[Durham INC] Fw: Cleveland-Holloway Local Historic District Expansion and More

Fri Jul 6 20:40:18 EDT 2012

Hadn't seen this on the INC listserv yet. See below.
Melissa

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "Griffin, Wade" <Wade.Griffin at durhamnc.gov>
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Sent: Friday, 6 July 2012 4:35 PM
Subject: Durham Planning Department Newsletter - July 2012

Friday, July 6, 2012   To visit the department website Click here.      

Cleveland-Holloway Local Historic District Expansion 
Durham, like many places, has two types of historic districts: 
1.     National Register Historic Districts, which are administered by the State Historic Preservation Office; and
2.     Local Historic Districts, which are created and administered at the local level.
Only National Register districts can affect the taxes on the property. However, both local and national districts may include restrictions on changes to the exterior appearance of buildings within each district. Only the Local Historic Districts in the City and County are regulated by Durham by means of a Preservation Plan adopted by the City Council or Durham County Board of Commissioners, depending upon the location.

The Durham City-County Planning Department is currently reviewing an application for an expansion of  the Local Historic District in the Cleveland-Holloway Area. Portions of the Cleveland-Holloway Neighborhood were listed on the National Register of Historic Places as early as 1985. Those areas were designated as a Local Historic District in 1987. Then, in 2009, the National Register Historic District for this area was significantly expanded. Soon after, in 2010, the Planning Department received a citizen petition to expand the existing Cleveland-Holloway Local Historic District. The petition was to match the expanded boundary of the National District.

Planning staff has surveyed the expanded area to determine the condition and significance of the properties and draft a recommended boundary for the local district. In addition, the Preservation Plan for this district is under revision. The revisions will be mostly updates to the inventory of properties previously listed. These updates will include additional history, corrections to outdated references, and minor revisions to the local review criteria. Once a draft has been completed, Planning staff will solicit input from neighborhood stakeholders and the general public. After all input has been gathered, staff will begin the adoption process. The final district expansion proposal will go before both the Historic Preservation Commission and Planning Commission for public hearings. Following those hearings, it will move forward to the City Council for their decision. The estimated timeframe f or completion of this project is summer 2013. 

Golden Belt Local Historic District Creation 
The Golden Belt Neighborhood was listed on the National Register of HistoricPlaces in 1985. The listing has since been updated and expanded twice: once in 1996, and again in 2008, but the neighborhood was not part of a Local Historict District. In 2010, the Planning Department received a citizen petition to create a Golden Belt Local Historic District. The petition requested that the new local Historic District match the boundary of the National District.

Planning staff has surveyed the area to determine the
condition and significance of properties and draft a recommended boundary for the local district.In addition, staff is working on the creation of a Preservation Plan for this district. This plan will include a history of the district, inventory and analysis of the structures in the district, strategies for preserving historic resources in the district, and local review criteria. Once a draft has been completed, Planning staff will solicit input from neighborhood stakeholders and the general public before beginning the adoption process. The proposal for the district expansion will go through public hearings with the Historic Preservation Commission and Planning Commission for their recommendation before a final public hearing in front of City Council for their decision on the designation. The anticipated timeframe for completion of this project is summer 2013. 

FEATURED ITEM 
What the Planning Department Does:
The Urban Design Center 

The Durham City-County Planning Department’s Urban Design Center (UDC or the Center) focuses on the design of the public realm and built environment. One of the goals of the UDC is to engage the public in meaningful discussions about design in their community. From there, it is the UDC's task to develop design solutions to meet a variety of development-related challenges. The Center takes an active role in collaboration efforts that affect community design. These efforts often involve inter-departmental and inter-agency cooperation.

The Center’s staff bring a variety of backgrounds to their work. Some of those backgrounds include art, architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, and planning. The UDC is charged with a diverse set of responsibilities. These include historic preservation, gateway planning, and architectural reviews, as well as downtown and compact neighborhood planning, and urban design related policies and ordinance amendments.The UDC is responsible for the following:

Historic Districts

This includes all local historic preservation programs and processes. The UDC is tasked with promoting historic preservation throughout the City and County. They process Certificates of Appropriateness (COA), landmark designations, and demolition by neglect investigations. They also develop local historic districts to protect existing historic neighborhoods and provide staff support to the local Historic Preservation Commission (HPC). The UDC acts as the public point of contact for the HPC, providing information and consultations to prospective COA or landmark applicants.

