Market conditions were cited in three of four requests to the Planning Commission on Monday for more time to get needed Fayetteville building permits. “ Most of these were kind of a form letter stating it was the market conditions, ” said Jeremy Pate, director of current planning. “ They’re going to wait it out. I anticipate we’ll see quite a bit of that in coming months. That’s part of the development process. ”
Pate said it is unusual to have four extension requests but that one or two can be found on almost every agenda. “ Due to the current instability of the commercial and residential markets, the progress of the development has been delayed, ” wrote Michael Morgan of McClelland Consulting Engineers in requests for The Shoppes at Shiloh and Steele Crossing Business Park.
The Shoppes at Shiloh is a large-scale development at the corner of Gregg Avenue and Shiloh Drive approved by the Planning Commission last November. When constructed, it will be an 18, 700-squarefoot commercial building with 84 parking spaces.
The business park extension request is for a preliminary plat approved in October 2006. Also citing market conditions was Dave Chapman for University Club Condos, a residential planned zoning district to be located on the north side of Zion Road, east of College Avenue. The project will be a multifamily condominium with a maximum of 13 stories, 80 dwelling units and 144 bedrooms.
The Fayetteville City Council approved the project in December. Asked if he anticipated the projects would be constructed, Pate said, “ They are all aware enough of their expiration dates to submit for an extension. We do see, oftentimes, projects that aren’t going to happen, they don’t submit for their extension. They just fall by the wayside and expire. Then we look at something else later. ”
The fourth project seeking an extension of time was Sixth and Wood, a residential planned zoning district of 20 multifamily units in five buildings near the intersection of Sixth Street and Wood Avenue. Mike McDonald of Hometown Development asked for a month’s extension to obtain the necessary building permits. Construction for this project is under way, Pate said.
The city planner explained that the city has a deadline to get permits in general so that if new ordinances are adopted by the city, they can be applied. “ The council wanted to make sure we didn’t have a project just out there, ” Pate said. He said in the early 2000s, projects were being built that had been approved in the 1970s and 1980s.
“ People would buy the property then build that project because it didn’t have a sunset (clause ), ” he said. “ They didn’t have to put the landscaping in. They didn’t have to do anything required under the current codes because they were approved under another one. “ Now any new projects have to meet a one-year time frame, with a one-year extension. Once you start construction, you have three years to actually construct the project. ”
Source: NWAnews.com