INC NEWS - Letter of notification to Fairfield re. Herndon Road rezoning

[Melissa Rooney]

Thank you so much for that clarification. That is good
news.

So, let me get this straight...The planning department
must provide notification of ALL rezoning applications
(and plan ammendments) to surrounding neighborhoods? 
This is good to know.

So two more questions (sorry if I'm starting to annoy
you)

1) The staff report lists the following as having been
notified about the Scott Mill Development: 
Letter to adjacent property owners, to 600 ft.
Lake Park Neighborhood Assn. 
Jordan Lake Resource Mgmt.
Durham Justice and Fairness Inter-Neighborhood Assn.
Inter-Neighborhood Council
Durham People's Alliance

There were many more neighborhoods than Lake Park
represented at the Scott Mill public hearing last
night. Yet, we did not receive notification from the
Planning Department.

I presume this is because we are not within 600 feet
from the planned development. Why is it that only
HOMES but not NEIGHBORHOODS within 1000 feet are to be
notified? I realized this was in the UDO before, but
this is my first experience with it in practice. It
seems 600 feet is an awfully close proximity, and that
other neighborhoods are certainly concerned and
affected and would appreciate notification as well.
 
2) Additionally, I have reports that the rezoning
signs placed on the properties are often hard to read
and the zoning case number is at the bottom and often
covered by weeds or grass. Not a complaint, just FYI. 

I'm not sure I'd know to look for a rezoning sign if
there were no other physical indication that the
property were going to be rezoned. 

Any way to get these signs put up in the same manner
as temporary construction signs, speed limit signs,
neighborhood watch signs, no parking signs, etc? That
would certainly aid in informing surrounding
neighborhoods (and those that are beyond 600 feet).

Thanks again for your openness and your continued
discussion of this issue.

Melissa

Melissa Rooney
Fairfield
mmr121570 at yahoo.com




--- "Duke, Frank" <Frank.Duke at durhamnc.gov> wrote:

