Orange County NC Website
1 <br />2 <br />3 <br />4 <br />5 <br />6 <br />7 <br />8 <br />9 <br />10 <br />11 <br />12 <br />13 <br />14 <br />15 <br />16 <br />17 <br />18 <br />19 <br />20 <br />21 <br />22 <br />23 <br />24 <br />25 <br />26 <br />27 <br />28 <br />29 <br />30 <br />31 <br />32 <br />33 <br />34 <br />35 <br />36 <br />37 <br />38 <br />39 <br />40 <br />41 <br />42 <br />43 <br />44 <br />45 <br />46 <br />47 <br />48 <br />49 <br />50 <br />R <br />Ken Pennoyer said based on re- zoning, staff has come up with a likely development <br />scenario with two phases. He said the first phase is based on actual development plans, and <br />the future phase is based on what the Town believes the zoning will enable and what can <br />happen based on current knowledge of the market. He said the financing plan utilizes the <br />installment financing combined with Town Hall to provide collateral. <br />Commissioner Rich referred to a similar project in Bloomington that was very <br />successful. She asked Dwight Bassett to comment on this. <br />Dwight Bassett said Bloomington, Indiana, as well as Asheville and Carrboro, N.C. all <br />have synthetic Tax Increment Financing (TIF) projects that are very successful. He said in <br />Bloomington, the base value of the land was estimated at $1 million, and after development it <br />was $10 million. He said the taxes on the $9 million difference were pledged back in to pay for <br />roads, lighting and improvements. He said they got back more than the amount spent, and a <br />TIF was put over the entirety of the downtown and it generates new revenue to be put back into <br />infrastructure. He said there were similar projects in Asheville and in Carrboro with the <br />development of 300 East Main. <br />Commissioner Pelissier asked for clarification on the number of new residential units <br />there will be. She would also like to know about the phasing of the commercial portion. <br />Dwight Bassett said there are two developments that will happen in the first four years of <br />the development. He said 235 residential units and 15,000 square feet of retail space will be <br />built on the former movie theater site on Elliott Road. He said the former Colony apartments, <br />which currently has 109 units, is projected to grow to 175 units. <br />He said the residential is coming first because the market plays a tremendous role in <br />development, and multifamily housing is the easiest of all commercial tax based projects to <br />finance. He believes the retail and office space will likely happen faster than projected. He said <br />the projections have been conservative because there are some issues with existing leases. <br />Commissioner Price asked who the Town is expecting to attract to this new re- <br />development. She is thinking about the school projections. <br />Dwight Bassett said based on other projects, they would be looking at about 100 <br />students. He said there is a strong population of residents in their 20's who come for school <br />and then leave after graduation because the Town does not meet their lifestyle choices. He <br />said many of these residents do not want to be homeowners, but the desire is to be in a place <br />where they can live, work and play. He believes that half of the residential units would be for <br />that demographic of residents aged 20 -40, and the goal would be to create a live, work and play <br />district. He said the hope is that this will stop some of the brain drain of folks leaving to seek <br />employment elsewhere. <br />Commissioner Price asked how the flooding issues will be mitigated when adding the <br />additional development. <br />Dwight Bassett said there needs to be a higher level of standard to manage the quality <br />of the impervious services. He said $1 million has been set aside and the town has applied for a <br />$15 million grant to look at the overall storm water master plan and the flood basin. <br />Bob Jessup said the stormwater staff from Chapel Hill has pointed out that almost the <br />entire district is already impervious, and this will not increase the amount of impervious surface <br />by more than 1 -2 percent. He said the goal will be to improve on what is already there. <br />Commissioner Price asked if there will be any increase to the greenspace. <br />Dwight Bassett said zoning code requires that 20 percent of each new development be <br />set aside for public amenity space. He said staff plans to connect to the greenway trail system. <br />He said there is an area behind Whole Foods that cannot be developed and staff has asked for <br />this space to allow for creation of additional greenspace. <br />Commissioner McKee asked how staff arrived at the figure of $1.2 million for stormwater <br />capital. He said this will not build a lot of infrastructure. <br />