[Durham INC] 751 Assemblage is at it again: Please write City Council wrt June 27 vote to provide water/sewer pre-annexation

[Melissa Rooney]

After determining weeks/months ago that they are not going to vote on annexation 
of the 751 south project until the pending superior court case over the county's 
rezoning is heard, the city council has now scheduled a meeting on June 27 to 
consider providing water and sewer to the project without annexation!? 
Apparently (and remarkably), there are more than a few council members who 
appear to support this strategy.

Background info is provided below, and a sample letter is below my signature. 
Here are the pertinent email addresses:

Please write Mayor Bell and the city council TODAY (or well before June 27)  and 
ask that they vote no on providing utilities without annexation. 

At the very least, ask that they postpone this vote until the Superior Court 
Case regarding the County's rezoning has been concluded, as a city council vote 
for utilities could subvert the democratic (and judicial) process (yet again).

If you can make it, the meeting at which city council is scheduled to vote on 
this matter is at 3PM on June 27.

The city should not provide water and sewer to an area that it is not guaranteed 
to annex...and, furthermore, the city surely doesn't want to annex this project 
anyway, given that a thorough analysis of this  project has concluded it will be 
a higher cost to the city than the supposed money it will provide. And this is 
in addition to the facts that 1) this is still a very environmentally sensitive 
area that affects a major water source for the Triangle and that 2) the 
developers have thwarted every attempt at legal, democratic citizen input and 
influence in this matter, manipulating our local (and state) government(s) 
behind closed doors in order to do so.

Here's a good review of this situation in the June 1 Indy:
http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/will-durham-gamble-1-million-on-annexing-751-south/Content?oid=2498404



and

Annexation Reform (16 June 2011)

"The Senate gave its final approval to a sweeping annexation reform bill. Under 
the bill, property owners could halt an annexation if 60  percent of the 
affected property owners sign a protest petition against an involuntary 
annexation. It also provides for cities and towns to offer free water and sewer 
lines to people being annexed under the involuntary annexation statute. The 
bill also makes it easier for economically distressed areas to be annexed. It 
passed the Senate by a 38-10 vote and now returns to the House.

 Meanwhile, property owners recently annexed in a number of municipalities would 
have the opportunity to void those annexations under a separate bill making its 
way through the General Assembly. Those 
include Kinston, Rocky Mount, Lexington, Wilmington, Asheville (Biltmore 
Lake), Marvin, Southport and Ayden. That bill, which gained tentative approval 
in the Senate on Wednesday, would allow property owners in certain newly annexed 
areas to negate the annexation if 60 percent of them sign a protest petition."
 (Barry Smith, M2M POLITICS,  6/15/11).

Thanks for your continued help in this never-ending saga...
Melissa


_________________

Dear , 

I understand that extension of water and sewer to the proposed 751-South 
development will come before the CIty Council shortly.

The Council should refuse this extension for the following reasons:

1.  The lawsuit against Durham County on the legality of the rezoning is now 
expected to be decided this summer. Any action by the city before the decision 
would only complicate matters, and involve the city unnecessarily in what is 
already a legal mess.

2. The economic analysis of the case for annexation was  uniformly negative 
under a variety of buildout scenarios. 

3.  Extending services now without annexation leaves transportation improvements 
to the county. The county won't make these improvements, even though 751-South 
would triple traffic on NC-751. Have mercy!

4.  Subsequent annexation would be totally in the hands of the developers, given 
the Annexation Reform bill making its way through the legislature. 

I have met only a handful of South Durham residents who support this 
development.  Most of us find it hard to believe that a development of this 
density, with its enormous commercial use, was even proposed for this rural 
corner of Durham County, so close to Jordan Lake.

Please vote NO on  extending services.

Thanks, 
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