INC NEWS - Please Thank Commissioners Reckhow and Heron

[pat carstensen]

One thing this hearing drove home to me is the importance of getting 
agreements with developers in appropriate "planner speak."  The good 
developers get caught between trying to satisfy technical planning 
department requirements and meeting what they agreed to.  The more shifty 
ones get ways to hide the fact they aren't carrying through their 
agreements.

THe specific case with Scott Mill was that the agreement with the developer 
specified 15 feet between houses whereas the Planning Department talks in 
terms of distance from the house to the lot line.  This is NOT stupid 
bureaucratic quibble: the distance between houses is obvious once all the 
houses are developed but if the first house goes on the lot-line, getting 
the second house 15 feet away from it becomes pretty complicated.

I think that once we have some Neighborhood Protection Overlays in place, 
there will be a variety of examples folks can draw on, with specific 
language about how you get spacing and buffers and even something as 
intangible as "character."

Regards, pat




>From: Melissa Rooney <mmr121570 at yahoo.com>
>To: inc-list at rtpnet.org
>Subject: INC NEWS - Please Thank Commissioners Reckhow and Heron
>Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2007 19:39:55 -0800 (PST)
>
>Hi again. Just wanted to tell you all that approval of
>the Scott Mill rezoning application failed.
>
>This is what happened, in a nutshell:
>After what seemed like more than 20 people spoke --
>most of them South Durham neighbors in opposition to
>Bill Ripley and his rezoning proposal (but also reps
>from the People's Alliance and Sierra Club), a long
>discussion ensued among the 4 commissioners present
>(Commissioner Cheek was notably absent). It was pretty
>clear that the vote was going to be a tie. Chairwoman
>Reckhow called for a 10 minute recess, afterwhich she
>motioned to approve the rezoning application.
>Commissioner Heron seconded. Then Reckhow and Heron
>voted against approval, while Page and Cousin voted
>for approval. This meant that the rezoning application
>was NOT approved. (It is my understanding that, had
>they voted for denial and there had been a tie, the
>case would have to be revisited.)
>
>I would like to heartily thank Chairwoman Reckhow and
>Commissioner Heron for going to bat for the Durham
>public on this one...they showed political courage and
>strength and renewed my (albeit still shaky) faith in
>the system.
>
>I would greatly appreciate it if you'd send them a
>quick email to thank them for their efforts on behalf
>of their Durham County constituents.
>
>Their email addresses are:
>EReckhow at aol.com or ereckhow at durhamcountync.gov
>bmheron at durhamcountync.gov
>
>And thank you all for supporting South Durham on this.
>The INC was an invaluable resource for bringing this
>issue to the forefront. I am so grateful that you all
>are my neighbors :)
>
>Sincerely,
>Melissa
>
>
>Melissa Rooney
>Fairfield
>mmr121570 at yahoo.com
>
>
>
>
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