[Durham INC] Rolling Hills

Wed Mar 9 21:10:49 EST 2011

Parks... There are seven I can count really quick within 1.5 miles of the
Rolling Hills project. And in the same newspaper, there was an article
about decommissioning perhaps 20 of the parks we currently have because of
lack of use, crime, etc. If you have to drive to a park, there are many
other options very close. So the park idea doesn't seem to be a viable one
considering the placement of the land as well as the value of it just to
downtown... It could be the jewel in Durham's crown if done right. But
this is visionary thinking and unfortunately the powers that be are
lacking it. Why not just sell it all to a private developer and save us
all some tax dollars? Are we going for the three strikes and your out
rule? If so, we're already on number 2...

And spending much more on infrastructure seems like a waste as well. The
Southside area was a good example of the failure of thought that says 'fix
the roads, sidewalks and streets (the bones) and the rest will follow". I
believe it was something to the tune of $15M that was spent only to see
the area continue the downward spiral.

If we look at success stories in Durham where run-down housing was
bulldozed and rebuilt, we don't have to look far from the Rolling Hills
site to find it. The Hope VI six project on Main Street and Eastway
Village are two examples. Both City projects and both good examples of
what could be done. And with the proposed multi-use building going into
the the Heritage Square land, the whole area there would look so much
different.

Concentrating low income in any area does not do any area justice. Last
year we finished tearing down one of these; Few Gardens. We have others
that look just as bad.

Rolling Hills/Southside has some of the best views of the City (and the
highest point). It would be a sad day to see them wasted (again...). We
have to get it right this time.

Randy Pickle
> FWIW, I agree wholeheartedly with Mike on this.
>
> I find myself scratching my head that the City won't consider landbanking
> the site.  Personally, I'd support a housing bond of $10m to 15m or so to
> pay for the City to do new roads and utilities on the site, and to do
> form-based zoning on the site with affordable housing requirements to
> dictate what gets built.
>
> Then: open the door through RFP to national developers willing to build
> what's asked for.  No, there's not going to be anyone willing to do it
> this
> year or next.  But the housing crisis is not going to last forever.
> Durham
> continues to grow and downtown to boom.  And that land will make for a
> great
> neighborhood.
>
> But I'd much rather see the city building out infrastructure and then
> letting a quality developer -- even MBS, if they bring capital rather than
> relying on us -- do the project.
>
> Kevin
>
> --
> Kevin Davis
> ksdavis at gmail.com
> www.bullcityrising.com
> (919) 323-8432
>
>
> On Wed, Mar 9, 2011 at 12:34 PM, M. W. Shiflett - Hotmail <
> mwshiflett at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>>  I completely disagree with the thought of having this prime piece of
>> Durham property turned into a park!
>>
>> And I agree a lot with Pat on this.
>>
>> From my perspective,  the City ought to consider land-banking Rolling
>> Hills, and at some point in the near future, opening it up to the
>> highest
>> bid private developer to build market priced housing that might include
>> a
>> percentage of mixed income residential units and true mixed uses that
>> will benefit both the residents of that area AND the surrounding
>> neighborhoods!
>>
>> In my mind,  relegating the first phase as low income rental (as
>> reported
>> in the Herald Sun this morning) is just another failure waiting to
>> happen.
>>
>> But I have to defer to the intelligence of our elected officials (and
>> staff) who obviously know more about what needs to happen there
>> (politically
>> speaking) rather than using common sense while considering cost/benefits
>> over time.
>>
>> If downtown Durham is looking for prime green and park space,  it ought
>> to
>> be considering the potential benefits of converting the old Duke Diet
>> and
>> Fitness Center into a Sustainability Campus with educational,
>> recreational
>> and storm water mitigation infrastructure that could truly benefit not
>> only
>> redevelopment in the surrounding neighborhoods but also provide
>> opportunities for higher density projects in our downtown.
>>
>> This could be accomplished by creating a sort of 'storm water transfer
>> credit' mechanism that would allow private development to happen where
>> we
>> want it, increase the tax base and create higher densities where there
>> already is the infrastructure in place to accommodate it.
>>
>> I'm a supporter of higher value greenspace in strategic locations that
>> can
>> serve multiple functions when spending precious tax dollars, not just
>> create
>> (and have to maintain) more pocket parks that might look cute but don't
>> do
>> more than fit just one piece of a very complex puzzle.
>>
>> This makes more financial sense, doesn't it?
>>
>> Mike Shiflett
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> *From:* Pat Carstensen <pats1717 at hotmail.com>
>> *To:* inc listserv <inc-list at durhaminc.org>
>> *Sent:* Wednesday, March 09, 2011 6:42 AM
>> *Subject:* Re: [Durham INC] Rolling Hills
>>
>> I don't know that we would want to have the whole area being a park
>> because
>>
>>
>>    - In the long run, we want to have population density near downtown
>> and
>>    any rapid transit that goes through downtown
>>    - Pragmatically we want to have opportunities for local folks to make
>>    money building there
>>
>>
>> But re-thinking how to develop the area with significant open space and
>> perhaps denser development where we do build has a lot of advantages
>>
>>    - There's little greenspace near downtown and this would be a great
>>    place for it (going to the open house today on downtown open space
>> plan
>>    would be a great first step)
>>    - There might be significant savings in building the infrastructure
>>    costs
>>
>>
>> Regards, pat
>>
>> Info on the Open House to talk about the downtown open space plan:
>>
>> *When:             *Wednesday, March 9, 2011, from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
>> and
>> 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.**
>>
>> **
>>
>> *Where:            *Golden Belt
>>
>>                         807 E. Main Street, 3rd Floor
>>
>> (Large Conference Room in the City’s Neighborhood Improvement Services
>> Department)
>>
>>                         Durham, N.C. 27701
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>> Date: Wed, 9 Mar 2011 06:21:37 -0500
>> From: Ken at KenGasch.com
>> To: inc-list at durhaminc.org
>> Subject: [Durham INC] Rolling Hills
>>
>> I would suggest making Rolling Hills a city park. We have plenty of
>> housing
>> stock that is empty and simply boarded up.  Local folks can fix them up
>> thereby creating local jobs.  Additionally, a high concentration of
>> low-income housing does not work.  You have to "mix it up".
>>
>>  Ken Gasch
>>
>>
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>>
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