INC NEWS - Autopark at Southpoint: case A07-15, more info

[Melissa Rooney]

You can email the planning commission with one email
address. It is durhamplanningcommission at durhamnc.gov

The case number for the autopark at Southpoint is
A07-15.

My opposition letter is copied below for your perusal.

Thanks again for voicing your concern :)
Melissa


____________________


I am writing to request that you please deny the
request for Rezoning "The Park at Southpoint" from
'Medium Density Residential and Office' to
'Commercial' (case A07-15). The rezoning would apply
to ~40.6 acres north of Southpoint Auto Park Blvd and
east of NC 751.

In addition to the lack of committed elements in the
plan itself, my neighborhood (and those surrounding)
have had experience with the developer on another
project, and we just want to ensure that he must use
the land as he says (but has not written) he plans to
do...in a manner that complies with Army Corps and
Tree save requests, among other concerns. As the plan
currently stands, there are far too many possible
loopholes which could be of detriment (environmentally
and otherwise) to our part of South Durham.

A summary of concerns is below:

1) The original rezoning for the land was approved by
City Council only after a mixed use was promised. It
is my understanding (and many others') that rezoning
to 'general commercial' would not limit the designated
areas to dealerships only. We here in South Durham are
concerned about this obscurity and are deeply opposed
to certain commercial businesses moving into our
neighborhoods.

2) The developer makes it look as if there are
reasonable wooded buffers between the site and the
adjacent residential areas.  However, upon closer
inspection, many of the "trees" depicted on the plan
are in the area OUTSIDE the site boundary.  

3) Then there's the repeated and ongoing problem with 
Army Corps Of Engineers Gamelands, which border the
area requested for rezoning. The ACE routinely and
strongly requests that a 100 foot wooded buffer be
left between development and gamelands (for safety and
for
stormwater runoff buffering). 

4) I have been told that these same ACE lands are also
part of the Durham Inventory of Important Natural
Areas,  Plants and Wildlife - the Third Fork Creek
Bottomlands and Swamp Forest.  However, neither the
ACE Gamelands nor the Inventory site was noted, and no
buffer was shown on the plan I saw.

5) Neighbors living in the surrounding residential
neighborhoods are very concerned that their
neighborhood streets will be used for "test drives".
Yet, like so many other rezoning cases, many of these
neighbors do not know where to begin to protect their
interests, and I doubt that they will be physically
present at your meeting on Oct 9 to voice their
whole-hearted opposition.

6) Finally, the GHG plan recently passed by council
and commissioners cannot succeed on good will alone.
We must begin to ensure that present and future
development truly saves the natural environment to the
greatest extent possible/practical, to ensure that at
least nature's existing controls on green house gases
are preserved.

Thanks for your sincere consideration of my concerns
and for your denial of this commercial rezoning, as it
now stands.

Sincerely,
Melissa Rooney



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Melissa Rooney, Ph.D.
Fairfield Community Awareness, 
Communications and INC representative

Durham, NC 27713
mmr121570 at yahoo.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


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