TRIANGLE AREA LAND USE NEWSLETTER June 2 0 0 7 City of Durham - PDF document

www.kennedycovington.com TRIANGLE AREA LAND USE NEWSLETTER June 2 0 0 7 City of Durham Considers I ncreases to Street I m pact Fees I n this I ssue: Over the last several months, Durham's administration has been work- ing on an update to the impact fees imposed on new development with- · City of Durham Considers in Durham. The accompanying spreadsheet shows Durham's current I ncreases to Street I m pact Fees impact fees for the land uses that concern many in the non-residential development community, along with the transportation impact fees · Raleigh Considers Significant currently charged in Cary and Raleigh. The increased amounts for each Text Change land use category are what is termed a "starting point" and is not a City · Stephanie Powell and Jack staff recommendation. This "starting point" is based on a 65% recov- Wiggen Join Firm ery rate for the cost of each trip generated by the proposed new devel- · Raleigh’s New Developm ent opment. The starting point for almost all office categories is well over Services Manager a 100% increase above the currently imposed transportation impact fee for new development in Southern Durham. Similarly, the starting · Nitrogen Buy-Down Rules Back in the News point for the impact fees for a single family home in Southern Durham would increase from $795 to $1,924, and for a multi-family dwelling, it would increase from $488 to $1,181. However, it is important to note Our land use and zoning practice group addresses the specific and unique legal that the starting point for impact fees assessed in Northern Durham issues associated with zoning and land essentially will be unchanged from the current fees, and in Downtown use regulations on behalf of developers Durham, the impact fees will be eliminated. There are also impact fees and landowners. With the increased charged to new residential development for parks and recreation and emphasis by governmental bodies on controlling growth, m ixed-use/ urban- open space, which for a single family home, the "starting point" for an ism , and other "Sm art Growth" increase is from the current fees amounting to $348.56 up to $647, approaches, an integral part of this prac- and for multi-family, the increase would be from $216.30 up to $514. tice involves dealing with governmental The parks and recreation and open space impact fees are imposed uni- and quasi-governmental bodies. Each of our attorneys has extensive practice formly across Durham. experience in all of the various regula- tions impacting real estate development Pursuant to the enabling statute, Durham's impact fee ordinance must and an appreciation of the challenges developers and landowners encounter. be updated periodically. Kimley-Horn, a leading national engineering, This group provides efficient, economic, planning and transportation firm, performed the transportation impact and com prehensive legal services fee study for Durham. These transportation, parks and recreation and throughout the Carolinas. open space impact fees are not like school impact fees. These impact FOR MORE INFORMATION: fees are legal and were duly authorized by the General Assembly back in the 1980's. Several local jurisdictions in the Triangle and on the LACY H. REAVES outer banks have received authority from the General Assembly to 919.743.7304 impose impact fees. It certainly seems likely that more cities and lreaves@kennedycovington.com towns will receive authority from the General Assembly to impose WILLIAM J. BRIAN, JR. these types of impact fees. 919.466.1261 bbrian@kennedycovington.com

While non-residential developers are focused on the increases applicable to new office and industrial devel- opment, the Homebuilders Association of Durham, Orange and Chatham Counties is very concerned about this proposal. However, Durham has decided that any increases of these impact fees will not be a part of the FY 2007-08 City Budget, which means that this impact fee issue will be dealt with after July 2007. This gives concerned parties time to spread the word about this issue, do more research, and have a greater chance of impacting the debate about Durham's impact fees. Raleigh Considers Significant Text Change Raleigh is considering a text change intended to clarify the cumulative maximum residential office devel- opment permitted in units of Office & Institution-1 and Office & Institution-2. The text change allows the net lot area of the parcel to be used in calculating both the maximum residential density and maximum office floor area permitted by the applicable zoning district. Under this text change, each use may be developed to its maximum intensity without any proportionate reduction for other uses on the lot. This text change would reverse an interpretation of Section 10-2088 of the Raleigh Zoning Code by the Board of Adjustment decided on July 9, 2001, (case A-45-01). The Board found that the Raleigh City Code did not specifically address calculating maximum residential and office density on the same lot and concluded that this issue is a policy matter that should be determined by the City Council. By refusing to resolve this issue, the Board reversed the interpretation by the Zoning Enforcement Officer, who argued that the Code permitted a single building to be developed to the maximum residential and office densi- ties. This proposed text change places the issue squarely before the Raleigh City Council.