[Durham INC] Fw: DRAFT January minutes

[Pat Carstensen]

I am sending this out in advance of the meeting next week.  It now has a text for the proposed resolution.


________________________________
From: INC-list <inc-list-bounces at lists.deltaforce.net> on behalf of Pat Carstensen <pats1717 at hotmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 2, 2017 6:30 AM
To: inc listserv
Subject: [Durham INC] DRAFT January minutes

January Delegate Meeting of the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham
NIS Conference Room, Golden Belt
January 24, 2016

Attending the meeting were:
Neighborhoods
Colony Park – Don Lebkes
Cross Counties – Pat Carstensen
Downing Creek – Dick Ford
Golden Belt – DeDreana Freeman
Lockhaven Hills – Keith LePage
Morehead Hill – Rochelle Araujo
Northgate Park – Debra Hawkins
Old North Durham – John Martin, Peter Katz
Old West Durham – John Killeen
Trinity Park – Philip Azar
Tuscaloosa-Lakewood – Susan Sewell
Watts-Hillandale – Tom Miller
Woodcroft – Scott Carter

Visitors
Will Wilson – DOST
Steve Toler – Durham County Strategic Plan
Briana Khan – Durham County

Former president John Martin opened the meeting.  Those present introduced themselves.   Treasurer Susan Sewall reminded members that dues are due.   Scott Carter moved to approve the minutes, Philip Azar seconded and the motion passed.

Steve Toler and Briana Khan talked about the updating of the county’s strategic plan, which was passed in 2012; they are currently getting citizen input.  The 5 goals of the current plan (but not down to the specific strategies) are at http://dconc.gov/government/departments-a-e/county-manager/planning-and-strategizing-for-the-future.  There will be a draft probably in May, and folks can get more information from Briana (bkhan at dconc.gov<mailto:bkhan at dconc.gov>). Some feedback given:

  *   More effort needs to be done among city, county, schools, transportation, etc. strategic plans
  *   A lot of specific issues (transit, for example) probably weave through a lot of the plan areas.
  *   What is being done on tax stability?
  *   Is there feedback / scoring on how we have done on the plan since 2012?
  *   Does the plan deal with potential for drought?  Other resiliency issues?

There are a number of long-term issues that are revealed by the Guess-Latta re-zoning that would potentially be the site of a Publix grocery store.

  *   The UDO allows a change to mixed use from any of the uses in that mixed use without needing to change in the Future Land Use Plan, if the mixed use if “innovative” and “integrated.”  We are seeing a lot of “mixed use” that still looks like a strip mall plus some houses.
  *   People are lobbying for a Publix, not realizing that a re-zoning allows any commercial use, not just the desired tenant; this is a general community education issue.
  *   Publix announcement was probably premature.
  *   The neighborhoods are concerned about traffic, safety and water quality.
The meeting worked out a draft resolution, which captured the above points and which Lochaven Hills will edit.  Susan Sewell moved to endorse the resolution and Philip Azar seconded it, so we will discuss it at the next meeting.

Neighborhood and Other Reports

  *   Coffees with council on the budget are coming up.
  *   We have purchased 50 acres on Cheek Road that could create 5 athletic fields, but we need money for development.
  *   Thanks to money from DOST and the County of Durham, we will be constructing Larry Stogner Trail at Sandy Creek Park.
  *   The Durham Park Foundation is working with the Duke Park neighborhood to raise money for a Bill Anderson Memorial Pavilion at Duke Park.
  *   If you won bulbs at Keep Durham Beautiful’s give-away, please pick them up.
  *   Don Lebkes said that Pulte has found a way to build 30 houses, a huge improvement from the original plan, in the tract next to Colony Park, using a conservation subdivision.  There is still mass grading so the neighborhood is talking at stormwater about protecting downstream areas.
  *   Rochelle Araujo said the armory in Morehead Hills has been declared to be surplus property, and they have started the process of turning it over to a worthy use; there is a hierarchy of possibilities.  Perhaps Durham should have a general strategy of who needs to be involved in a response to such opportunities.
  *   Debra Hawkins said because of rumors of vendors leaving Northgate Mall, someone in the neighborhood is interested in forming a group to talk about future uses of the property.
  *   Susan Sewell said the city was considering closing some “paper streets” (ones never built), which a developer wanted to make a subdivision in what is in many ways a difficult property; Tuscaloosa-Lakewood got the action delayed a month so they can meet with the developer.



 Appendix: Resolution from Lochaven Hills

Whereas the gap between statement of intent for mixed use developments found in the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) calling for “innovative” and “integrated” and the mid-20th century proposal by Halvorson is so immense,

Whereas this is not the first case we have seen of applicants avoiding the publically valuable step of obtaining a change in the future land use plan by this “Mixed Use” loophole,

Whereas, as desirable as a Publix might be, the public needs to be made aware that many other commercial uses can be substituted after the “Mixed Use” application is approved by the council,

Whereas the Publix announcement disrespected the process by announcing they were opening in 2018 without acknowledging the many regulatory steps that, as yet, have not been approved by the planning board or the city council,

Whereas with four grocery/shopping centers within three miles there is no shortage of shopping/commercial space in the area,

Whereas there are multiple sites available for development/redevelopment that will require no change of classification,

Whereas the neighborhood (Lochaven Hills) has concerns about the substantial traffic problems that currently existed and will be exacerbated by the Halvorson proposal,

Whereas stormwater runoff from a development of the magnitude proposed by Halvorson will have an adverse effect on the section of the Eno River just hundreds of feet downstream and flowing through the City of Durham's largest nature park, West Point on the Eno, which is the City of Durham's cleanest water quality and a location where thousands of people swim, fish, and play at Synnot's Hole,

Whereas the Citizens of Durham and the Eno River Association members have spent 50 years protecting the water quality of the Eno River, and protecting this resource should be of utmost importance to the City of Durham,

Whereas such a commercial area immediately next to Easley Elementary School will harm the atmosphere and the safety of the children and faculty of the school,

Therefore the INC of Durham resolves:

* Governing bodies should deny the request to rezone the land.

* As the current definition and description of “Mixed Use” is quite vague, the UDO needs to more precisely define what a “Mixed Use” designation should require in order to be approved.
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