[Durham INC] another SCAD article

Mon Aug 14 11:15:20 EDT 2023

Thanks, Mimi—Is there any effort to urge voting on one section at a time so
it can be clearer to the public what is happening?

On Monday, August 14, 2023, Mimi Kessler <mimikessler1 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Tom is out of pocket today.
>
> It is my opinion that getting it incorporated into the rewrite of the UDO
> post Comp Plan adoption is all we can hope for. I think in this election
> year there is serious competition for the incumbents. If they hear that
> this is a single issue that makes difference to you in the ballet box, they
> might agree to deferring but they will never vote it down. They just do as
> they are told.
>
> On Mon, Aug 14, 2023 at 10:37 AM Elizabeth Conroy <conroyliz at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Thanks, Tom.  What are the plans for opposing SCAD at this point?  Do you
>> want neighbors to email City Council members again?  Is there a chance that
>> any one of the four City Council members who have been voting in favor of
>> every development can be persuaded to oppose this or a chance the Planning
>> Dept. will help?
>>
>> On Sunday, August 13, 2023, tom miller <miller.tom2022 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> There are more coming
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *About SCAD** – Small Lots, Small Houses, and Accelerated
>>> Gentrification*
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> This is the second of a number of short pieces pointing out problems
>>> with SCAD.  This one will be devoted to SCAD’s proposed changes to the
>>> rules for the “Small Lot Option” adopted in 2019 as part of the Expanding
>>> Housing Choices initiative.  The EHC changes allowed developers to
>>> subdivide a standard residential lot into two, three, or maybe four small
>>> lots with new small houses.  This called the small lot option.  Generally,
>>> SCAD would allow developers to build much larger houses on small lots –
>>> increasing their profitability, but defeating any arguable affordability
>>> benefit attendant to this housing type.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> What is SCAD?  It is a developer-proposed re-write of Durham’s zoning
>>> code called the Uniform Development Ordinance or “UDO.”  The SCAD acronym
>>> was coined by the developers to stand for “Simplified Codes for Affordable
>>> Development.”  Of course, this naming is strategic because it is meant to
>>> make us think SCAD is about affordable housing.  While there are a couple
>>> of things in SCAD that are directed to affordability, the vast majority of
>>> SCAD’s provisions have nothing to do with housing affordability.  Instead,
>>> they are designed to make redevelopment of Durham more profitable for the
>>> development community – usually at the expense of Durham’s existing
>>> residential communities.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> SCAD is extremely complex.  Not only are hundreds of individual changes
>>> proposed, the changes often work together to compound impacts.  This
>>> happens in SCAD’s treatment of the Small Lot Option.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Small Lots and Small Houses – The 2019 EHC rule changes allow a
>>> developer to cut an existing lot up into smaller lots as long as the
>>> resulting lots are no more than 2,000 sf in area and are not narrower than
>>> 25 feet.  The house built on such a lot cannot be larger than 1,200 sf.
>>> The virtue of the small lot rules is that they incentivize the creation of
>>> small, market-entry housing and we need more of this housing in our
>>> inventory.  Under North Carolina law, we cannot fix the price of homes, but
>>> we can regulate home sizes.  As the planning staff frequently said in
>>> support of the EHC, small houses are generally less expensive than larger
>>> houses.  The 1,200 sf limit in the current rules arguably lowers the bottom
>>> rung on the wealth ladder to the point where some people might reach it.
>>> Property developed under the EHC has produced little in the way of truly
>>> affordable housing, but the small lot rules have sparked considerable
>>> developer interest and have resulted in quite a number of small houses
>>> across town.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The downside of small lots and small houses has been accelerated
>>> gentrification in lower- wealth, formerly redlined neighborhoods where
>>> existing housing is the most affordable.  Development is a capitalist
>>> venture.  Developers target the least expensive existing, “naturally
>>> occurring”  housing for redevelopment.  The existing house is demolished to
>>> make way for two or more 1,200 sf houses.  These newer homes are often
>>> priced out of reach for the people who live in the neighborhoods where they
>>> are being built.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> SCAD will make the problem worse by allowing developers to build much
>>> bigger, more expensive houses on the small lots.  Under the current rules,
>>> a small house can have a garage, but its area must count as part of the
>>> 1,200 sf maximum.  Consequently, no garages have been built.  But under the
>>> proposed SCAD rules, garages would not be included in the 1,200 sf.  Nor
>>> would heated square footage that is “below grade.”  Under the guidelines
>>> adopted by the State of North Carolina for measuring residential square
>>> footage, “below grade” means any area that has a portion of its floor level
>>> below the ground level outside.  The effect of the proposed SCAD changes,
>>> then, will be that the house which today must be relatively small will grow
>>> to 2,000 sf and have a garage.  Additionally, the height limit for a small
>>> house will go from 25 feet to two stories or 32 feet. This means that the
>>> “below grade” living area can be mostly above ground. The lot will be
>>> small, but the house on it can no longer pretend to be a market-entry
>>> home.  In a stroke, SCAD will move the bottom rung of the wealth ladder up
>>> beyond the reach of market entry purchasers and renters.  The larger houses
>>> will be more expensive and more profitable.  They will be a more powerful
>>> engine for gentrification and displacement in neighborhoods where existing
>>> homes are the least expensive.  This will be a boon to the development
>>> industry, but no consolation to most people in Durham. – certainly not to
>>> the people in the neighborhoods targeted for this type of housing.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Liz Conroy, Ed.D.
>> 919-493-1238 (H) 919-564-6179 (C)
>> conroyliz at gmail.com
>> 2811 Welcome Dr.
>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/2811+Welcome+Dr.+Durham,+NC+27705?entry=gmail&source=g>
>> Durham, NC 27705
>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/2811+Welcome+Dr.+Durham,+NC+27705?entry=gmail&source=g>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> INC Website: https://sites.google.com/view/durhaminc/
>>
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>> inc-list at lists.deltaforce.net
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>>
> --
> Mimi Kessler
> 919-599-2892
>

-- 
Liz Conroy, Ed.D.
919-493-1238 (H) 919-564-6179 (C)
conroyliz at gmail.com
2811 Welcome Dr.
Durham, NC 27705
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