[Durham INC] July minutes

[Pat Carstensen]

Jul Delegate Meeting of the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham

Via Zoom

July 26, 2022


Attending the meeting were:

Neighborhoods

Bragtown – Vannessa Mason Evans, Donna Frederick

Burch Avenue – Richard Ziglar, Jennine Privat

Cross Counties – Pat Carstensen, Ed Harrison

Falconbridge – Dick Ford

Leesville Road Coalition – Steven Knill

Long Meadow – Pakis Bessias

Merrick-Moore – Bonita Green

Northgate Park – Keith Cochran

Old North Durham – Mimi O’Brien, Helena Cragg

Tuscaloosa-Lakewood – Susan Sewell

Watts Hospital Hillandale – Tom Miller, Fred Peterson


Guests

Will Wilson – Past President of INC

Nate Baker – Planner

Philip Azar

James Davis – City of Durham

Jesse Huddleston – Duke Partner Neighborhoods

Eliza Mathew – Duke Partner Neighborhoods

Emilie McIntosh – Durham Parks and Recreation

Lori Schleicher


President Bonita Green called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone; those present introduced themselves.  James Davis let us know that Lynwood Best has retired.


Nate Baker shared his insights about what is going on in planning in Durham.  He grew up in Durham; he has international planning experience, especially around empowering communities and writing zoning regulations, both in planning departments and as a consultant.   He has been on the Durham Planning Commission.  State law requires planning commissions but Durham’s is a little odd because it covers both the city and county, which also means we have a JCCPC (for guidance by elected officials).  The Planning Commission can only make recommendations, which limits its powers.  There are so many zoning requests that they are thinking of starting their meetings earlier.  Many of the current requests are for rezoning/annexations in southeast Durham, for which City Council does not share the Planning Commission's concern about sustainability (when Southeast Durham fills out, there will be pressure on north Durham).  We are growing rapidly, mostly unsustainably; gentrification/displacement continues to be an issue.  The Planning Commission also looks at text amendments before governing bodies do, which is where they have some more influence.  There could be a comprehensive re-write of the UDO.  There are a bunch of plans and tools that we don’t have – design standards in the UDO, greenspace planning, small area planning and so on.  There was then a wide-ranging discussion among those at the meeting, including the topics:

  *   The developer  “promises” of affordability are inadequate, and what is being built is way too car-dependent.

  *   Planning staff makes a lot of decisions that in much of the state would be decided by elected official (and they sometimes are a little careless on the impact of what they approve).  City Council doesn’t have much interest in planning.

  *   More Neighborhood Protection Overlays (NPO) would make development more context-sensitive so that the accessory dwelling units and small lots would not be so disruptive; however, it is probably a non-starter to ask for new NPOs. Getting neighborhood planning started would be a better process.

  *   The SCAD (Simplifying Codes for More Affordable Development) text amendment (https://www.durhamnc.gov/415/Pending-Text-Amendments), which would “relax” standard,  is of great concern in spite of having some good things; it has major implications, it takes power away from the public and it is scary that the members of the JCCPC are so excited about it.

  *   There are a lot of complicated pieces in a healthy housing ecosystem: number of units, income levels, metropolitan scale, and so on; the problem is often simplified to 2 sides and we need a nuanced housing plan and definitely need to have EVERYONE (not just developers) involved in the conversation.

  *   The Planning Commission is proposing a text amendment on connectivity.

  *   We don’t have the right metrics to evaluate how well we are planning and building: for example, how many people can walk to work?


Business

The June minutes went out July 1 but weren’t resent.  We will vote on them in August.


We really need to get a vote to approve the bylaws.  Benita will resend the documentation.


Neighborhood dues were due in January, so please get those dues in.  Dues received: Birch Ave, Forest Hills, Leesville Road Coalition, Long Meadow, Merrick-Moore, Morehead Hills, Northgate Park, Old Farm, Old North Durham, Old West Durham, Trinity Park, Tuscaloosa-Lakewood, Watts-Hillandale. Thanks for all the dues - please add your neighborhood as soon as you can. $25 dues each January.


Neighborhood Reports and Announcements

  *   Duke partner neighborhoods (more information: https://community.duke.edu/) are concerned about the privately-initiated SCAD text amendment; Eliza and Jesse wanted to make a connection around this issue.  Getting lots of comments on MySocialPoint, which is for comments on planning issues,  site (scroll down at https://durham.mysocialpinpoint.com/growthmanagement/land-use-home/) are likely to make a difference.  More information on MySocialPoint is at https://durham.mysocialpinpoint.com/growthmanagement#/sidebar/tab/about

  *   National Night Out is August 2 (Tuesday).

  *   Leesville Road is continuing their candidate fora.








Appendix: Pending resolution about bylaws



Resolved:

1.  That the Amended and Restated Bylaws be passed as presented on March 22, 2022;



2.  That conforming changes be made to the Articles of Association of the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham and that those Amended and Restated Articles be presented to the board for adoption;



3. That Tom Miller be named as the registered agent of the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham as expeditiously are reasonably possible;



4. That in as much as members must reapply for membership to the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham under the revised and restated bylaws, members shall do so within 60 days  of passage and that all neighborhoods participating in the vote on the amended and restated bylaws be eligible to vote on readmission of neighborhoods; and



5.  That the membership fee schedule under the amended and restated bylaws shall remain the same for 2022, that any member who has paid dues in 2022 shall not be required to pay again in 2022, and that any member who has paid dues in 2022 and who does not become a member under the amended and restated bylaws shall be refunded any 2022 dues payment.



Philip has almost completed an application form.  Many delegates didn’t get the final copy of the bylaws and the analysis of the changes since they were buried as a link in the minutes.  We will put them on the list-serve, or they are in the folder (with a clean version and a lined version)  https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1UyupE2j3xbbvCef565DHG_DOjDWW9bGO?usp=sharing.








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