SouthPass On Deadline

— Construction of a massive residential and commercial development centered around a proposed 200-acre public park in south Fayetteville faces a new city deadline.

City officials say they will deny the 1,000-acre SouthPass, a mixed-use subdivision, an extension of its development approval unless the project’s developers hand over ownership of 200 acres intended for a regional public park.

The transfer of parkland is a central component of the contract agreement between SouthPass Development and Fayetteville.

Receipt of a the land deed for the park and a water tank site is a “primary condition of approval in the (planned zoning district) ordinance that would allow for city staff to accept Phase I development plans,” said Jeremy Pate, Fayetteville development services director.

So when Steve Aust, general manager for SouthPass Development, asked the city extend the time SouthPass has to move forward on its planned zoning district, city officials said they would deny the extension unless SouthPass comes forward with the deed by April 5, according a Nov. 25 letter Pate wrote to Aust.

“The city has met all of its obligations under the contract between Southpass Development Co. and the city of Fayetteville, but Southpass Development Co. has thus far failed to deliver the warranty deed,” Pate wrote in a letter.

SouthPass developers had one year after approval to submit a preliminary plat for Phase I of the project. Officials with SouthPass offered little insight into when the deed for the park property might come forward.

“We’ve filed for an extension with the city, and that’s all I’m authorized to say,” Aust said Friday. “I’m really not the person to be talking to.”

“We’re not able to comment on that right now,” said Lex Broyles of Broyles Development, when asked about SouthPass at a recent City Council meeting. Broyles’ father, Hank Broyles, is involved with the project, and both say the deed transfer is making its way through necessary legal channels.

“But we fully support the city’s position,” Broyles added.

SouthPass was approved by the Planning Commission and the City Council about a year ago. If the development does not receive its extension, it will have to go through the lengthy public review process again, which could prove to be an arduous trek since it barely squeezed through the City Council in December 2008 on a 4-4 tie with then-Mayor Dan Coody breaking the tie. Today’s mayor, Lioneld Jordan, was an alderman at the time and voted against the project at every turn.

SouthPass does have options. If the extension is denied, it can appeal Pate’s decision to the Planning Commission.

“If no extension is granted, the project approval is considered null and void,” Pate said.

“The same (planned zoning district) could be resubmitted for consideration, or any other project or zoning could be submitted, for that matter,” Pate added. “At this point, the applicants have indicated that they plan to continue moving the project forward, and are working on the release of the deed for the parkland.”

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