Six Council Members Voted for Affordable Housing in East Charlotte. Four Who Champion Equity Voted No.

Jack Beckett | Staff Writer, The Charlotte Mercury

Council Member JD Mazuera Arias told his colleagues Monday night he would vote no on the Crosland Southeast affordable housing project — 125 senior apartments and 11 townhomes proposed for his own district.

He was not opposing affordable housing. He was opposing where it would go.

"We cannot continue concentrating poverty and low income in one area, particularly areas that have always been disadvantaged," Mazuera Arias told the council at the March 23 zoning meeting. "We have folks, investors telling us that the reason grocery stores and other things are not coming to East Charlotte is because we have low AMI levels."

The motion carried 6-4. The four no votes — Mazuera Arias, Council Member LaWana Slack-Mayfield, Council Member Dimple Ajmera, and Council Member Kimberly Owens — came from members who are among the body's most vocal advocates for equity and underserved communities. This was not a conventional affordable housing fight. The opposition's argument was that East Charlotte has absorbed too much subsidized housing for too long, and approving another project deepens the pattern that keeps grocery stores, retail, and private investment from arriving.

What the Petition Proposed

The petition would rezone land adjacent to a church to allow 125 affordable senior apartments and 11 for-sale townhomes — a church partnership, the kind of arrangement this council has said it wants to see. The affordable units would be maintained at no more than 80 percent of area median income for 99 years, a commitment that evolved from 20 years earlier in the petition's history. The petitioner told the council they are targeting a lower AMI than the 80 percent ceiling.

The project sits near Eastland Yards, the sports and entertainment complex the entire council has supported. But the affordable units depend on Housing Trust Fund dollars. If the petitioner fails to secure HTF funding after two application cycles, the conditional notes allow them to build standard single-family homes instead. As Council Member Mayfield noted during the meeting, the council approved the last $3.5 million from the current HTF allocation two weeks ago. The fund is exhausted.

The Case Against

Mazuera Arias framed his opposition around what East Charlotte lacks. His district, he told the council, is a place where residents can live but cannot work or play. They drive 30 minutes or more to shop at South Park, Cotswold, Concord, or Carolina Place. The area was shortchanged in the transportation referendum.

"If we keep concentrating that, these folks, individuals right here are not going to have grocery stores or retail or restaurants to go play and work with," he said.

Mayfield invoked the specific economics of retail recruitment. When a potential retailer evaluates an area, she said, they look at rooftops and income. An area with an average household income just under $50,000 and a growing concentration of subsidized housing does not attract the investment the community area plan envisions.

"I could not in good faith support continuing to let that be a reason not to have the investments that we are looking for on the east side," Mayfield said. Then, addressing the residents in the room: "When I look out and I see my elders out here, I want your next 25 years to be some good ones."

Ajmera stated she would not support the petition. Owens asked detailed questions about the 99-year commitment and the HTF fallback but did not announce her position until the vote.

The Case For

Council Member Dante Anderson, who represents neighboring District 1, walked the council through the project's evolution: unit count reduced, affordability window extended from 20 to 99 years, senior multifamily units added alongside for-sale townhomes. The proximity to Eastland Yards, she argued, means these residents will gain walkability to amenities and services as that development builds out.

"We talk about affordability. We talk about our seniors who want to age in place," Anderson said. "We talk about home ownership being the opportunity to pivot out of intergenerational poverty. And there is a mix of all of that in this particular effort."

Council Member Joy Mayo cited the housing-first framework: "I personally will be voting yes as a result of that, just thinking about the broader spectrum."

Dr. Victoria Watlington named the tension directly. "There seems to be this dichotomy between we need more rooftops, we need higher AMI, but we have this need for affordable housing right now," she said. She urged the development community and the neighborhood to have a broader conversation so that "when we're having these one-off discussions about individual parcels, everybody is confident about how the plan comes together overall."

Council Member Ed Driggs, who chaired the meeting, acknowledged the council was "between a rock and a hard place" and that finding locations that satisfy every criterion has been a persistent challenge. He voted yes because the project aligns with what the council has said it wants: a church partnership, a long-term affordability commitment, and mixed housing types.

What Comes Next

The rezoning is approved. The project now needs Housing Trust Fund dollars to deliver on its 99-year affordability commitment. When the next HTF application cycle opens — and whether there is money in it — will determine whether the 125 senior units are built as affordable housing or whether the site reverts to single-family development.

The council also has a related decision approaching. On April 13, it is scheduled to vote on adopting the seven remaining Charlotte Future 2040 Community Area Plans, including the plans that govern where housing, retail, and industrial development go across East Charlotte. Monday night's debate will not be the last time the council argues over what equity looks like when the map is specific enough to have an address.

Update, April 14: Council adopted the Charlotte Future 2040 plans at the April 13 business meeting, which also included the Housing Trust Fund staff recommendations. The Willora Lake project — the Crosland Southeast senior community half a mile from this site — made the recommended slate at $5.85 million. Council Member Mazuera Arias used the HTF discussion to press for requiring approved rezonings before applications close, directly citing this project's timeline. The full council votes April 27.