Design Districts & Downtown Open Space

To date, staff in the UDC has created two Design Districts which are Durham’s form-based codes for special development areas. These zoning districts focus on the form of the built environment and how it shapes the public realm. Design Districts include standards for streetscapes and architectural design in addition to building height, massing, and placement. The Center has successfully developed the design district framework, or “kit-of-parts” for creating these types of districts.  This framework has already been approved and applied in the Downtown Design District, and the Compact Design District (to be utilized around proposed t ransit stations). In addition, UDC staff continues to encourage more form and design-based regulations throughout the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO). UDC staff is also involved in providing a network of open spaces within the downtown, in the form of the Downtown Open Space Plan (see article below), to work in
 conjunction with the Downtown Design District.

Urban Design Studios

The Urban Design Center is excited about the new Urban Design Studios outreach program. This new initiative will provide charrettes and workshops for projects that have the potential to significantly impact the design of the community. These will include projects that are not part of the Planning Department’s day-to-day work. UDC staff will work with project stakeholders to organize, facilitate participation, and convey the outcomes of each studio.

Design Guidelines and Reviews

UDC staff are also charged with developing, maintaining, and administering the Durham Design Guidelines with regard to new development in Design Districts and within the transitional areas at the edge of University-College Districts. Staff review architectural and streetscape designs for compliance with applicable design standards of the UDO, the Design Guidelines, and approved development plans.

The UDC also provides staff support to the Design District Review Team and the Durham City-County Appearance Commission. Both of these boards function as design-related advisory boards.

If you would like to learn more about the current work being undertaken by the Urban Design Center, contact the following individuals:
	* Urban Design Studios: Sara Young, AICP, UDC Supervisor
	* Historic Preservation or Design Districts: Lisa Miller, Senior Planner
	* Downtown Open Space Plan: Tom Dawson, RLA, Planner
	* Architectural and Streetscape Reviews: Anne Kramer, Planner 
Downtown Open Space Plan 

The Downtown Open Space Plan is a visionary planning document being produced by the Urban Design Center(UDC) in the Durham City-County Planning Department. The Downtown Open Space Plan is a companion document to the Downtown Master Plan and the Urban Open Space Plan (see article below). It charts a path to create a system of open spaces and enhanced corridors for pedestrians, with links to the regional open space network.

The process was started in the fall of 2010 when groups of residents participated in community visioning sessions led by the Urban Design Center.The participants expressed their ideas about using downtown and what makes a great outdoor space in highly urban areas. In later sessions, participants developed pedestrian-accessible master plan concepts for an open space network in downtown and planned the character of individual spaces of the system.

The UDC staff developed graphic plans and illustrations of downtown open space conceptsbased on the sessions.  Our goal was to articulate a community vision and combine that vision with planning concepts to produce the best plan and implementation strategy for downtown Durham’s open spaces.

The Urban Design Center has combined the community vision with planning concepts to produce a draft plan, implementation strategy, and a portfolio of conceptual designs for downtown Durham. The Plan is currently being edited and reviewed internally and will be shared with other departments and the public in the near future. 
Urban Open Space Plan 

The Urban Open Space Plan will address open space needs and policies in the Urban Tier and certain Compact Neighborhood Tiers. It will also coordinate with the Downtown Open Space Plan, which is in process. The Plan’s goals are to:
	* Create an open space network to provide greater connectivity throughout the Urban Tiers as well as designated Compact Neighborhood Tiers that builds on other adopted plans, including the updated Durham Open Space and Trails Plan adopted in 2011;
	* Enhance other ongoing projects such as the Northeast Central Durham Livability Study, and the Parks and Recreation Master Plan Update;
	* Enhance the value, as well as improve the quality and sustainability, of neighborhoods;
	* Identify environmentally sensitive lands, natural areas, cultural, historic, and open space resources in Durham County, and establish plans for their long term preservation and protection through a systematic, community-based planning process;
	* Provide a toolbox of techniques for protecting open spaces throughout the Urban Open Space Plan area by both public and private entities; and
	* Serve as a guide to other City and County departments about the value of open space properties considered for acquisition or disposition, taking into consideration stormwater, parks, community gardens, and other spaces that may serve as multi-use, high value spaces.
The intention is for the Plan to be as fluid as possible, with achievable goals and objectives that create pleasant, functional spaces for our neighborhoods. Planning Department staff is in the process of identifying properties of significant value and will be holding public meetings in the fall of 2012 for public input on this plan.
    IN THIS ISSUE 
Cleveland-Holloway Local Historic District Expansion

