 NCR Launches FPC Congressional Visits Portal NEWS ALERT – The visit with Congressman Ted Budd is scheduled for April 28, 2021 at 9:00 AM. This is an in-person event. Please select the link below to access the FPC Congressional Meeting portal. Once on the page, please scroll down to the end of the page to access Congressman Budd’s registration information. NCR is pleased to launch the FPC Legislative Meeting portal. This will be your one-stop shop for all information related to the FPC virtual Congressional visits scheduled from April 28 – June 30. The portal features photos of North Carolina’s Congressional Senate and House members. Registration links and other important event information will be at the bottom of each photo. Not sure about your US House of Representative? We have your covered, select, “Find Your US House of Representative” link on the portal, which will allow you to check this information. Please note, not all visits have been scheduled so please check the site often for updates. We will also provide reminders of the updates in the Advocate. While most of these meetings will be held virtually, some meetings will be held in-person. Due to COVID restrictions, the in-person meetings will follow safety guidelines and attendance will be limited. To access the portal please select the follow link: 2021 FPC Virtual Legislative Visits. If you have any questions, please contact Kristin Nash. |
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Another Economic Win for the City of Sanford
ABZENA SELECTS SANFORD FOR NEW FACILITY
From the Sanford Area Growth Alliance
Sanford, NC (April 13, 2021) – Abzena, a life-sciences group headquartered in San Diego, California with other sites across the US and Europe, will open a new facility in Lee County, Governor Roy Cooper announced Tuesday, April 13, 2021. The company plans to locate in the 117,000 square foot Shell Building #2 in Central Carolina Enterprise Park and will create 325 jobs at an average annual salary of more than $60,000. The company will be investing $213M in Sanford.
Abzena, a contract manufacturer, collaborates with companies and academic groups all over the world, including most of the top 20 biopharmaceutical companies. Multiple antibodies, which have been created using Abzena’s technologies, are currently being progressed through clinical development by their licensees.
Abzena’s range of services focus on antibody discovery and immunology assessment. The Lee County facility will accommodate phase 3 and commercial manufacturing, augmenting cGMP manufacturing capacity for mammalian biologics. The company also has a strong background in synthetic organic chemistry and extensive experience of custom synthesis and bioconjugation.
Abzena was created through the incorporation of Antitope, PacificGMP, PolyTherics, The Chemistry Research Solution (TCRS) and Warwick Effect Polymers.
Raeford – Public Hearings on Proposed 191 Residential Housing Project
Subdivision behind West Hoke Middle up for Raeford leaders’ consideration
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[Image by Ken MacDonald: A map of the proposed subdivision expansion.]
By Catharin Shepard • Staff writer •
A proposal to build up to 191 houses on about 85 acres of land behind West Hoke Middle School will go before Raeford decision-makers this month.
This is the second time a plan for the property has been brought up for public hearing, but the plans are somewhat different than they were in 2019 when a crowd of Raeford residents raised concerns about it.
Forge Investment Group LLC, representing property owners JNM Investments and Robert Wright, seeks to build up to 191 single-family homes in the area of Thomas Drive, also known as Raeford Village. The developer has requested preliminary subdivision approval for the project, an extension known as Raeford Commons.
The city will hold two public hearings on the matter with the first scheduled for the Raeford Planning Board meeting Monday, March 29 at 5:15 p.m.; and the second to be held at the Raeford City Council meeting Monday, April 5 at 7 p.m.
Both meetings will take place at City Hall on Main Street in Raeford. Interested citizens are welcome to attend the meetings and express their views and opinions on the project.
The current subdivision approval request is different from the plans of a few years ago. In 2019 the property owners applied to rezone the property from Residential-12 to Residential-8, to allow for smaller lots of a minimum 8,000 square feet. The original intent was to build up to 270 homes on the property.
A crowd of city residents spoke against the development at a Raeford City Council meeting in February 2019, raising concerns about drainage and flooding in existing housing developments in the area. Residents were also worried about impacts to their property value, increased traffic and more noise in their neighborhoods.
At the time the city council could only vote on the rezoning, not make any decisions regarding the development itself. The council ultimately voted 4-1 to send the matter back to the Raeford Planning Board.
Today the land is still zoned R-12 with minimum lot sizes of 12,000 square feet, and the developer plans to proceed leaving the R-12 zoning as it is, according to a public notice from the city. The project apparently also dropped about 80 homes from the earlier version of the plan, reducing the density of the proposed housing development.
If approved, the subdivision would be on city water and sewer service. The city would receive $94,750 total in subdivision fees for the project at $500 per lot, plus a $250 application fee.
The proposed development would be located in the general area behind Raeford Evangelical Methodist Church and Palmer Green Apartments, bordered by Rogers Street.
