[Durham INC] Fw: please watch Durham video (Deborah Christie)

[Tina Motley]

Hi Sean,

 

I agree with you.  Preservation is a great way of preserving our watersheds!
However, property in the County is much cheaper than property in the City.
What is the best way to increase your property value?  Have it rezoned to
City.  So Developers clearly realize there is a much higher profit margin
(for them) by purchasing County land and rezoning it.  I think flipping land
is more profitable than actually building and selling houses.

 

However, the profits for the developer cost the City.  I'm sure you are
familiar with the cost of community services.  Basically, residential
developments costs the City because of the expensive infrastructure and
services.  Who pays for schools, fire departments, roads, etc?  

 

There is pressure on elected officials to approve more rezonings.going
further from the City where land is cheaper.  A lot of time and effort by
many qualified people has gone into creating the Future Land Use Map and
having protected areas in Durham.  Often times, developments are approved
that keep pushing out these boundaries.

 

Because these areas are water supply watershed areas in Durham, and the
soils are Triassic, the stream banks erode and collapse.  This is another
giant cost.  Millions of dollars of tax payer money is spent on stream
restorations that aren't effective.  Most of the restorations I know about
are already having problems.  Sediment also harms aquatic life and fills up
the reservoirs, so there is less water in the lakes.

 

The best choice is to be responsible about growth.  Preservation is ideal.
If preservation isn't possible, the developments must keep the stormwater on
site.  It is much better to prevent problems, than spend millions or
billions trying to retrofit and clean up.  

 

Thank you for responding.  I appreciate the efforts of concerned citizens.
Keep up the great work!

 

Sincerely,

 

Tina Motley-Pearson

 

 

 

From: inc-list-bounces at rtpnet.org [mailto:inc-list-bounces at rtpnet.org] On
Behalf Of Sean Stucker
Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2011 12:39 PM
To: inc-list at rtpnet.org
Subject: Re: [Durham INC] Fw: please watch Durham video (Deborah Christie)

 

As an advocate for historic preservation, I would also like to draw
attention to the positive effects that preserving our built environment has
on our  communities' watersheds.  In fact, I wrote my Masters Thesis on this
very topic - Sustaining Watersheds Through Preservation Practice: An
Analysis of the Role of Historic Preservation in Sustainable Watershed
Management (available online at:
http://dbs.galib.uga.edu/cgi-bin/ultimate.cgi?dbs=getd
<http://dbs.galib.uga.edu/cgi-bin/ultimate.cgi?dbs=getd&userid=galileo&serve
rno=9&instcode=publ&_cc=1> &userid=galileo&serverno=9&instcode=publ&_cc=1).
It is much better for our water and our overall environment to maintain the
infrastructure and resources in the areas where we have already disturbed
the land than it is to keep building further and further outside of town.
Inexpensive construction, just like unhealthy food, tends to cost everyone
more in the long run.

 

-- 

Sean Stucker, MHP


Assistant Director

Preservation Durham 

Office: 3001 Academy Rd, Ste 130   Durham, NC 27707

Mail:       Post Office Box 25411       Durham, NC 27702 
office: 919.682.3036       fax: 919.489.4499      web:
www.preservationdurham.org <http://www.preservationdurham.org/> 

 

Founded in 1974, Preservation Durham's mission is "To protect Durham's
historic assets through action, advocacy and education."

 

P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail 

 

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