[Durham INC] April Minutes -- DRAFT

[Pat Carstensen]

Please let me know about any corrections or additions.  Thanks, pat



April Delegate Meeting

First Presbyterian Church

April 21, 2010

 

Attending the meeting
were:

Delegates and Alternates

Jennifer Skahen – Burch Avenue

Chris Wilcox - Colonial Village

Pat Carstensen - Cross Counties

Rosemarie Kitchin – Falconbridge

Melissa Rooney - Fairfield

Craigie Sanders – Grove Park

Moe Rivera – Old North Durham

Brett Walters – Old West Durham

Tom Miller - Watts Hospital Hillandale

 

Visitors

Lynwood Best - City of Durham (NIS)

Jim Wise – News and Observer

Scott Pearson – Olive Branch Road

Diane Baren – Cross Timbers (in Woodcroft)

Lorisa Seibel – Durham Affordable Housing Coalition            

 



Minutes

Tom Miller opened the meeting.  We will try to have Planning Director Steve Medlin at the
May 25th meeting.  We
would also like to meet with legislators at some future meeting.

 

Delegates introduced themselves.  There was no quorum so we didn’t vote on the minutes and the
bylaws changes.

 

Lorisa Seibel talked about inspections of rental housing, penny for housing, inclusionary zoning
and affordable housing around transit.    Greensboro has a successful rental-housing
inspection that we can use as a model. 
It was implemented with fairly minimal cost, there is no cost for
landlords, and units that pass inspection are in a public record on the
web.  One advantage to landlords is
that if an inspector says the unit is up to code, they have some evidence if a
renter has been tearing up the place. 


 

On Penny for Housing (www.ipetitions.com/petition/pennyforhousing/),
Durham has over $800,000 in uncollected liens.  Some are on property owned by elderly folks who can’t pay,
but much is money we could use – to pay to fill the 2 vacant inspections
positions, for example.

 

Charlotte got a lot of new development around their rail
project, but almost none of this was affordable housing (except, of course, to
whiners who think that they can’t afford what they deserve on 6 figure
salaries).  The enable legislation
for Triangle rail says we have to have a plan about having affordable housing
around transit corridors.  Even
without transit, we have a lot of re-development around town and should have
some that remains affordable.  So
we need to figure out mixture of carrots and sticks that will make this
happen.  

 

Weatherization is also important.

 

Two resolutions were proposed for discussion by
neighborhoods:

1.    
INC urges the Durham City Council to devote the
resources and take the steps necessary to enforce its accumulated liens for
housing violations and to direct the funds collected to housing and housing
enforcement.  (Moved by Rosemarie
Kitchen and seconded by Melissa Rooney).

2.    
INC urges the Durham City Council to include in
the 2010-2011 budget fund equivalent to one penny of the tax rate for housing
programs.  (Moved by Rosemarie
Kitchen and seconded by Moe Rivera).

 

On billboards, Tom Miller spoke at the Planning Commission
hearing, conveying our opposition of changes in the ordinance; the Planning
Commission voted 0 for changes, 12 for no changes.  City Council and the Board of County Commissioners will
probably vote on the matter before the July recess; please plan on coming to
these meetings.  

 

Neighborhood news:

·     
Falconbridge is pleased with their neighborhood
watch.

·     
Burch Avenue has won a KaBOOM! grant to
revitalize their pocket park.  They
also got a grant of $5000 from Duke for their community garden.  And they are almost through all the
steps with national registration for historic designation (which makes property
owners eligible for tax credits for historically-sensitive rehab).

·     
National Night Out is coming up – you can
register now.

·     
Old West Durham had over 100 people at the
spring West Fest for pot luck, music and fun.

 

The meeting was adjourned.



 		 	   		  
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