[Durham INC] 751 Ass. in the news ... and for disparaging reasons, once again

[Melissa Rooney]

See the news articles below, the first on Jim Wise's N&O blog and the second on the front page of the Herald Sun today.
Melissa (Rooney)



http://blogs.newsobserver.com/bullseye/discord-thy-name-is-751-south



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>print
>Bonfield: Rezoning hearing rushed
>05.13.10 - 10:45 pm
>751 South deal for city services should come 1st, manager says 
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>By Ray Gronberg
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>gronberg at heraldsun.com; 419-6648
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>DURHAM -- City Manager Tom Bonfield has told county officials he's "concerned" that they're pushing ahead with a rezoning hearing for the 751 South project without making sure the would-be developers have arranged for city services.
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>Bonfield weighed in last week with County Manager Mike Ruffin after reading a City/County Planning Department report that among other things said a water and sewer service extension deal with the city should precede rezoning.
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>The city manager also singled out water and sewer as an issue, but in his message to Ruffin added that the planning staff report had "not addressed" other services that "have the potential to place significant burdens on the city if this property is annexed at a later date."
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>The company behind the 1,300-home project, Southern Durham Development Inc., in fact filed for annexation about a month ago, to clear the way for 751 South to receive water and sewer.
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>Ruffin initially responded to Bonfield's May 4 message by saying he'd urge County Commissioners to open the hearing but "postpone action pending disposition of these issues by the city." He added that he hadn't seen the planning staff's report.
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>But by Thursday of this week, the county manager had backtracked. 
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>Ruffin said after consulting Planning Director Steve Medlin, he'd determined that "what we're doing is consistent with normal practice."
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>He added that he agrees with Bonfield that the two governments "need to develop a more consistent policy" about how to handle rezonings of sites likely someday to become part of the city.
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>But given that such a policy does not now exist, "I don't think I have reason or precedent to stall board action," Ruffin said. "So I don't plan to recommend that."
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>County officials intend to open hearings about the rezoning on June 1. 
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>They'd originally scheduled the hearing to start on May 24, but put it back after a 751 South opponent, Melissa Rooney, invoked her right under Durham law to force a postponement.
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>Rooney isn't happy with the June 1 start, but Durham law says only that a delay can last up to a month. Medlin said she can appeal to the city/county Board of Adjustment if she "feels there has been an administrative error."
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>Bonfield in an interview Thursday said he's not taking any position on the broader question of whether the property should be rezoned.
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>He also acknowledged that there is precedent, here and in other communities, for county boards deciding on a development's zoning in advance of a deal on services.
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>"But the better practice is to have the issues of infrastructure and service delivery thought through before you rezone a piece of property," Bonfield said.
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>He added that 751 South, which also calls for 600,000 square feet of commercial space, "has opened the door" for officials to discuss policy changes. 
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>City administrators have already begun to think about whether they should clamp down on such problems in the future by refusing to discuss services to a project unless the developer involved requests annexation and submits to city zoning authority, he said.
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>They've reached no conclusions on that and in any case would need a City Council signoff before putting such a policy into practice, Bonfield said.
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>Bonfield also said his questions about 751 South's service arrangements cover the full range of city offerings, including such things as parks and recreation.
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>The developers have promised to supply a school site and land for a fire station. They also claim the project when fully built would generate $3.2 million in annual tax revenue for the county and $2.4 million for the city.
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>But it's not clear those returns would fully offset the cost of public services for the development.
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>For instance, the developers have proposed linking up to the Durham Area Transit Authority's network of bus lines by running a "circulator" service from the site to the Southpoint area along N.C. 751 and Fayetteville Road.
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>They have not, however, offered to pay for it. The only precedent for such a service is a proposed downtown circulator that would link Durham's central business district to Duke University for an annual operating cost of about $1 million.
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>Bonfield said that's just one example of the issues involved in negotiating service deals.
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>"For somebody just to say, 'We're going to throw a school site in there or a piece of land,' why is that suddenly all the discussion that needs to happen?" he added.
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>Durham policy traditionally has left the door open for suburban developers to forum-shop between the city and county, going to whichever board they consider more inclined to approve a rezoning. In the 1990s, the city was the preferred destination.
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>Officials in neighboring Orange County long ago barred the door to that kind of thing.
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>They agreed in the late 1980s that any rezoning of land in a series of "transition areas" ticketed for annexation by Chapel Hill or Carrboro would need joint approval from the relevant town board and the Orange County Commissioners.
>© heraldsun.com 2010
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