Golden Belt Local Historic District Creation

Featured Item: What the Planning Department Does: The Urban Design Center

Downtown Open Space Plan

Urban Open Space Plan

Hot Items

Stay In Touch

Useful Links

Planning Terms

Staff Profile 

HOT ITEMS 
The Joint City County Planning Committee (JCCPC) asked the Durham Environmental Affairs Board (EAB) to conduct an investigation of hydraulic fracturing technology and its potential environmental impacts in Durham. This was in response to the state's General Assembly directing the North Carolina Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (NC DENR) to study potential impacts of shale gas exploration and development in North Carolina, specifically focusing on the use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to extract shale gas. The EAB conducted research and issued a report on its findings. In the report, the EAB documented some of the major environmental impacts if hydraulic fracturing were to be approved. The JCCPC forwarded the EAB’s report to both Durham City Council and the Durham County Board of Commissioners. Both elected bodies adopted resolutions opposing hydraulic fracturing. After receiving the NC DENR study, the General
 Assembly passed a bill to allow hydraulic fracturing in 2014. The bill is currently awaiting the Governor’s decision. 

STAY IN TOUCH 
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USEFUL LINKS 
Comprehensive Plan

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Land Development Office

Staff Directory

Unified Development Ordinance(UDO)

Zoning Atlas 

PLANNING TERMS 
Here we take a moment to define what are common terms for planners, but may make no sense to the rest of the world.

"Form-Based Code"

Form-based code, as mentioned in the Urban Design Center article to the left, is a term that has gotten a great deal of use over the past few years. Though the ideas behind it have actually been around for a long time, what we currently refer to as form-based code is a relatively new type of zoning that has gained a great deal of use through the Urban Design movement. With a higher percentage of the earth’s population currently living in urban areas than ever before, and that number growing steadily, planners and urban designers have worked to create more interesting and comfortable patterns in the urban fabric by focusing on public areas of all kinds. Although many people know traditional zoning, form-based zoning is quite different.

Unlike traditional Euclidian zoning which focuses largely on the separation of uses, such as residential from industrial, form-based codes focus on the design of structures and the public spaces between them. Most form-based codes address use as a secondary consideration in the design of a development, while some do not regulate use at all. An example of this would be that in a commercial zone in the suburbs, regulations might state that the building would need to be a minimum distance away from the road, and the site must be visually buffered from all adjacent properties. There may be little said about the building design or its relationship to the street and its surroundings other than possible height limitations, minimum setbacks, and size limits based on site size and impervious surfaces. 

By contrast, in a form-based code, there are more defined rules with regard to buildings and how they relate to public spaces, especially the street, which is viewed as a continuous outdoor room by urban designers. As opposed to setbacks, which require a minimum distance from the street, there would be build-to lines. These are essentially an invisible line near the street front that buildings are to be built up to in order to define the street, give it a sense of enclosure and human scale, and help promote a comfortable and walkable urban community. More attention is given to addressing the size and design of building facades, including how they may need to step back on upper stories to maintain a comfortable street level.

The Durham City-County Planning Department is proud to say that we have successfully integrated form-based codes into our Unified Development Ordinance with the creation of the Downtown and Compact Design Districts.

STAFF PROFILE 

Sara Young, AICP, is the Planning Supervisor over the Department’s Urban Design Center. Sara and her parents are originally from Madrid, Spain, and made their way to Durham by way of Miami, Florida. She graduated valedictorian from Southern High School in 1993. Sara went on to study architecture at North Carolina State University, earning her Bachelors degree, and later a Master of Architecture with a concentration in Urban Design. After graduating, she worked for a local architecture firm before being hired as a Senior Planner in October 2000.

Sara has been involved in many projects over the years. She was responsible for the department’s initial move toward form-based zoning with the creation of the Downtown Design Overlay and the Durham Design Guidelines in 2002. She helped to form and staff the Appearance Commission as well as launch the Golden Leaf Awards. In 2007, Sara was promoted to Planning Supervisor to oversee the Urban Design section. She also served as interim supervisor for Development Review, as well as staff liaison and member of the Design District Review Team. Her other projects include the creation of the Design Districts and the Central Durham Gateway Plan. She is now overseeing the creation and expansion of two local historic districts, and a new “Urban Design Studio” public outreach effort, and the most comprehensive single UDO text amendment to date, which will remove all discretionary actions except those decided by a quasi-judicial body.

In her spare time, Sara enjoys traveling, making jewelry, knitting, gardening, and especially spending time with her husband and two children.    
Published by Durham City-County Planning Department - 101 City Hall Plaza - Durham, NC 27701 - 919-560-4137 

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