Wednesday, Mar. 03, 2010

Consultant will study proposed project

Developers are suing town over water, sewer

Facing a 3-year-old lawsuit, the town will hire a consultant to study a proposed residential and retail project outside the town limits.

Warren & Associates, a Charlotte real-estate consulting firm, will study the economic impact that a large development near Rock Quarry and Old Baucom roads would have on the town. Garner could pay the firm more than $21,000.

The project's developers, Edge of Auburn and Auburn Associates, sued the town and the town council in 2007. In their complaint, they say Garner was wrong to deny the project access to water and sewer.

The proposed development, which calls for 750 housing units and about 25 acres of retail space, is outside the town and beyond its planning jurisdiction. But it is within the town's "urban service area" as outlined in a water and sewer agreement between Garner and Raleigh, according to the civil complaint.

Garner buys water and sewer capacity from Raleigh, and it gets enough for the town to grow by 3 to 4 percent each year. The agreement says water and sewer extensions within the urban service area "will not be reasonably withheld," the complaint notes.

Now, the town wants to study the development further instead of going to court. When the developers asked for water and sewer, Garner was growing quickly and didn't have as many resources to spare, said town attorney Bill Anderson. But the recession has slowed development.

"It's different circumstances, different times," Anderson said.

Mayor Ronnie Williams said the town was reluctant to offer water and sewer to the proposed project because the plans called for several starter homes, which would bring in fewer tax dollars if Garner eventually annexed the development.

"We want the higher-end houses if we can get them," Williams said.

The consulting firm could do a feasibility study that would predict how much tax revenue the project could bring to Garner. It would consider how much the project would cost the town.

When Garner said no to water and sewer, the developers considered using wells for the project, according to their complaint. But the groundwater was contaminated with nitrate from the sewage-treatment plant on Battle Ridge Road, the complaint contends.

Now the developers want a judge to force Garner to allow the water and sewer extension. They also want the town to pay more than $10,000 in damages, according to the complaint.

The developer's attorneys, George Currin and Thomas Worth, did not return phone calls by press time.