> Your understanding is incomplete. The developer is
> required to have a
> neighborhood meeting to describe his proposed
> development if it would
> require a plan amendment or trip a TIA. That meeting
> must occur before
> the developer can submit the applications for the
> project.
> 
> Notice is provided to neighborhoods and the owners
> of surrounding
> properties of every plan amendment, zoning map
> change, use permit,
> variance, historic designation, and site plan (where
> the developer is
> seeking any discretionary approval, such as fill in
> the floodplain).
> Notice is provided not be the developer, but by the
> Planning Department.
> 
> Frank Duke, AICP
> City-County Planning Director
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Melissa Rooney [mailto:mmr121570 at yahoo.com] 
> Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 5:14 PM
> To: Duke, Frank
> Cc: inc-list at rtpnet.org; rcyoung4 at verizon.net
> Subject: RE: Letter of notification to Fairfield re.
> Herndon Road
> rezoning
> 
> Thank you for your prompt response, Mr. Duke. I
> believe that the planning department does their job
> very well. And I did not mean to imply otherwise.
> You
> guys are also very approachable and responsive. I do
> understand that once the property has been mass
> graded, there is nothing that can be done. It just
> seems that, many times, it is this physical
> manifestation that is the first indication to a
> nearby
> neighborhood that the property has been rezoned at
> all.
> 
> It is my understanding that developers/landowners
> applying for rezoning applications are required to
> notify the adjacent neighbors ONLY 1) when the
> proposed development will generate enough traffic to
> bother the neighbors (and that developers often come
> in with  one less dwelling than will trigger the
> requirement) OR 2) it takes a change in the
> Comprehensive Planning Map.
> 
> From the Website, the UDO states:
> > > Neighborhood Meeting
> > > A. All applicants shall hold a neighborhood
> meeting prior to submitting an application, but
> after
> a pre-application conference, for the following
> development reviews:
> > > 1. Amendments to the Comprehensive Plan; and
> > > 2. Zoning map changes that require a TIA
> pursuant
> to Sec. 3.3, Traffic Impact Analysis [which I have
> been told means that traffic will increase by more
> than 150 trips]; and
> > > 3. Other applications as may be specified
> elsewhere in this Ordinance.
> 
> In the case that neighborhoods aren't notified in
> this
> manner, according to the UDO, planning/gov't doesn't
> have to contact nearby neighborhoods for every
> public
> hearing (except via the local newspaper), just the
> ones listed in the UDO (quoted below from the
> website):  
> 
> >> b.  For amendments to the Comprehensive Plan,
> Zoning Map Changes, Site Plans that require mailed
> notice pursuant to Sec. 3.2.5A, Summary of Notice
> Required, and Major Special Use Permits, mailed
> notice
> shall also be provided to any organization located
> within 1,000 feet of the site under consideration
> which is registered to receive notice pursuant to
> Sec.
> 3.2.5D, Registration to Receive Notice by Mail.
> 
> >>d.  The notice shall be mailed at least 14 but not
> more than 25 days prior the date of the public
> hearing.
> 
> If I am interpreting these sections of othe UDO
> correctly, it just seems to me that many
> applications
> for rezoning can fall through the cracks. As
> illustrated at the public hearing for the Scott Mill
> Rezoning case last night, even if it DID explicitly
> comply with the pertinent ordinances, the manner in
> which Mr. Ripley dealt with the neighbors appeared
> dishonest and serious issues beyond those explicity
> stated in the UDO were also discussed.
> 
> Fairfield has had the correct contact person with
> Planning since I joined the INC 3 years ago, so 
> it is not a question of whether a rezoning
> notification (or public hearing notice) were sent to
> the correct
> place.
> 
> Again, I mean no offense, whatsoever, to the
> planning
> department. I think you all do your jobs very well
> and
> with sincerity. It's just that after attending the
> board of commissioner's meeting last night, it
> appeared that there was room for improvement in
> neighborhood notification and participation. I would
> not have even known about this rezoning public
> hearing
> if not for a chance email forward from a member of
> my
> neighborhood listserv. And others who attended the
> board meeting last night were in a similar
> situation.
> 
> Thanks again for your consideration of my concerns
> here. And thanks, too, for providing me with the
> information you already have.
> 
> Sincerely,
> Melissa
> 
> Melissa Rooney
> Fairfield
> mmr121570 at yahoo.com
> 
> 
> --- "Duke, Frank" <Frank.Duke at durhamnc.gov> wrote:
> 
> > Durham's notification procedures vastly exceed
> those
> > required by State
> > law. We provide mailed notice far in excess of
> what
> > is required and
> > provide notice well in advance of what the State
> > requires. We do provide
> > notice to all property owners within 600 feet of a
> > proposed zoning map
> > change and to all neighborhood organizations
> within
> > 1,000 feet of the
> > site that are registered with us. If the
> > neighborhood is not registered
> > or does not provide a current address, however, we
> > cannot send any
> > notice out to them. No other local government in
> > North Carolina comes
> > anywhere close to ensuring this extent of notice.
> > 
> > You also need to realize that by the time grading
> on
> > any site occurs, it
> > is too late to have any public input. The last
> step
> > in the process where
> > the public can raise their voice is the zoning
> > stage; potentially years
> > before any site work is done. Once the zoning is
> > established, North
> > Carolina law requires that the process be
> > administrative only
> > considering only ordinance requirements.
> > 
> > Frank Duke, AICP
> > City-County Planning Director
> > 
> > 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Melissa Rooney [mailto:mmr121570 at yahoo.com] 
> > Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 1:45 PM
> > To: Duke, Frank
> > Cc: inc-list at rtpnet.org; rcyoung4 at verizon.net
> > Subject: RE: Letter of notification to Fairfield
> re.
> > Herndon Road
> > rezoning
> > 
> > Thank you, Mr. Duke. I realize that the Herald-Sun
> > is
> > Durham's newspaper, and I went with them until it
> > got
> > too expensive (I can get the N&O for ~$90/year). 
> > 
> > At any rate, it doesn't seem fair that the normal
> > citizen/neighbor of Durham often can ONLY get
> their
> > information (regarding rezoning and public
> hearings)
> 
=== message truncated ===



 
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