[Durham INC] Jordan Lake Protest Petition lawsuit update --

[Melissa Rooney]

Dear Neighbors,

We have received pledges for over $5000 for donations to the Jordan Lake Protest Petition Legal fund. But as of today, just over $3000 has actually arrived at the attorney's office (trust fund). Though our attorney has started work on this case, we're going to need over $10,000 to carry it through. And again, the deadline for filing the case is Dec 11.

I am writing to implore you, again, to please help fellow Durham citizens who are working hard to protect the water quality of Jordan Lake and make sure that the “right thing” is done in Durham re the Jordan Lake boundary decision. (See below my signature for more info and how to make a contribution to the funds required for this citizen lawsuit.)

Please contribute whatever you can, and send it
 as soon as you
 can...ANYamount is greatly
 appreciated and makes a huge difference.

And please pass this email on to your friends, neighbors and listservs!

Thank you for your help!

Melissa Rooney

_______________________
 
Please send a check (put 'Jordan Lake Protest Petition Suit' in the memo) to "Ragsdale Liggett Trust Account" and mail it to 

Ragsdale Liggett, PLLC
Post Office Box 31507
Raleigh, NC   27622

Time is of the essence. The attorney
 needs to start work immediately to meet the December 11 filing deadline.

The Durham Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) are leaving signers of the Jordan Lake boundary protest petition no recourse but to sue in order to get justice.

Durham activists have begun a fund to pay the legal fees for individual petition signers who are willing to be plaintiffs in a suit that would uphold the protest petition and stop the lake boundary change.  This decision will affect everyone who cares about Jordan Lake - for drinking water and recreation.

Donations of $100 or more will be refunded in whole or in part if the county is required to pay our court costs. In this case, donations under $100 will be given to the Haw River Assembly for the future maintenance and protection of Jordan Lake .

Background: 
The Haw River Assembly and Southern Environmental Law Center organized a zoning protest petition that was signed by 24 landowners
 in the affected boundary change area near Jordan Lake .  The petition exceeded the minimum required, but was deemed invalid by the Durham Planning Department. The BOCC then voted on October 12 to approve the lake boundary change (that clears the way for a massive new development project to be built in what had been a protected watershed zone). SELC and HRA found that the Planning Department had made errors in counting properties in the petition and the  Planning
 Deptartment now agrees that the petition is valid. A valid protest petition means that the BOCC vote to approve the boundary change  needs a "super-majority"  4-1 vote to pass, which it did not have.  Instead of admitting this mistake and acknowledging that the boundary should not be changed, the BOCC accepted the county lawyer's advice to defend that vote and decision - telling the petition signers to take them to court if they don't like it.  

The Attorney we have hired is Jim Conner.
http://www.rl-law.com/lawyers/conner.html
Recent news links (for verification of the interpretation above): 



http://blogs.newsobserver.com/bullseye/jordan-lake-petition-must-go-to-court-siler-says





http://heraldsun.com/pages/full_story_news_durham/push?article-Undoing+vote+on+lake+requires+suit%20&id=4595077-Undoing+vote+on+lake+requires+suit&instance=main_article





  

http://wbx.me/l/?p=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indyweekblogs.com%2Ftriangulator%2F2009%2F11%2F19%2Fwhats-next-court-durham-county-attorney-says%2F



      
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