Minutes 02-21-2017 - Laserfiche WebLink

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3 prior to January 1, 2017, and for which a building permit application has been submitted prior to January 31, 2019 may choose to pay either the public school impact fee that was in effect for 2016 for the housing type(s) proposed in the application or the fee required by the public school impact fee schedule in section 30-33 of Chapter 30, Article II of the Orange County Code of Ordinances, provided the fee is paid prior to December 31, 2020 and a Certificate of Compliance is issued on or before December 31, 2020. Detailed Background of Town House Apartments/Grove Park Development 1961 Construction began on the 111 dwelling units at Town House Apartments • February, 2009 Chapel Hill Council approved rezoning and Special Use Permit for 346 units • October, 2015 Chapel Hill Council approved a Special Use Permit Modification • April, 2015 Certificates of Adequacy of Public Schools (CAPS) issued by CHCCS (Certificate #0071) • June, 2016 Chapel Hill approval of minor changes to the 2015 Special Use Permit • November, 2016 Chapel Hill approval of minor changes to the 2015 Special Use Permit Dec. 15, 2016 Chapel Hill Community Design Commission approval of ZCP Detailed Building Elevations and Lighting Plan • February, 2017 Formal Zoning Compliance Permit submittal anticipated Since 1962, we have provided rental apartment units to college students at this Hillsborough Street location in Chapel Hill. We received approval from the Chapel Hill Town Council for a new residential project in 2009, which was then finely tuned with Town Council approval of a Special Use Permit Modification in 2015. We have been working diligently on our Zoning Compliance Permit (ZCP)/Final Plan submittal package since 2015. As we prepared detailed final plans, we have worked closely with the Chapel Hill staff and have received two administrative approvals for minor changes to the 2015 Special Use Permit. These changes were determined to be necessary as we fine-tuned our ZCP submittal for the town. We also had our detailed building elevations and lighting plan approved in December by the Town's Community Design Commission. This is a step in the process that typically occurs during Zoning Compliance Permit review by the town. We intend to submit our formal Zoning Compliance Permit application in February. A great deal of time and expense has gone into our proposal. We were not aware of significant school impact fee changes. We estimate that the additional $1.2 million required of us based on the increased school impact fees will damage our project and result in our inability to move forward. Please refer to the attachment identifying the cost associated with the increase in the school impact fee. Failure of our project to move forward will result in an estimated property tax base loss of at least$625,000 + each year to the county. We reflect a unique situation: Long time college-student rental housing that has received a Special Use Permit and Special Use Permit Modification, 2 Minor Changes, detailed Building Elevation and Lighting Plan Approvals, and Certificates of Adequacy of Public Schools, just weeks away from submitting our Zoning Compliance Permit application. We respectfully request consideration of a minor adjustment to the resolution regarding grandfathering of projects for school impact fee collection purposes. If it would be helpful to discuss any of this information, please contact me at apsegar @townhouseunc.com or 919-942- 2163. I appreciate your consideration of this request.