INC NEWS - Planning Commission rejects Duke's rezoning (Herald-Sun, N&O, Chronicle)

[John Schelp]

Planners' advice: No Duke rezoning
By Ray Gronberg, Herald-Sun, 11 October 2006 

Voicing dissatisfaction with Duke University's
promises about retail development on campus, the
Durham Planning Commission recommended Tuesday night
that the City Council reject a proposed rezoning of
the school's Central Campus. 

The 7-4 vote came after neighborhood leaders and the
managing partner of Northgate Mall said Duke hadn't
gone far enough to guard against the possibility that
the 128-acre Central Campus redevelopment would
undercut private-sector businesses. 

"I don't think it's ready tonight," said Tom Miller, a
Watts Hospital-Hillandale resident and one of the
activists who's been trying to hammer out an agreement
on the rezoning with Duke administrators. 

Miller said that while such an agreement remains
possible, the two sides hadn't come together in time
for Tuesday's ballot. The Planning Commission had
delayed hearings on the rezoning twice and couldn't
postpone its vote again. 

The disagreement on retail concerns a binding
floor-space cap that the city would impose on the
university to limit the scale of any on-campus retail.


Duke administrators pledged last week to swear off the
possibility of building anything larger than a
20,000-square-foot store on Central Campus. 

They promised a further tightening during Tuesday's
meeting, saying they'd accept a 50,000-square-foot cap
on overall retail development, on top of a per-store
limit of 20,000 square feet. 

But that didn't go far enough to satisfy people like
Miller and Northgate managing partner Ginny Bowman. 

Critics asked for a 30,000-square-foot cap on overall
retail development, and a per-store limit of 7,500
square feet. 

In addition, they want Duke to live with no more than
15,000 square feet of restaurants and dining
facilities on Central Campus, in addition to the
city's existing ban on free-standing restaurants
within a "university/college" zone. 

The issue, Bowman said, remains the fact that Duke is
exempt from paying city and county property taxes. 

"For an educational institution like Duke to have a
property tax free development to promote or lease to
retailers creates an unfair advantage," Bowman said. 

The city can't regulate subsidies Duke offers its
tenants, and none of the retail spaces on the
conceptual master plan are enforceable, she added. 

"Northgate would not be able to get a plan like this
approved," Bowman said. "Why is it acceptable for Duke
to have a lesser standard?" 

The argument hit home with commission members like
Caleb Southern and Jackie Brown, who said they favored
additional negotiations. 

"I'm very, very concerned about the small business
owners on Ninth Street, particularly the ones who've
been there for years and years, and also concerned
about Northgate," Brown said. 

Brown and Southern joined commission Chairman Don
Moffitt and members Wendy Jacobs, Corinne Mabry,
George Brine and Harry Dawley in voting to recommend
against the rezoning. 

Members Deborah Giles, Jon Kuczynski, Jarvis Martin
and John Parrish supported the rezoning. 

Kuczynski's backing came after he asked City/County
Planning Director Frank Duke a series of questions
underscoring that the wording of Durham's rules in
theory limits retail in a university/college zone to
what's needed to serve the on-campus population. 

"The issue paramount in my mind all along is the fact
that the requested zoning district is what we
developed ages back to cover universities," Giles
said. "It's exactly what we set it up to be." 

****

Advisory body opposes Central Campus plan
By Anne Blythe, News & observer, 11 October 2006

Duke University's request to rezone 128 acres of the
Central Campus failed one hurdle Tuesday because of
concerns about the new shops and eateries that could
be built on the property.

The city's planning commission, a panel that advises
the City Council on land-use and development issues,
voted 7 to 4 to recommend rejection of the rezoning
proposal.

"I don't believe a university ought to be in the
business of running a shopping center," said Caleb
Southern, a planning commission member.

Over the next 40 years, Duke plans to transform
property between East Campus and West Campus into a
mix of new student housing, university buildings, arts
centers, classrooms, student eateries and other
campus-based shops.

Neighborhood advocates worry about the university's
plan to reserve the right to build 20,000 to 50,000
square feet of new retail.

Too much commercial development, they say, could
further isolate the walled-in campus from the city,
giving students few reasons to go to nearby
restaurants or stores.

Business advocates also worry that on-campus shops
might rob business from Ninth Street, Northgate Mall
and other established commercial areas.

But George Stanziale, Duke's representative at the
commission meeting, said zone restrictions require
that any campus retail support university uses.

"They don't understand," Stanziale said. "Duke can't
go out there and build free-standing buildings."

Under the university zone, Duke could build a campus
bookstore with mostly textbooks but not a
free-standing restaurant, said Frank Duke, city-county
planning director.

John Schelp, a neighborhood advocate, rejoiced in the
planning commission vote. The topic is set to go to
City Council in December.

"The way they have it proposed, they're asking for 2
1/2 acres of retail for the public with almost a half
acre per building," Schelp said. "That's outrageous.
The mission of the university is education. Retail
shouldn't be the mission."

****

Zoning for new Central hits hiccup
Duke Chronicle, 11 October 2006

The Durham Planning Commission voted four to seven
against the University's rezoning petition for the new
Central Campus Tuesday night.

The commission's recommendation will be taken into
account when City Council makes its final decision in
November or December.

"This is a victory for common sense," said John
Schelp, president of the Old West Durham Neighborhood
Association.

The application sought to change Central's zoning from
residential to university-college-a classification
intended to allow universities flexibility in growth
while protecting the interests of neighbors. 

"The requested zoning district is exactly what we
developed ages back to cover these universities," said
Vice Chair Deborah Giles, who supported the proposal.

Debate over the rezoning proposal centered on plans
for commercial spaces. The University offered to limit
total retail space to 50,000 sq. ft., with no single
space exceeding 20,000 sq. ft. 

"The University has engaged the community, providing
top-level administration to meet with stakeholders,"
said George Stanziale, principal of HadenStanziale,
the landscape architecture and civil engineering firm
working on plans for the new Central. 

Tom Miller, speaking on behalf of neighbors and
business owners, said retail space should be
restricted to 30,000 sq. ft., with single spaces at
15,000 sq. ft. (sic) [7,500 sq ft] 

"We think we're being pretty liberal," he said. Jenny
Bowman, who is affiliated with Northgate Mall, said
because the University is a non-profit organization
with different tax laws, on-campus retailers would
have an unfair advantage.

Another issue was building heights. Neighbors were
concerned about one area in the University's current
campus plan that allows structures of up to 120-ft.
tall.

With the denial of the rezoning proposal, the
University is under no obligation to stick to any
current compromises. Officials, however, will likely
choose not to make any major changes, Stanziale said.

"Duke wants to be a good neighbor," he explained.

University officials will continue to meet with Durham
leaders. "We just have to find a place in the middle,"
Miller said. "And I think we will." 

****