Nearly 100 leaders from across the Upstate gathered Wednesday for the second annual Upstate Homelessness & Housing Forum, continuing collaborative efforts to address housing affordability and homelessness across the region. Co-hosted by Ten at the Top and the Upstate Continuum of Care, the forum marked a key milestone in the region’s ongoing effort to identify and remove regulatory barriers to affordable housing.
Candace Timmerman, Chief Executive Officer of United Housing Connections and the Upstate Continuum of Care, was proud to be a part of the Homeless and Housing Forum. “It is a great venue to bring together planners, service providers, elected officials, and neighbors who want to address homelessness and make a difference in their community.”
Amber Stewart from the Greenville Housing Fund said, “The biggest takeaway from today is the fact that we must continue to have these conversations and collaborate together because there is not a one size fits all solution. It’s going to take changes in zoning, waiving ordinance fees, and changing state laws to help us advance affordable housing in the Upstate.”
After three regional meetings and additional work by a dedicated steering committee, the initiative has outlined four primary recommendations as well as many secondary recommendations focused on three primary issue areas:
• Land Use and Zoning Regulation Barriers
• Funding and Finance Barriers
• Building Codes and Enforcement Barriers
The findings from this process will inform next steps as partners across the region work toward policy and practice changes that support both housing accessibility and community stability. Michael Forman from Conduit Planning and Chip Bentley from Appalachian Council of Governments are co-chairs of the Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing Steering Committee. “It’s a critical issue that is multifaceted and important to so many groups,” said Forman. Bentley shared, “Housing in the Upstate is a challenge everywhere because the cost of housing continues to go up and the model for developers does not allow for that missing middle housing to be provided. Communities will have to look for new ways to leverage these projects to provide for the growth we know is coming.”
For more information about the Upstate Homelessness & Housing initiative or to get involved, contact Dean Hybl at dhybl@tenatthetop.org.