[Durham INC] Merrick-Moore Community Letter to council 2720 Faucette Avenue (Z1900021)

[Angel Romero]

Hello Bonita,

It looks like many of us have similar goals. Several Colonial Village
neighbors and I are going to meet to discuss the decrease of the tree
canopy in Colonial Village. Our neighborhood is gentrifying really fast.
Developers are coming here, tearing down homes and clear cutting large
shady trees. At a time when there is concern about heat zones in Durham, it
doesn't make any sense to turn established neighborhoods with a beneficial
tree canopy into treeless areas.

I also read about another effort in Durham to preserve a heron rookery. It
is time to get together and ask the city and county leaders to protect our
health by protecting our trees (and wildlife that lives there).

Angel

On Wed, Feb 23, 2022 at 10:13 AM bonita green <nitab48 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello friends,
> this morning, I've forwarded the following letter to the city council on
> the proposed development in Merrick-Moore Community. I am also including in
> the body of this email. If you see fit, MMC would greatly appreciate your
> support on this issue.
>
> Thank you,
>
> be a kind human
> Bonita Green
>
> To Mayor O’Neal, Mayor pro tem Middleton and fellow members of the council,
>
> As a long-time resident of the Merrick-Moore Community,  I love this
> community for its rich history and the options to enjoy the outdoors in a
> rural environment. I would like to express my concern over the future
> proposed development at 2720 Faucette Avenue. As you may be aware, this
> development sits parallel to (and most importantly upstream of) the site
> where we are developing a community garden that will address issues around
> food apartheid within Merrick-Moore proper.
>
> The developer is offering a 50% open space requirement with 80% of open
> space being the primary conservation area. The conservation area is the
> northernmost point of the site that they were not able to annex into the
> city. This pushes all of the construction into the southern corridor of the
> site. This new design creates a large concern for downstream flooding from
> the new development onto our community-held property.
>
> In February of 2021, the original case, *2720 Faucette Avenue (Z1900021*)
> was presented before the council. At that time, the developer committed to
> handling a 200-year storm event for stormwater. The stormwater commitment
> this time is for a 100-year event. We ask that the 200-year event
> stormwater protections be considered for this project.
>
> As well, there are many mature oaks on the developers' site but adjacent
> to our community-held property that is important to maintain to reduce heat
> and create a buffer between their development and our community garden
> space.  We request that a 50ft preservation buffer be considered as it
> borders our property to allow for the conservation of these trees.
>
> Merrick-Moore is bordered by industrial zones, highways, and a freight
> train line. This community was identified as a heat zone in the recent *Urban
> Heat Mapping* study. While the Durham city government has done an
> excellent job in reducing its carbon footprint, greenhouse gases are on the
> rise. Methane, a major source of ground-level ozone pollution is 84x more
> potent than CO2oz, levels are rising due to increased traffic. Therefore,
> we are hopeful the trees between the development and community property can
> be saved to offset these effects.
>
> My next concern is the lack of a traffic control device, at the property
> entrance. The decision to not add a traffic light is based on a traffic
> study that was completed in 2020. With more than two years that have
> passed, that does not give an accurate picture of what the traffic on Cheek
> Road looks like today. We would like for a new traffic study to be done.
>
> I would like to go on record in saying that we are not opposed to this
> development, although we would prefer single-family homes to townhomes.
> That would be a better blend into the existing community. I ask that you
> give serious thought to the concerns that are laid out in this email.
>
>
>
> Thank you for your time.
>
> Bonita Green
>
> President
>
> Merrick-Moore Community Development Corporation
>
> Merrick-Moore Community Club
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> INC Website: https://sites.google.com/view/durhaminc/
>
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>


-- 
Angel Romero
2524 Cascadilla St.
Durham, NC 27704-4406
USA
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