Agenda - 05-05-2015 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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D I Mary Darr said there is a 10 month design period. She said parallel to that is an 2 easement acquisition process of undetermined time. She said that work can begin as soon as 3 design and permits were secured. 4 Commissioner Dorosin said this is a long drawn out process. He said there are no 5 surprises, and the community desires the project. He asked if there is any way to expedite the 6 process, including paying a higher cost, if necessary. 7 Chair McKee said maybe the Managers and OWASA can talk about this and bring back 8 information back to the Boards. 9 10 4. Economic Development Potential for Ephesus /Fordham Development Project 11 Update 12 Mayor Kleinschmidt said in 14 years on the Council they have approved one project that 13 got built in this district. 14 Dwight Bassett said they are in final stages of securing easements, and the project is at 15 90 percent plan stage. He said comments have been taken from Department of Transportation 16 (DOT) and the plans are being revised. He said the only thing that will prevent meeting the 17 June 2015 first phase bidding deadline is entering a municipal agreement with the North 18 Carolina DOT. He said a scope for phase two has been negotiated for the roadway systems. 19 He said they will initiate that contract in the coming weeks. He said two projects are pending 20 along with several other smaller ones. He said a larger project being worked on is extending 21 Elliot Road, and this is in the very early stages. 22 Mayor Kleinschmidt said two of the three projects are 100 percent retail. 23 Commissioner Price asked for clarification on Chapel Hill's definition of affordable 24 housing in this district. 25 Mayor Kleinschmidt said Chapel Hill did not abandon their commitment to affordable 26 housing when they re -zoned this district. He said it is not a simple answer. He said the Town 27 will take a district wide approach to affordable housing rather than a building by building 28 approach. He said the Town committed to 30 percent affordable housing, which will be 29 achieved in two ways. He said the first part will leverage the town's resources to provide for an 30 affordable housing site. He said this is being done through an on -going application with DHIC 31 on the north eastern part of the district. He said the second part is an incentive package built 32 into the zone laid on the western side of Elliot Road. He said this goal is the highest affordable 33 housing goal that they have ever had in a single housing project. 34 Commissioner Price asked if it is more of the work force housing or lower income. 35 Mayor Kleinschmidt said if you want to live in Chapel Hill, it is important to make sure 36 there is a safe, quality place for you to afford to live. He said that means that their Planning 37 Department has been reorganized to have efforts to develop strategies for affordable rental 38 housing targeting 30 to 60 percent income earners. He said there is a long term program with 39 the Home Trust targeting 80 percent income earners for home ownership, which is the most 40 successful of its kind in the nation. 41 He said that innovative approaches are being developed that accommodate state laws 42 prohibiting rental caps. He said this includes creative ideas to inspire private developers to 43 create affordable rentals within their developments. He said examples of this are the Timber 44 Hollow Project, a rebuild project that either created affordable housing where there had 45 previously been none; and the new build Graduate Project behind the Franklin Hotel, which 46 created affordable housing despite it not being a requirement of the project. 47 Council Member Ward said the Town did not abandon affordable housing but gave 48 away the bank in terms of having one lever - to increase density in that district - to leverage 49 affordable housing. He said that was abandoned and he hoped that they would revisit this for 50 this entire area.