[Durham INC] Draft February minutes

[Pat Carstensen]

I am sending this our in advance of the meeting on Tuesday.  Regards, pat

PS.  I may not get to the meeting so would appreciate someone else taking notes.

________________________________
From: INC-list <inc-list-bounces at lists.deltaforce.net> on behalf of Pat Carstensen <pats1717 at hotmail.com>
Sent: Monday, March 4, 2019 6:18 AM
To: inc listserv
Subject: [Durham INC] Draft February minutes

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

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February Delegate Meeting of the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham

NIS Conference Room, Golden Belt

February 26, 2019



Attending the meeting were:
Neighborhoods

Cross Counties – Pat Carstensen

Falconbridge – Dick Ford

Long Meadow – Pakis Bessias, Stevie Daniels

Morehead Hill – Rochelle Araujo, Bruce Mitchell

Northgate Park – Debra Hawkins, Keith Cochran, Rachael Elledge, Dan Singer

Old North Durham – Peter Katz

Old West Durham –Vicky Welch

Trappers Creek / Greymoss – Will Wilson

Trinity Park – Philip Azar, Mimi Kessler, Maureen Berry

Tuscaloosa-Lakewood – Susan Sewell

Watts Hospital Hillandale – Bo Hariss



Visitors

Lynwood D. Best – City of Durham, NIS

Annette Smith – DPR

Patrick Young – City / County Planning Department

Scott Whiteman – City / County Planning Department







President Rochelle Araujo welcomed those present, and folks introduced themselves.



Phil Azar moved to approve January and November/December minutes; this passed.



Patrick Young, Durham City/County Planning, gave an overview of Expanding Housing Choice.  The proposed rules were published yesterday.  They will continue reaching out to neighborhoods, and have made changes based on the feedback received.  Availability and affordability of housing is critical.  Growth of 17 people a day is projected to continue until 2045, and we can’t change that.  We’ve created many more jobs than households, and that is reflected in the rise in cost of housing, especially in traditional walkable neighborhoods.  It is a delicate balance – we don’t want to encourage speculation, tear-downs, and radical changes in neighborhoods.  There is a cascade of demand, as folks are pushed down to the next best choice, leaving those with the least money the fewest choices.  So we want to increase the variety and supply of housing choices, especially in the missing middle.  Planning doesn’t expect the changes will increase affordability, but hope to affect the curve (the land values could go up, but we hope there will be more units sharing of that more expensive land and new housing at a lower price-point, moderating the pace at which housing prices increase).  The plan is to start at Planning Commission in March, probably coming back with more changes in April.  They would like to have drill-down sessions with neighborhoods.  Scott Whiteman went through some of the significant details that changed since November:

  *   Context sensitivity through infill standards – The new draft says that new houses cannot be higher than the highest house on the block (which doesn’t get much with the McMansions already on the block).  In addition, building coverage can’t be more the 40% of surface area and there are limits on the parking areas in size and sometimes placement (they didn’t want homeowners to have to jump through hoops to do a patio, which could happen if the limit were on impervious surface).
  *   Accessory dwelling units (ADU) – They make an effort to make them more viable by setting a general limit on size (smaller than main house, and less than 800 square feet), rather than a percentage of the main dwelling.  There are now limits on height on the lot lines (unless on the alley) to avoid looming over a neighbor’s yard.
  *   Duplexes – They are allowed in more locations, especially in urban tier, but changes from November are minor.
  *   Lot dimensions and density – Someone can get more density as a bonus for putting the garage in back (mandates to put the garage in back are not allowed under state law).
  *   Small house / small lot – A new housing type, which could have 1200 square feet of space (total heated and unheated), with at most an 800-square-foot footprint, on a 2000-square-foot lot.  It is like an ADU, but on its own lot, which is easier to finance.  Apparently can be a duplex.
  *   Flag lot – The proposal is to reduce the flag (the strip down to the street) to being at least 12 feet wide (instead of 20); there are now limits on the combinations of housing units on the flag lot. The size limits on small houses increase if it is a 2000-square-foot flag lot.
  *   Added density restrictions – Limit on the combinations in various cases (not doubling the duplex, for example).
  *   There is an effective date, to stop gaming the system with tear-downs.

Scenarios of what can be built on are Planning’s website (https://durhamnc.gov/DocumentCenter/View/25562/Development-Scenarios_ALL). INC could work on metrics to put into an annual report.



Announcements

  *   The contract on Bill Anderson Bath House in Duke Park has been let, so there will be a celebration on Thursday.  There will be a time capsule, so bring stuff.
  *   Please send Pat Carstensen reasons to nominate Bill Anderson as 150 birthday celebration heroes.
  *   The annual West Durham hike is March 30th.
  *   Roots Farmers’ Market will be at Brightleaf Square this year, starting March 6.
  *   The season opener of the Northgate Park food truck rodeo will be March 28.
  *   The Complete Count Committee will be trying to assure successful count in 2020 census.  They are looking for volunteers for the committee.  Does INC want to nominate someone?  Susan will do it.









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