Evicted Chapel Hill tenant pleads for more time: Parkinson’s ‘makes everything slower’
A Chapel Hill man who lives with Parkinson’s disease appealed to the town for help Wednesday after finding himself facing eviction before his new home will be ready.
Rob Koegler, who has lived on Huse Street since 2004, said he received notice Sunday that he has to be out of his home by May 31.
The neighborhood of older rental homes at the corner of Old Chapel Hill and Pope roads, near the Chapel Hill-Durham border, was sold a few years ago to EB Capital Partners for a new residential development.
The developer has given Koegler and his neighbors $2,500 each to help with the move and their security deposits back. They’ve known the Chapel Hill Crossing project was coming since September 2023, when it was approved for 105 townhouses and up to 199 apartments near the intersection of Old Chapel Hill Road, Huse Street and Pope Road.
Koegler said he and neighbors asked the property manager, who works for EB Capital, for a timeline and were told they would get four to six months’ notice. EB Capital developer Ernie Brown said he only heard from Koegler this week.
The early eviction “puts me in a difficult position,” Koegler told the council. “I have a house in Carrboro lined up that I’m hoping to move into, but it’s under renovation and it’s not done yet.”
His Parkinson’s disease also “makes everything slower and more difficult,” Koegler said, “so moving into temporary housing for a couple of months before the renovation of this new house is complete is not really feasible from a financial or health standpoint.”
Council pleads for more time
Council members Karen Stegman and Elizabeth Sharp pressed Brown to find a solution that works for the project and for Koegler.
Brown said the residents, who have month-to-month leases, have almost 90 days to move. State law only requires a 30-day notice because of their monthly leases.
“No promises were ever made about four to six months,” Brown said. “Let me be very clear: Everybody that has moved into these houses ... we’ve let them know this is a development site. These are not rental houses.”
The land is under contract to be sold to the townhouse builder 30 days after the town issues a zoning compliance permit to begin construction, Brown said. That is expected in late May, and the Chapel Hill police and fire departments will use the houses for training in June, he said.
Sharp acknowledged Brown’s comments, but asked him to consider giving Koegler some leeway because of his health issues.
“I think my question remains whether or not you have the human flexibility to allow them a little more time before you burn down the homes, regardless of whether or not that is required of you,” Sharp said.
“So the fire department is burning down the homes for training. I’m not burning down the homes,” Brown responded, before adding he might be open to more time if the permit schedule slips.
“It’s all about the scheduling,” he explained. “The schedule could slip some, but the way that we’re setting right now ... it would say we’d have all permits in hand by the end of May. Per the contract that I have to sell it to the home builder, all permits in hand, we close 30 days later. I was trying to give them ample opportunity to ... clear the house.”
Council member Melissa McCullough suggested leaving Koegler’s house until the last minute to give him more time. Mayor Jess Anderson asked if the developer would be open to a conversation after the council meeting.
He’s “trying to do the right thing,” Brown told the council, bypassing those suggestions.
“We know you’re trying to do the right thing,” Anderson said. “I don’t think this is meant to be an attack on your decisions. There’s just someone who’s having a hard time, and council’s trying to help.”
The council considered delaying the street closure as a stopgap measure, but town staff said that would only delay construction. It would not stop the permit or the sale of the land, staff said.
The council voted 8-0 to close Huse Street, leaving Koegler’s situation unresolved.
On Thursday morning, Brown said he still does not see another option.
“If we could give them more time, I’d be happy to give them more time,” he said. “But I feel like giving them notice now gives them the ability to start looking.”
