A 48-unit apartment complex could be built along Savannah Road in Sylva if town commissioners give the green light at their meeting Thursday, March 9.

Sylva’s leaders have long grappled with how to spur the town’s stagnant residential tax base and get more high-density housing within its limits, but when a proposal for a 136-unit apartment complex made its way before town commissioners last week, the board was less than enthusiastic about the concept.

Making their way around a room studded with tables, informational posters and documents for review, Jackson County residents took advantage of their first opportunity — Tuesday, Nov. 29 — to see where county leaders envisioned steering the county over the next 25 years.

During his tenure on the Haywood County Commission, retiring Chairman Mark Swanger has certainly shaped what the future of the county will look like for decades to come.

As with any problem, the first step toward solving it is admitting that there is a problem.

If you don’t think there is an affordable housing problem in the mountain region, you’re just not paying attention.

In last week’s cover story in The Smoky Mountain News (www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/18291) and in a subsequent story in this week’s edition, we looked into several issues related to affordable housing. But it’s the simple numbers concerning income and pricing that tell the story in the most easy-to-understand terms.

A task force studying the issue of affordable housing in Haywood County since March recently issued findings presenter Dona Stewart called “sobering” and “multi-faceted.”

• Affordable housing issues on Haywood County’s horizon
• Habitat houses give people hope
• Old hospital’s rehab into low-income housing falls flat
• Affordable housing development looks for resources
• Self-build program empowers low-income families
• Some look to downsized housing for personal freedom, financial security

Anecdotal accounts of a tight housing market have long swirled about Haywood County, but a quick look at hard data shows why a task force has been studying the issue of affordable housing since March.

About five years ago, Suzanne Cianciulli and her son were living in a rundown mobile home rental while she tried to make ends meet working a retail job.