[Durham INC] Golden Belt Historic District

[DeDreana Freeman]

As a community representative in various organization I strive to support
our neighbors in local neighborhoods in their efforts to address issues of
concern.

The two resolutions passed in the June meeting of the Inter-Neighborhood
Council of Durham regarding

Golden Belt Historic District in support of the boundary designation for
Golden Belt recommended by the consultants hired by the city who advise
using the national boundary lines and recognized Golden Belt as the last
in-tack mill village of the early 20th century in Durham.

and

Bike Boulevards to improve bike and pedestrian infrastructure within our
city. Noting with the current efforts to improve accessibility in the
Station Area Strategic Infrastructure (SASI) Plan for vehicular, pedestrian
and bicycle access moving forward it would be beneficial to the community
to incorporate Bike Boulevards.


I support both request and I want to take a moment and explain why a
historic districts though traditionally unfavorable to a community like
mine is necessary in using a equity lens in supporting a nationally
recognized boundary of Golden Belt.

Golden Belt is a mixed socioeconomically, racially and ability. There has
been a marked increase of owner occupied housing since 2007 when I moved to
Golden Belt formerly of the dissected Edgemont community, rich with history
and issues. However, this is a community that has battled to remain en-tack
from NCDOT road widening plans and Durham Rescue Mission neglected
properties and compound plans since 2008. We submitted the petition for
designation in the fall of 2010 and have waited six years to get to this
point.

This is a small neighborhood of resident home owners, renters and
businesses, which the Hope VI project called for and now that we are all
here in a diverse mixed income, mixed race, mixed accessibility, walk-able
community we need the city's support to keep the momentum of equity going.

Though we as a neighborhood of residents have supported the Durham Rescue
Mission's Center for Hope plans and Ernie & Gail Mills of the Durham Rescue
Mission says they support the community in the request, we find they are in
opposition with the community again. As we were when their development
plans within the neighborhood beyond their Main Street location called for
running their water run off to a pond two blocks over on Franklin St. There
is some shortsightedness in the impact their plans have on current resident
and home owners.

There are four single black female home-owners who Habitat for Humanity
assisted in acquiring home-ownership on the East side of Alston Avenue have
strong reservations about the request of the Rob Tart of Durham Rescue
Mission to exclude sections of the mill village on the East side of Alston
Avenue, recognizing each of them would be adversely impacted by the
exclusion.

I have had the esteemed pleasure to work with my neighbors in this
community to address the inequity and dynamics of power which tries to
remove the voice of the residents in this community and I am confident that
the City of Durham will not stand by and allow that to happen to the four
homeowners on the East side of Alston Avenue or to the other residents of
the Golden Belt community or East Durham at large.


Regards,

DeDreana Freeman
Durham, NC 27701
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