Orange County, Mebane Officials Meet to Address Growth, Affordable Housing

Orange County's housing shortage stretches across every price point, Planning Director Cy Stober told county commissioners and Mebane officials this week, warning that the region faces a "volume issue" leaving even million-dollar buyers without options.

"We don't have many available homes period in Orange County for people across the spectrum, even at the one million plus range," Stober said. "We just don't have many new homes coming online compared to what the demand is."

The remarks came as the Orange County Board of Commissioners sat down with Mebane's leadership to wrestle with a city that is simultaneously the county's smallest municipality and its fastest-growing one. The meeting centered on how to plan for Mebane's continued expansion and where affordable housing fits into that future.

The backdrop is Orange County's Draft Land Use Plan 2050, which Stober called "the county's first land use plan since 2008." Nearly two decades of growth, shifting demographics, and development pressure have reshaped the landscape that earlier plan once addressed. "So nearly 20 years later, and it is reflective of a changing county, changing dynamics, notably among that is Mebane," Stober said.

Commissioner Earl McKee put the potential scale in stark terms: he expects Mebane will eventually reach a population comparable to Carrboro and Hillsborough. McKee urged both boards to maintain consistent and detailed coordination as that growth unfolds, and called for a mix of affordable housing types to accommodate a wider range of residents.

Mebane Mayor Ed Hooks pointed to the ground-level pressures making affordability harder to achieve: land prices are rising, water and sewer capacity is constrained, and the supply of developable land is shrinking. Despite currently being one of Orange County's more affordable places to live, Mebane is not insulated from the broader access problem, officials noted.

Stober said the county is working through affordability questions via roundtable discussions on housing markets and pricing, folded into the ongoing Land Use Plan 2050 process. No specific zoning changes or funding proposals were announced at the meeting.