The Town Council unanimously approved the resolution, which calls for town officials to work on a new development ordinance during the time when new development projects would have been considered. As a result, new development has essentially been stopped until the ordinance is hammered out.
The ordinance is expected to be finished by early fall and would give the Town Council a guide for addressing land-use issues in the future.
Although Town Manager Cal Horton said he foresees no major long-term impact from the decision, some fear the effects of pushing back construction jobs.
One problem opponents of the resolution said would occur is increased costs for developers who will have to delay building projects or change their plans to comply with the new ordinance. "It's going to create an unforeseen expense for applying for special-use permits," said Aaron Nelson, executive director of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce. "People are unsure of what rules will apply to them when their projects come up."
But Nelson said his main concern was that the town could be taking an anti-development stance. "The big concern is as our community grows, it's entirely possible the town can tell people they don't want development here," he said.
One renovation Nelson said would be affected was the addition of a new movie theater to Plaza Triple Theatres. Architect Richard Gurlitz expected to renovate the theater, which is located in the Village Plaza. Gurlitz said he did not know exactly how the renovations would be affected but that he would probably end up having to pay more. "All these projects have paid substantial fees to go into the process, and I would expect that there would be money matters involved," he said.
Meadowmont developer Roger Perry, of East West Partners, said a special-use permit for the development's proposed hilltop condos most likely will not be affected by the council's resolution because the planning board has already approved the project.
The project is one of six the Town Council will allow to go forward because it has made it through the planning board stage.
But Perry said that even though a portion of the Meadowmont project will not be affected, he recognized the resolution might cause others problems.
