Port Orange slashes permit fee to get hotel back on track
Posted Fri, 2011-04-08 02:44
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Port Orange agrees to lower permit fees in an attempt to re-activate a project to build an 87-unit Comfort Inn & Suites.PORT ORANGE – Trying to jump-start the stalled construction of a Country Inn & Suites hotel near Interstate 95, city officials have agreed to slash a permit fee.
T&T Management will be assessed a $27,461.97 permit fee, instead of the $68,968 due because original permits have expired.
Also, Port Orange will give the company a five-year, no interest payment plan for the estimated $144,542 in impact fees.
Mayor Allen Green said he’s worried the city won’t be reimbursed for the cost of its work by slashing the fee.
'I'm not willing to subsidize but I'm willing to give some kind of credit,' Mayor Allen Green says.
“I’m not willing to subsidize, but I’m willing to give some kind of credit,” Green said Tuesday after the unanimous vote of the City Council.
A staffer assured the mayor that the city’s costs would be covered. Councilman Bob Ford said he’d be “willing to take a loss” to get the hotel construction back on track.
“Like all the people in the area, you want to see this thing move forward,” Councilman Bob Pohlmann added.
The City Council in January 2010 approved permits to build an 87-unit hotel at 5802 Journey’s End Drive. However, the national economic downturn stalled the project and permits expired in March 2010. Construction had begun on the hotel, but stopped due to lack of financing during the economic recession.
“We were trying to find a way to move this project into its final phase,” City Manager Ken Parker said.
City Attorney Margaret Roberts said the City Council would have to vote on details of the agreement at a future meeting.
Editor's Note: Story and display photo submitted by a freelancer for NSBNews.net and VolusiaNews.net.
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Comments
It would be interesting to
It would be interesting to have more detail about the "lack of financing" that occurred. It's unusual for a bank to pull the plug in the middle of a project. Is that what happened here, or did the developer default on payments? Or was he unable to convert construction financing into permanent financing? I hope the Port Orange City Council looked into these little details. P.O now has a half-finished church and a half-finished hotel. I realize development is always a risky business, but let's try to avoid any more shaky deals
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