A row of two-story townhomes could be built along Erwin Road as part of a plan to build 54 townhomes beside the Extended Stay Residence Inn Hotel in Chapel Hill. Other townhomes could be three stories.
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The Chapel Hill Town Council returned from summer break Wednesday night to talk about a hotel expansion and townhomes proposed for a busy corridor near Fordham Boulevard and Erwin Road.
Summit Hospitality Group wants to add 54 suites to the 108-suite Extended Stay Residence Inn Hotel, built in 2003 at the corner of Erwin Road and Dobbins Drive. A two-story office and residential building could be replaced with a four-story hotel building.
The 17.7-acre project also could add 52 two- and three-story townhomes to a wooded lot north of the hotel near the future home of Christ Community Church.
Project official Scott Radway said the developer revised the plan after suggestions the council made in June. The changes reduced parking and impervious surfaces, such as driveways and rooftops, and increased stormwater controls. They also added over 9,900 square feet of recreation space, plus a $38,220 payment toward public recreation facilities elsewhere, he said.
The revised plan also increases the landscaping buffer to 100 feet between the hotel and Summerfield Crossing homes, and to 60 feet between the townhomes and Summerfield Crossing, he said.
The council voted Wednesday to continue the public hearing to Oct. 13, when it could vote on the conditional rezoning application. Officials are expected to bring more information about stormwater, affordable housing and other details to that meeting.
Summit Hospitality Group is offering four townhomes at a price affordable to families earning up to 80% of the area median income — an individual earning up to $48,400 a year and a family of four earning up to $69,120. Another three townhomes could be priced at 65% of AMI, or roughly $39,325 a year for an individual and $56,160 for a family of four.
The affordable units could have two bedrooms and two bathrooms, Radway said. Housing costs are fluctuating, he said, but the market-rate units could sell for between $495,000 and $695,000.
Council member Karen Stegman encouraged the developer to try for prices that could serve workers and professionals earning less money.
The project also could have 117 surface and garage parking spaces — roughly 16 more than town rules allow — as well as sidewalks and a new driveway north of the existing hotel entrance, which would become a right-in, right-out turn only. A few electric vehicle charging stations and wiring for more are possible.
Council members asked the developer to consider a greenway easement on Erwin Road and more pedestrian and bike connections.
Stormwater, flooding, ponds
Stormwater and flooding remained the biggest issues for surrounding residents, especially to the east at Summerfield Crossing, where floodwaters already inundate yards and infiltrate some homes in heavy downpours.
The developer is pledging to improve the conditions by filling an existing farm pond and removing an old dam, as well as expanding a stormwater basin at the hotel.
The farm pond “was created essentially to water farm animals that were on the property. It was not engineered or designed in any fashion to be a stormwater treatment facility for water quality or water volume or anything like that,” Radway said.
Council member Amy Ryan encouraged the developer to see the basin as a potential amenity for hotel guests and nearby residents.
“You’ve got a pond here that there’s an opportunity to make some amenity space, even if there’s just a path around it or benches or something,” Ryan said. “Little kids love to go out and look for frogs or see cattails. To make it a purely engineering structure is a real lost opportunity.”
Council members also supported the idea of a swale — a landscaped, marshy area for collecting and filtering rainwater — between the hotel and Summerfield Crossing. Summerfield’s homeowners association has used them in the past to help with flooding, staff said.
The council will hear more details about the size and location of the swale, and about potential alternatives in October. The developer also could provide more information about a proposed 50% to 75% reduction in stormwater runoff.
Council member Hongbin Gu questioned that figure, especially with the amount of steep slopes that could be disturbed and the extra impervious surfaces, such as parking lots.
The impervious surfaces would cover only about 35% of the hotel and townhome sites combined — less than the 50% impervious surfaces allowed for a residential development, Radway said. The steep slopes, he said, were created when the pond and roads were built to serve the former farm.
Neighborhood concerns
Linda Brown, a resident of Summerfield Crossing, said she would like to see the forest and pond remain, but the reality is that land will be developed at some point.
“Given the plans that have come before us before, this is one of the best ones,” she said in advocating for the swale behind her neighborhood and a 100-foot buffer with trees and shrubs to help absorb the stormwater runoff.
“During thunderstorms and/or sustained rain events, as stormwater flows from Erwin Road down to Woodbridge Road, Woodbridge becomes a river. In spite of recent improvements in stormwater infrastructure by the Summerfield Crossing HOA, homes are still threatened. The new development will increase impervious surface, making matters worse.”
Other residents questioned the number of condos planned and whether taller buildings would be in harmony with the surrounding homes, apartments and townhomes, as well as the possibility of more traffic. Some noted that the hotel’s original permit limited the number of suites that it could have and building heights.
The developer is trying to “scuttle” the original permit, Windhover neighbor Michael Hoppe said, calling the talk of walkable and green spaces “hogwash.”
“Summit Hospitality Group tries to cram too much in too small a place,” Hoppe said, noting potential problems with traffic, runoff, building height and perceived incompatibility with adjacent neighborhoods.
“[It appears]) that the developers don’t care about creating a desirable Chapel Hill. What seems to drive them is pure and simple — making as much from their investment as possible,” he said.
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