Developers for a proposed mixed-use project in northeast Chatham County recently pulled it from the agenda of an upcoming county commissioners meeting.
The Williams Corner project was slated for a legislative public hearing earlier in the year for the commissioners to consider rezoning the 118-acre parcel off U.S. 15-501 to allow for mixed-use development. With the hearing postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Chatham County Board of Commissioners were set to revisit the request for rezoning at its meeting on Monday, August 17. Shortly after the release of the agenda, project partners ZR Chatham LLC and Bold Development Group notified the board the item should be taken off.
Chris Ehrenfeld of the Bold Development Group later shared a message to the community on the social media site NextDoor. He cited ongoing sewer issues experienced by the Old North State Water Company in the Briar Chapel neighborhood as part of the reasoning for the public hearing being postponed. The public utility sewer system owned by water company would likely serve the Williams Corner development as well. But Ehrenfeld said with a sewage spill happening in the Briar Chapel community as recently as July 26, the development group will wait until sewage processing options are “more reliable.”
“As a developer,” he wrote, “we rely on utility partnerships and have faith in local providers to hold up their end of the bargain and adequately perform the services for which we engage them. Bold [Development Group] is not willing to gamble with the health of our surrounding community.”
Ehrenfeld went on to say in his post the Williams Corner project has been “challenging” for both the developers and surrounding community. He wrote the project partners will continue engaging both with residents and the local government.
“This situation highlights the dependency Chatham County has on private sewage solutions,” he wrote. “To meet the challenges of affordable housing and workforce housing along with historic growth in the Triangle, NE Chatham must be willing to invest in itself at some point. Developers, local governing members, and citizens must work together to build a better Chatham.”
As proposed, the Williams Corner project would be up to 540 multi-family units to the property, located by 15-501 and Lystra Road. Expected to originally be completed in 2027, the development also aims to build retail space with its first phase of apartment units before adding office and storage space in its second construction phase.
ZR Chatham has owned the property since 2006, according to the Williams Corner website. Bold Development Group partnered with the ownership company in 2019.
With the public hearing pulled from the Chatham County Board of Commissioners’ agenda, it is now unclear when the board would next consider a rezoning request for the Williams Corner project. A release from the town on Monday said if the public hearings are eventually placed back on the calendar, residents will need to sign up to share their comments again.
Editor’s Note: Chris Ehrenfeld is a partner with Chapel Hill Media Group, LLC, which owns 97.9 The Hill and Chapelboro.com.
Photo via Williams Corner.
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