Robinson Bradshaw Files Amicus Brief in North Carolina Supreme Court

Robinson Bradshaw attorney Ted Hennessey and Michael Carpenter, general counsel of the North Carolina Home Builders Association, Inc. (NCHBA), filed an amicus brief on behalf of the NCHBA in the N.C. Supreme Court in Quality Built Homes Incorporated v. Town of Carthage. The case raises important questions about North Carolina municipalities’ statutory authority to fund new infrastructure through impact fees imposed on builders and developers.

The case arises from the imposition by Carthage, North Carolina, of substantial impact fees on developers and builders requiring plat approval for residential developments. The fees are ostensibly to fund new water and sewer infrastructure required to support the development, although among the issues in the case is the extent to which these fees, if lawful at all, are available for purposes other than new infrastructure. 

Robinson Bradshaw undertook the amicus brief at the request of the NCHBA, the trade association representing builders and developers of both single-family and multifamily housing in North Carolina, and an affiliate of the National Association of Home Builders. The brief focuses on the critical legal question whether current North Carolina statutes authorize municipalities to use impact fees as a means of funding asserted infrastructure needs. The brief also explains the significant adverse effects of impact fees on housing affordability, particularly for would-be buyers with lower incomes or from groups with historically depressed rates of home ownership.