From the National Association of REALTORS®, Moratorium Extended
| NAR continues work to ensure rental assistance meets needs of housing providers View this email online |
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| What the Moratorium Means for You |
| The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced today that it is extending its nationwide eviction moratorium through June 30, 2021. The order was put into place Sept. 4, 2020, but has been challenged in court across numerous states and localities in the months since. In addition to the court challenges, the National Association of REALTORS® has fought successfully for federal rental assistance—and will continue to advocate to ensure the moratorium doesn’t lead to a spiraling crisis for housing providers and tenants. “NAR helped secured $25 billion in 2020 and another $21.55 billion earlier this month in federal rental assistance funding, which can be paid directly to property owners,” says Shannon McGahn, chief advocacy officer of NAR. “This was critical to averting a multifamily real estate crisis, as many of our nation’s housing providers are mom-and-pop operations. Our focus now turns to ensuring there is not just enough funding but also a smooth implementation of rental assistance while the various challenges to eviction bans work their way through the courts.” Under the terms of the CDC order, residents must declare that they have pursued all appropriate government assistance; met certain income and employment requirements; and are using best efforts to make timely partial payments, among other qualifications. Today’s announcement expands the order to include people “who are confirmed to have, who have been exposed to, or who might have been exposed to COVID-19 and take reasonable precautions to spread the disease.” Covered persons must now provide their housing provider with a copy of a signed declaration form stating that they meet the requirements to be a “covered person.” As with previous CDC orders, property owners may still evict tenants due to criminal activity, damaging property, or for violating other contractual obligations. “Rental assistance averted two crises—one for mom-and-pop property owners who did not have a reprieve from their bills and relied on their rental income and one for tenants who would have been responsible for months of back rent when the eviction moratoriums expired,” McGahn says. “We must continue to look for ways to protect tenants and property owners from further financial turmoil while ensuring housing in America remains safe and stable for decades to come.” Read the CDC order. Read NAR’s Coronavirus: Housing Provider FAQs. See all NAR resources related to COVID-19 at nar.realtor/coronavirus. |
NC Representative Files Bill to Protect Private Property Rights for Landowners
North Carolina House of
Representatives
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Marshall Conrad
Date: March 23, 2021
REP. JOHN SZOKA FILES LEGISLATION TO PROTECT AND ENHANCE PROPERTY RIGHTS FOR FAMILY LANDOWNERS
RALEIGH, N.C. – State Representatives John Szoka (R-Cumberland), Kyle Hall (R-Stokes), Donna White (R-Johnston) and Brian Turner (D-Buncombe) filed HB367, the “Uniform Partition of Heirs’ Property Act”, a bill that protects the private property rights of families who own land as tenants in common and ensures that these family landowners have access to federal funding for disaster recovery and conservation improvements on their land. The bill provides due process protections for these family landowners and helps keep their farms and forests intact and profitable.
Rep. Szoka the primary sponsor of the legislation said, “For too long, many family landowners in North Carolina have not been able to maximize the value of their land, while also missing out on federal cost share programs that boost agricultural productivity and wildlife outcomes. It’s long past overdue that we support these families with the commonsense protections and due process found in the Uniform Partition of Heirs’ Property Act.”
Zach Wallace, Policy Manager at Audubon North Carolina, a state office of the National Audubon Society stated, “We thank Representative Szoka for his leadership to protect family farms and forests and ensure that family landowners can access federal funding to improve wildlife habitat on their properties.”
Background: “Heirs’ property” is family-owned land passed down through generations and owned by many family members with an undivided interest in the land. This ownership setup makes it difficult for families to maximize the value and profitably of their land and leaves them vulnerable to involuntary land loss. The Uniform Partition of Heirs’ Property Act is a model bill established by the Uniform Laws Commission that helps address these problems and has been passed in 17 states including Texas, Florida, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Georgia. The bill protects heirs’ family farms and other properties by supporting the rights of heirs to keep their land intact and ensuring that family members receive fair market value when their land is sold. The 2018 federal Farm Bill included provisions that make it
easier for heirs’ families in states that have enacted the Uniform Partition of Heirs’ Property Act to access federal funding for land improvements that enhance agricultural productivity, wildlife habitat, and water quality improvements.
The bill is supported by a broad coalition of organizations including state conservation groups, land trusts, family land loss organizations, North Carolina Realtors, members of the NC Bar Association, and academic partners
Sanford City Council Approves New 131 Home Subdivision
Sanford City Council approved plans for a new subdivision called The Glen at Cool Springs. The planned subdivision will provide 131 new single residential homes on 53.5 acres. The project is located west of Cool Springs Road.
There are conditions in the subdivision. The minimum square foot of the house will be 2,200 and must include two garages, brick or stone on front façade, asphalt shingle roofs and cement driveways.
A petition against the project was submitted with 175 signatures. Councilmen Chas Post and Byron Buckels voted in opposition.