Our lead story in tomorrow's Chapel Hill News suggests the town of Chapel Hill's affordable housing strategy is not working.

The policy asks builders to price 15 percent of new units affordable to people earning 80 percent of the median income. But developers have found what some consider a loophole and built tiny units to satisfy the requirement. Some units in East 54 and the planned 140 West Franklin project are about 700 square feet.

And guess what? Folks aren't buying.

Nearly two years after he first suggested it, Orange Community Housing and Land Trust Executive Director Robert Dowling is still trying to convince the Chapel Hill Town Council to stop requiring developers to build so many affordable housing units and start accepting more cash instead. The town's planning staff is recommending that the council refer Dowling's petition to its affordable housing committee during tonight's Town Council meeting. Below, read a story from when Dowling first proposed this approach in January 2007.