[Durham INC] Fwd: Privately proposed text amendment proposal

[Mimi Kessler]

Answers to our questions about the Planning Commission committee.

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Austin Amandolia <austin4durham at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Nov 2, 2022 at 9:44 AM
Subject: Re: Privately proposed text amendment proposal
To: Mimi Kessler <mimikessler1 at gmail.com>
CC: walkabledurham at gmail.com <walkabledurham at gmail.com>, bonita green <
nitab48 at gmail.com>, Smith, Grace <Grace.Smith at durhamnc.gov>, Young, Sara <
sara.young at durhamnc.gov>


CC-ing staff (message didn't go through to everyone the first go-around)

--
Austin Amandolia
He/Him/His
Durham Planning Commission | Chair
Austin4Durham at gmail.com *|* 919.408.7172

*Learn about the New Comprehensive Plan*
<https://engagedurham.com/comprehensive-plan/>

Note: E-mail correspondence to and from this sender may be subject to the
North Carolina Public Records Act and can be disclosed to third parties.


On Wed, Nov 2, 2022 at 9:21 AM Austin Amandolia <austin4durham at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi Mimi --
>
> Thanks for your message and apologies you missed this important update. We
> appointed the committee at our July 12th meeting. Please see answers to
> your questions below:
>
>    1. Who are the Commissioners on the committee, Vice Chair Cameron
>    (Chair of the Committee), Commissioner Sease, and Commissioner Zuri
>    Williams.
>    2. how many meetings you have had, There has been one meeting so far.
>    They met on October 19th. We announced this meeting at our October meeting.
>    3. how many and when the future meetings will be held before the
>    matter goes before the whole PC, and The committee has the discretion
>    to hold as many or as few meetings as they need to complete their work.
>    There is not another meeting planned, but if one gets scheduled, it will be
>    announced and published on the City and County calendars.
>    4. how the public can view or participate in the meetings. Members of
>    the public can attend in person, but the meetings are not live
>    streamed (similar to JCCPC). There are no public hearings or public
>    comments as part of the committee unless the Chair of that Committee
>    decides otherwise. My understanding is that Tom Miller was in attendance
>    and was allowed to speak briefly.
>    5. Do you record your meetings or take minutes that can be reviewed
>    and/or do you plan to write a report that will be available before the
>    matter comes before the whole PC? Vice Chair Cameron will be providing
>    an update on the committee's work at our next Planning Commission meeting
>    on November 15th. The committee will provide a recommendation to the full
>    commission on the text amendment when the time comes. The meeting was
>    recorded and staff should be able to provide that. I'm not sure how helpful
>    it will be beyond the report back we're getting from the committee but it
>    is available.
>
> Regarding your comments about the applicant's engagement strategy, both
> staff and myself have consistently raised the same concerns to the
> applicants and have encouraged them to prioritize more robust engagement. I
> have communications with them dating as far back as July where these
> concerns were expressed. And while the JCCPC *did *unanimously vote to
> have the text amendment move forward in the process, several of us also
> emphasized the need to get the community engagement right.
>
> The Planning Commission will continue doing our due diligence, and having
> worked closely with staff during the process, I am sure they will do the
> same. Unfortunately, because this was a privately-initiated amendment, the
> applicant "owns" the work, limiting the levers we have to push more (and
> better) engagement. We can (and will) continue to ask, but it is ultimately
> on the applicant to enact.
>
> Thanks Mimi, as always. Appreciate your commitment to Durham.
> --
> Austin Amandolia
> He/Him/His
> Durham Planning Commission | Chair
> Austin4Durham at gmail.com *|* 919.408.7172
>
> *Learn about the New Comprehensive Plan*
> <https://engagedurham.com/comprehensive-plan/>
>
> Note: E-mail correspondence to and from this sender may be subject to the
> North Carolina Public Records Act and can be disclosed to third parties.
>
>
> On Tue, Nov 1, 2022 at 9:48 PM Mimi Kessler <mimikessler1 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi Tony,
>>
>> I learned last Tuesday at the INC delegate's meeting that the Planning
>> Commission has established a committee to study this proposal and you have
>> been meeting pursuant to your plan. I was surprised to learn this because,
>> as you know, I attend more PC meetings than I miss. But I must have missed
>> an important one.
>>
>> On behalf of INC, I wonder if you could tell me:
>>
>>    1. Who are the Commissioners on the committee,
>>    2. how many meetings you have had,
>>    3. how many and when the future meetings will be held before the
>>    matter goes before the whole PC, and
>>    4. how the public can view or participate in the meetings.
>>    5. Do you record your meetings or take minutes that can be reviewed
>>    and/or do you plan to write a report that will be available before the
>>    matter comes before the whole PC?
>>
>>
>> Jim Anthony and his associates presented the INC their sales pitch. And
>> if that is all you saw, you would absolutely sign up! But we have very
>> grave concerns about this effort as were expressed in the INC
>> correspondence sent to the JCCPC in August (attached).
>>
>> From my personal point of view and not speaking for the INC, Mr Anthony
>> and some of his fellow developers held a community meeting on August 30th
>> where they made their pitch (which hasn't evolved between then and now).
>> Anthony et al emphasized that the proposal was "a working draft, a living
>> document" and that they were very anxious to have our input and answer any
>> questions we had. We suggested a "roundtable" conversation and they
>> appeared to be willing which many of us found encouraging. They have all
>> our names, email and mailing addresses, and phone numbers from the sign-in
>> sheet. None of us have been contacted.
>>
>> I have personally reached out to Mr Anthony to encourage him to invite
>> all those who attended and have the dialogue as they promised. He said that
>> they would do that *after *it goes before the PC. I asked him why since
>> the PC has been pretty clear to other developers that if they don't have a
>> meaningful dialogue with the residents impacted that they are sent back to
>> do so. I volunteered to organize the meetings, but that I would need the
>> contact information they collected on the participants. He declined. At the
>> meeting on August 30th, they made assurances that they had presented before
>> the JCCPC twice and had unanimous support. That doesn't sound like they
>> think they need to do anything else.
>>
>> When Mr Anthony put me off as he did, I said I was very interested in
>> what the PC would tell them and that I would be signing up to speak at the
>> public hearing to be sure the members of the PC understand that there has
>> not been effective dialogue with the community.
>>
>> At the INC meeting, they said they would be happy to answer any
>> questions, all we had to do was write them out and they would go through
>> them line-by-line. Well, of course, most residents of Durham can't
>> understand the text of the UDO, but they can surely identify what
>> development they don't like when it happens.
>>
>> Please ask him to engage with the residents of Durham directly. He has
>> our names and numbers.
>>
>> Thank you,
>>
>> Mimi Kessler
>> 919-599-2892
>>
> --
Mimi Kessler
919-599-2892
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