Roth (NHC)
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order and a quorum was established through roll call at 3:02 pm by Chairperson
David Spetrino.
Approve Agenda & Approve Minutes
Sharm Brantley made a motion to approve the agenda and draft minutes from the January 6, 2020,
which was seconded by Katrina Knight and adopted unanimously.
Public Comments
None
New Business
Information Item: UNCG Presentation, Dr. Stephen Sills
Chairperson Spetrino recognized Dr. Stephen Sills of the University of North Carolina Greensboro for an
update on the UNCG portion of the Comprehensive Housing Study.
Dr. Sills and Mr. Bruce Rich informed the committee that the information shared in the presentation was
pulled from the draft report.
Dr. Sills continued by presenting some of the key findings from the Affordable Housing Survey Report.
These findings included information about public perception of affordable housing in New Hanover
County/City of Wilmington, homeownership achievability, challenges for finding affordable and quality
housing, perceptions of gentrification as a result of residential development, desired housing types and
locations, and support for affordable housing policies.
Following the presentation, Dr. Sills opened the floor for questions. There was discussion among the
committee about New Hanover County/City of Wilmington’s need to frame rapid growth as the driving
focus for affordable housing. There was also brief discussion about the demographic trends of those
relocating to the area, the cost-burdened population, the possibility of an affordable housing bond as a
tool to address the affordable housing needs of the community, and the benefits of by-right
development.
Information Item: Bowen National Research Presentation, Patrick Bowen
Chairperson Spetrino recognized Mr. Patrick Bowen of Bowen National Research for an update on the
Bowen portion of the Comprehensive Housing Study.
Mr. Bowen presented some of the key findings from the Housing Needs Assessment study which
included information about the quality and affordability of the local housing stock, economic trends,
employee community patterns, multifamily rental housing trends, the for-sale housing supply and
trends, and housing gaps by affordability.
After the presentation, Mr. Bowen opened the floor for questions. The committee discussed the
increase rate of development, the economic impacts of affordable housing, population trends, and the
metrics used to calculate the substandard and overcrowding trends. There was also the request from
several committee members for the both Bowen National Research and the University of North Carolina
Greensboro to provide specific recommendations to address the affordable housing needs.
Housing Work Plan Update, Rachel LaCoe
Ms. LaCoe provided a brief overview of the housing work plan updates. Ms. LaCoe assured that the
committee is still on track to provide presentations to the governing bodies in early April. After staff
vetting in preparation of the release of pubic drafts, committee members should be receiving drafts of
both the UNCG study and the Bowen report in mid-February.
Announcements
None.
Adjournment
With no further questions or comments, a quorum was established through roll call. Chairperson Spetrino
adjourned the meeting at 4:54 PM.