[Durham INC] Durham City Council Meeting August 21st 7 pm SCAD

Sun Aug 20 23:08:49 EDT 2023

Hello Durham neighbors,

 It has been more than one year since our learning of the
developer-initiated text amendment changes, SCAD; ie, Simplifying Codes for
Affordable Development. This item is on the council general agenda for
Monday, August 21st, the meeting begins at 7 pm.

For several months four INC representatives met with the applicant team
under the guidance of the planning director and staff. the INC
representatives presented a list of 22 items that were of our highest
priority to be addressed, to the applicants and the planning director. The
applicants addressed 6 of the 22 items. The PATH program was not a topic
for discussion.

Since INC's letter of Resolution to the City Council against SCAD, Several
other neighborhoods and organizations have forwarded their position on SCAD
to the council. I have attached those to this email.

It is going to be a long evening.

*CALL TO ACTION:*

Plan to attend the Monday evening Council Session, and register to speak.
Register to speak via Zoom
Forward an email to the Council stating your position on SCAD

City Council Meeting Agenda

Monday, August 21, 2023 - 7 p.m.

101 City Hall Plaza, First Floor Council Chambers

Please note:  Agenda items are current at the time of posting.  Items may
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General Business Agenda - Public Hearings
<https://cityordinances.durhamnc.gov/OnBaseAgendaOnline/Meetings/ViewMeeting?id=594&doctype=1#>

26. Unified Development Ordinance Text Amendment- Simplifying Codes for
Affordable Development
<https://cityordinances.durhamnc.gov/OnBaseAgendaOnline/Meetings/ViewMeeting?id=594&doctype=1#>

To conduct a public hearing to receive comments and consider the following
motions:

Motion 1: To adopt an ordinance amending the Unified Development Ordinance,
incorporating revisions to Article 3, Applications and Permits; Article 4,
Zoning Districts; Article 5, Use Regulations; Article 6, District Intensity
Standards; Article 7, Design Standards; Article 8, Environmental
Protection; Article 9, Landscaping and Buffering; Article 10, Parking and
Loading; Article 12, Infrastructure and Public Improvements; Article 13,
Additional Requirements for Subdivisions; Article 14, Nonconformities;
Article 16, Design Districts; and Article 17, Definitions effective October
1, 2023; and

Motion 2: To adopt the appropriate consistency statement as required per
NCGS - 160D-605.

(Resource Person: Bo Dobrzenski - 919-560-4137 ext. 28230) (PR# 16364)

[image: A group of hands in the air Description automatically generated]
[image: COMMUNITY FIRST: REJECT THE SCAD AMENDMENT Members of the
Fayetteville Street Corridor Planning Group have reviewed the “Simplifying
Codes for more Affordable Development (SCAD)” Amendment also known as the
"Anthony Amendment" and have taken the position that it should be rejected
by the Durham City Council, the Durham County Commission and by our
community. We feel that this 87-page proposed text amendment, if approved,
will have a colossal negative impact on the city's future housing landscape
– changing the character of our traditional neighborhoods, increasing
taxes, and creating drainage/water runoff problems to name a few. SCAD, if
approved, will make sweeping changes to Durham's Unified Development
Ordinance (UDO), a document that spells out local regulations for zoning
and land development. Most notably, SCAD's proponents say, by loosening
building and zoning regulations, that SCAD would uplift small, local
developers and deliver vastly more units of affordable housing to our
city/county. However, members of the Fayetteville Street Corridor Planning
Group feel that while the SCAD amendment would create more density, this
density will not be evenly distributed throughout the city/county. Since
land in our traditional neighborhoods is cheaper, SCAD will affect African
American and other moderately-priced neighborhoods more intensely and will
create even more development pressure to build more units – thereby
accelerating gentrification and displacement of current residents who own
and rent. We feel that SCAD will not create more affordable homes as
developers/builders will build to whatever price points the market will
bear. In pure economic terms, they stand to reap more profits from building
in our traditional neighborhoods due to cheaper land prices, and the
advanced age of current residents and their homes. SCAD, in our opinion,
will provide developers ways to circumvent many of the standards, review
mechanisms, and community engagement processes typically involved in
equitable development and planning. It is our group’s contention that SCAD
will open the floodgates for development to occur in ways that will
accelerate gentrification and displacement. In addition to our
recommendation that our governing bodies reject this amendment, we also
recommend that the Durham City/County Planning Department reject the entire
amendment when this item comes before the Durham City/County Planning
Commission, the Durham City Council and the Durham County Commission. If
you agree with our recommendation, please copy & paste this message and
share it with the following governing bodies: Durham City Council
council at durhamnc.gov Durham County Commission Commissioners at dconc.gov
Durham Planning Commission DurhamPlanningCommission at durhamnc.gov]
<council at durhamnc.gov>

Durham City Council                           council at durhamnc.gov

Durham County Commission             Commissioners at dconc.gov
Durham Planning Commission           DurhamPlanningCommission at durhamnc.gov

be a kind human
Bonita Green
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