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<br />GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
<br />SESSION 2009
<br />SESSION LAW 2009-406
<br />SENATE BILL 831
<br />AN ACT TO EXTEND CERTAIN GOVERNMENT APPROVALS AFFECTING THE
<br />DEVELOPMENT OF REAL PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE.
<br />The General As sembly of North Carolina enacts:
<br />SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Permit Extension
<br />Act of 2009."
<br />SEC TION 2. The General Assembly makes the following findings:
<br />(1) There exists a state of economic emergency in the State of North Carolina
<br /> and the nation, which has drastically affected various segments of the North
<br /> Carolina economy, but none as severely as the State's banking, real estate,
<br /> and construction sectors.
<br />(2) The real estate finance sector of the economy is in severe decline due to the
<br /> creation, bundling, and widespread selling of leveraged securities, such as
<br /> credit default swaps, and due to excessive defaults on sub-prime mortgages
<br /> and the resultant foreclosures on a vast scale, thereby widening the mortgage
<br /> finance crisis. The extreme tightening of lending standards for home buyers
<br /> and other real estate borrowers has reduced access to the capital markets.
<br />(3) As a result of the crisis in the real estate finance sector of the economy, real
<br /> estate developers and redevelopers, including home builders, and
<br /> commercial, office, and industrial developers, have experienced an
<br /> industry-wide decline, including reduced demand, cancelled orders,
<br /> declining sales and rentals, price reductions, increased inventory, fewer
<br /> buyers who qualify to purchase homes, layoffs, and scaled back growth
<br /> plans.
<br />(4) The process of obtaining planning board and zoning board of adjustment
<br /> approvals for subdivisions, site plans, and variances can be difficult, time
<br /> consuming, and expensive, both for private applicants and government
<br /> bodies.
<br />(5) The process of obtaining the myriad of other government approvals, such as
<br /> wetlands permits, treatment works approvals, on-site wastewater disposal
<br /> permits, stream encroachment permits, flood hazard area permits, highway
<br /> access permits, and numerous waivers and variances, can be difficult and
<br /> expensive; further, changes in the law can render these approvals, if expired
<br /> or lapsed, difficult to renew or reobtain.
<br />(6) County and municipal governments, including local sewer and water
<br /> authorities, obtain permits and approvals from State government agencies,
<br /> particularly the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, which
<br /> permits and approvals may expire or lapse due to the state of the economy
<br /> and the inability of both the public sector and the private sector to proceed
<br /> with projects authorized by the permit or approval.
<br />(7) County and municipal governments also obtain determinations of master
<br /> plan consistency, conformance, or endorsement with State or regional plans,
<br /> from State and regional government entities that may expire or lapse without
<br /> implementation due to the state of the economy.
<br />(8) The current national recession has severely weakened the building industry,
<br /> and many landowners and developers are seeing their life's work destroyed
<br /> by the lack of credit and dearth of buyers and tenants due to the crisis in real
<br /> estate financing and the building industry, uncertainty over the state of the
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