[Durham INC] PA Holds Successful Relay in Opposition to 751 South Development (Pictures Attached)

Mon Jun 21 13:42:56 EDT 2010

See below wrt the PA race in opposition to the 751 South Development.
I was at the end, and the Bailes's beautiful 100 year old home was the perfect place to end the relay and the day. When you look from the road to their house, you truly feel that you have stepped back to a more beautiful time. Then you turn around and see the traffic on 751 and the future/potential site of the 751 South development and feel the threat of the future.

There were great articles in last Sunday's Durham News (June 13) regarding the states and clean-up costs for Falls and Jordan Lakes, and Linda Huff-Smith's departure fro the planning commission. Hope you all got to read them!

--Melissa (Rooney)

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Durham People's Alliance <durhampa at mindspring.com>
Sent: Fri, June 18, 2010 1:40:20 PM
Subject: For Immediate Release: PA Holds Successful Relay in Opposition to 751 South Development (Pictures Attached)

Kathryn Spann (477-5653, kathryn6668 at yahoo.com)
or

Page McCullough (220-8004, page.mc at verizon.net) or

Kate Fellman, People’s Alliance Coordinator (919-682-7777 or
274-9117, durhampa at mindspring.com)

People’s
Alliance Holds Successful “Relay Run for a Paycheck” in Opposition to 751 South
Rezoning. 

Durham,
N.C. —Thursday, June 17th, a group of over 15 runners ran from the Holton
Career Resource Center to the site of the proposed 751 South Development. The
People’s Alliance successfully demonstrated Thursday just “How Far for a Buck?”
unemployed Durhamites would have to go by highlighting a fatal flaw in the
developer’s promise of jobs for Durham residents:  the site is near the
Chatham County line, more than 10 miles from those Durham residents most in
need of jobs, and cannot be reached by public transportation. 

The
relay made its way through Durham with a stop at 201 Main Street – a pointed stop in front of the County Commissioners’ office – as a group of supporters
rallied with signs in opposition to the rezoning initiative. The runners then
turned South on the American Tobacco Trail. The race ended at the corner of Hwy
751 and Fayetteville, where runners were presented with a paycheck for $106
dollars. This sum represented the wages for a full time week of work at minimum
wage ($290), minus state and federal taxes (net, $231), subtracting a bus pass
($68), and finally subtracting cab fare of $57, leaving a final take home pay
of $106. 

Southern
Durham Development spends a lot wind talking about the economic benefits of
their project.  At the end of the day,
it’s all puffery, since they have refused to commit to build the design they
are touting.  For all we know, we’ll get
one big box store and some townhouses. The number of jobs depends entirely on
what exactly they build. Their promises hold as much weight as their
commitments, which are as insubstantial as air. 

The
Durham People’s Alliance organized a group of runners, jobs advocates,
outdoorsmen, and others in favor of smart growth, who are concerned about the
taxpayer cost to support this large development in a rural area, about the
problematic promise of jobs for Durhamites, and about the threat posed by the
development to the already-impaired Jordan Lake.  
 Page McCullough, People's Alliance treasureexplains: "We are trying to get Durham taxpayers to think about the choice that
they've got. They
can invest in something like the Holton Career Center, developing
skills with kids and supporting small businesses, or they can take
their tax dollars and run down Fayetteville Street on the way to Jordan
Lake, and spend it cleaning up the lake and the air from the pollution
we're going to have as a result of this development." 

In
the long run – and it is indeed a long run to the site --751 South will cost
Durham taxpayers dearly. The developers have refused to commit to meeting the
new regulations for Jordan Lake water quality. This poses the question – who
will pay the multi-million-dollar cost of the retrofits for the development
once the regulations go into effect? Jordan Lake already has impaired water
quality, and this development would further strain an already impaired Triangle
water-supply. This development will likewise contribute to air pollution of the
area, with an estimated 40,000 new trips a day. 

Infrastructure
to support this project will also drain our tax dollars. For the first ten
years, new county taxes will cover building a new
school only; and new estimated city revenues may not cover the development's
need for police, fire, garbage, recycling, street maintenance, storm water
monitoring, parks and recreation, etc. 

Steve
Bocckino, a longtime South Durham resident, describes why he is against the
proposed development: "Maybe it's just me, but 80 acres of pavement and
125 acres of bulldozed trees next to the region's major reservoir seems a
little, well, crazy.  It's a classic battle between dollars and sense, and
I'm afraid the dollars are ahead."
The 751 Assemblage (rezoning case number Z0800003 - changing
land from rural low-density to mixed use high-density) is a $500 million,
residential and commercial project proposed for 165 acres in the
environmentally sensitive land adjacent to Jordan Lake, the plans for
which include 600,000 square feet of retail and office space and 1,300
residential units.

The
County Commissioners were scheduled hear the 751 South rezoning application at
their upcoming meeting on June 23rd. However, the developer requested and was granted another delay. Under
UDO rules, the deferral is required to be 30 days or less -- but the BOCC's
summer schedule does not allow for a full committee meeting until July 26th. To
be in compliance with the rule, they will hold a two-part hearing. The first is
scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on July 14th (with only three Commissioners
attending). It will continue on July 26th.The
People’s Alliance encourages all residents who think this is wrong for Durham
to let the Commissioners know that this is NOT smart
growth - this is growth regardless of taxpayer cost! The bottom line- 751
South is in the wrong place.

Picture Details: 

1. Beginning of race in front of HoltonCareerCenter:
Dave Austin, Steve Bocckino, Page McCullough, John Kent, Carol Anderson, Pat
Bocckino, Kate Fellman

2. Tag off at Otis Street Crossing of American Tobacco Trail
Kate Fellman and Alex Korman

3. Alex Korman

4. Katie & Eric Aldrich

5. End of race at 751 & Fayetteville, at the
home of Judy and Harry Bailes
Kate Fellman, Joey Steward, Stacy Miller, Steve Bocckino, Alex Korman

6. Bob Healy, Melissa Eimer, Michelle Guilmette, Pat
Carstensen  , Steve Bocckino, Joey Steward, Stacy Miller, Kate Fellman, Alex Korman, Fran Hadden, Page McCullough

7. Courthouse
Steve Bocckino, Bob Healy, Pat
Bocckino, Stacy Miller, John Kent, CarolAnderson, Kate Fellman, Page McCullough, Chana
Kraus-Friedberg, Nancy Cox, Dave Austin, Fran Hadden, Gordon Mantler

DurhamPeople's Alliance
1821 Green St. Suite 102
Durham, NC27705
(919) 682-7777
durhampa at mindspring.comwww.durhampa.org

Kate Fellman
Durham People's Alliance
1821 Green Street, Suite 102
Durham, NC 27705
919-682-7777
www.durhampa.org

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