[Durham INC] See This From Walltown Concerning SCAD

[tom miller]

Dear Walltown neighbors and Durham residents,

 

The Walltown Community Association is calling on Durham residents to tell
City Council to vote down the controversial and undemocratic zoning
amendment called SCAD.

 

SCAD is a major rewrite of Durham's zoning laws that was written by a small
group of developers, who refused to incorporate most suggestions from
Durham's residents. Walltown is likely to be a target location for many new
SCAD developments. For Walltown residents, some of the main concerns with
SCAD are:

 

* False affordability. New affordable rental units would only have to be
affordable for 5 years, and affordable for-sale units only have to be
affordable for the first sale. But developers would still get affordable
housing incentives from the city! This means your tax dollars will be
subsidizing market-rate housing in Durham. 

* Removal of buffers protecting homes from new developments. Buffers reduce
the impacts if a large apartment building or a bar is built next to your
house by requiring the buildings be set back from the property line. SCAD
removes all buffers for large residential buildings, so something like a
5-story apartment building could be built just a few feet from the property
line, and lets many commercial developments, including bars, be built
without the larger buffers currently required when next to a house.

* SCAD will accelerate gentrification and displacement in Black and
working-class neighborhoods. As members of the Fayetteville Street Corridor
Planning Group have highlighted: "while the SCAD amendment would create more
density, this density will not be evenly distributed throughout the
city/county."
<https://www.facebook.com/groups/386326459461258/posts/818955449531688/>
Read more on their opinion here. 

* SCAD was written behind closed doors. The public was not allowed to give
input until after they had written SCAD and discussed it with the City's
Planning Department. They even
<https://www.durhamhabitat.org/news-events/board-of-directors-ceo-and-staff-
response-to-scad> used Habitat for Humanity's name on the proposal without
their approval! And they have made no changes to the affordability
requirements-despite the community demanding this over and over for more
than a year. (Read more about this in the
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iNLUtNX-Lx4eEj03IYHwNmgTlUmrAXzs/edit?u
sp=sharing&ouid=116109384109426231711&rtpof=true&sd=true> summary from a
SCAD Task Force member ) Durham is almost finished with its new
<https://www.durhamnc.gov/346/Comprehensive-Plan> Comprehensive Plan, which
has engaged thousands of Durham residents. The Comprehensive Plan should be
the document we use to guide changes to the UDO (Unified Development
Ordinance), not SCAD. 

 

SCAD is so long and complex, City Planning has spent days and days of staff
time evaluating it, much more than the $4,396 application fee the developers
paid to submit SCAD. This means Durham taxpayers have subsidized the review
of a plan we don't want, and they won't listen to our input on.

 

This is not how democracy should work, and we need to tell City Council to
Say No to SCAD! We are calling on the City Council to reject SCAD during
their Monday, November 20th public hearing. It currently looks like a close
vote, so Walltown is asking Durham residents to do 2 things:

 

1.     Fill up City Council chambers for the public hearing on Monday,
November 20th at 7 pm. You can register to speak
<https://nc-durham.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/City-Council-4> here (in
person or remote). Whether or not you attend in person, you can also provide
written comments to the City Council.

2.     Contact the Mayor and other Councilmembers to let them know you
disapprove of SCAD. You can email the entire council at
<mailto:council at durhamnc.gov> council at durhamnc.gov or using the individual
contact information below (see also
<https://www.durhamnc.gov/Directory.aspx?DID=131> City directory).

*        Elaine O'Neal (Mayor): 919-560-4333, ext. 10269;
<mailto:elaine.oneal at durhamnc.gov> elaine.oneal at durhamnc.gov 

*        Javiera Caballero: 919-560-4396, ext. 10272;
<mailto:Javiera.Caballero at durhamnc.gov> Javiera.Caballero at durhamnc.gov 

*        DeDreana Freeman: 919-560-4396, ext. 10276;
<mailto:DeDreana.Freeman at durhamnc.gov> DeDreana.Freeman at durhamnc.gov 

*        Jillian Johnson: 919-560-4396, ext. 10278;
<mailto:jillian.johnson at durhamnc.gov> jillian.johnson at durhamnc.gov 

*        Mark-Anthony Middleton: 919-560-4396, ext. 10277;
<mailto:mark-anthony.middleton at durhamnc.gov>
mark-anthony.middleton at durhamnc.gov 

*        Monique Holsey-Hyman: 919-560-4396, ext. 10274;
<mailto:Monique.Hyman at durhamnc.gov> Monique.Hyman at durhamnc.gov 

*        Leonardo Williams: 919-560-4396, ext. 10273;
<mailto:Leonardo.Williams at durhamnc.gov> Leonardo.Williams at durhamnc.gov

 

Thank you for your time and support. Please let us know if you want to learn
more or help the Walltown Community Association make our voices heard.

 

On behalf of the Walltown Community Association,

 

Rafe Mazer

 

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