[Durham INC] DRAFT Feb minutes

[Pat Carstensen]

Please let me know about any additions or corrections.  Thanks, pat


February Delegate Meeting of the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham
NIS Conference Room, Golden Belt
February 28, 2017

Attending the meeting were:
Neighborhoods
Colony Park – Don Lebkes
Cross Counties – Pat Carstensen
Falconbridge – Dick Ford
Golden Belt – DeDreana Freeman
Lockhaven Hills – Keith LePage
Long Meadow – Pakis Bessias
Morehead Hill – Rochelle Araujo
Old North Durham –Peter Katz
Woodcroft – Scott Carter

Visitors
John Killeen – City of Durham, NIS
Lynwood D. Best – City of Durham, NIS
Nikki Liles – Visitor
Jousha Mack – Visitor
Ben Kittelson – City of Durham, Budget

Ben Kittelson passed out surveys on budget priority for the city.  The items are long-term investment choices.  The list and a copy of the survey (which is open until March 31st) are at: http://durhamnc.gov/3020/Budget.

DeDreana Freeman then opened the meeting and those present introduced themselves.  There was no quorum.

Two announcements about community events

  *   John Schelp’s popular West Durham hike will be April 15th.
  *   There will be a community forum on trees in late April.

There being no quorum, voting on the Lockhaven / Halvorson Resolution (see Appendix A) was postponed until March.  Several ideas were offered on how to make the resolution stronger and clearer, so a new draft may come out in a week or so.  We also may want to separate the general issue of lack of clarity on what is enough “mixture” and “innovation” in a mixed use zone and the specific development proposal.

There are still 3 Coffees with Council.  https://durhamnc.gov/DocumentCenter/View/13613

There was some discussion of the problem of trucks on streets clearly marked “No Trucks.”



Appendix: Halvorson Resolution

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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