<div dir="auto">Answers to our questions about the Planning Commission committee. </div><div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">---------- Forwarded message ---------<br>From: <strong class="gmail_sendername" dir="auto">Austin Amandolia</strong> <span dir="auto"><<a href="mailto:austin4durham@gmail.com">austin4durham@gmail.com</a>></span><br>Date: Wed, Nov 2, 2022 at 9:44 AM<br>Subject: Re: Privately proposed text amendment proposal<br>To: Mimi Kessler <<a href="mailto:mimikessler1@gmail.com">mimikessler1@gmail.com</a>><br>CC: <a href="mailto:walkabledurham@gmail.com">walkabledurham@gmail.com</a> <<a href="mailto:walkabledurham@gmail.com">walkabledurham@gmail.com</a>>, bonita green <<a href="mailto:nitab48@gmail.com">nitab48@gmail.com</a>>, Smith, Grace <<a href="mailto:Grace.Smith@durhamnc.gov">Grace.Smith@durhamnc.gov</a>>, Young, Sara <<a href="mailto:sara.young@durhamnc.gov">sara.young@durhamnc.gov</a>><br></div><br><br><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr">CC-ing staff (message didn't go through to everyone the first go-around)</div></div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><br clear="all"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><font face="arial, sans-serif">--</font></div><div dir="ltr"><font size="4" face="arial, sans-serif">Austin Amandolia</font><div><font face="arial, sans-serif">He/Him/His</font></div><div><font face="arial, sans-serif">Durham Planning Commission | Chair </font></div><div><font face="arial, sans-serif"><a href="mailto:Austin4Durham@gmail.com" target="_blank">Austin4Durham@gmail.com</a> <u>|</u> 919.408.7172</font></div><div><font face="arial, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div><font face="arial, sans-serif" size="4"><a href="https://engagedurham.com/comprehensive-plan/" target="_blank"><b>Learn about the New Comprehensive Plan</b></a></font></div><div><br></div><div><font size="1">Note: E</font><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34)"><span style="color:black"><font size="1">-mail correspondence to and from this sender may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Act and can be disclosed to third parties.</font></span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, Nov 2, 2022 at 9:21 AM Austin Amandolia <<a href="mailto:austin4durham@gmail.com" target="_blank">austin4durham@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">Hi Mimi --<div><br></div><div>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:</div><div><ol><li style="margin-left:15px">Who are the Commissioners on the committee, <font color="#ff0000">Vice Chair Cameron (Chair of the Committee), Commissioner Sease, and Commissioner Zuri Williams.</font><br></li><li style="margin-left:15px">how many meetings you have had, <font color="#ff0000">There has been one meeting so far. They met on October 19th. We announced this meeting at our October meeting.</font><br></li><li style="margin-left:15px">how many and when the future meetings will be held before the matter goes before the whole PC, and <font color="#ff0000">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. </font><br></li><li style="margin-left:15px">how the public can view or participate in the meetings. <font color="#ff0000">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. </font></li><li style="margin-left:15px">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? <font color="#ff0000">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. </font></li></ol><div><font color="#000000">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 <i>did </i>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. </font></div></div><div><font color="#000000"><br></font></div><div><font color="#000000">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. </font></div><div><font color="#000000"><br></font></div><div><font color="#000000">Thanks Mimi, as always. Appreciate your commitment to Durham. </font></div><div><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><font face="arial, sans-serif">--</font></div><div dir="ltr"><font size="4" face="arial, sans-serif">Austin Amandolia</font><div><font face="arial, sans-serif">He/Him/His</font></div><div><font face="arial, sans-serif">Durham Planning Commission | Chair </font></div><div><font face="arial, sans-serif"><a href="mailto:Austin4Durham@gmail.com" target="_blank">Austin4Durham@gmail.com</a> <u>|</u> 919.408.7172</font></div><div><font face="arial, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div><font face="arial, sans-serif" size="4"><a href="https://engagedurham.com/comprehensive-plan/" target="_blank"><b>Learn about the New Comprehensive Plan</b></a></font></div><div><br></div><div><font size="1">Note: E</font><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34)"><span style="color:black"><font size="1">-mail correspondence to and from this sender may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Act and can be disclosed to third parties.</font></span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Nov 1, 2022 at 9:48 PM Mimi Kessler <<a href="mailto:mimikessler1@gmail.com" target="_blank">mimikessler1@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div>Hi Tony, <br></div><div><br></div><div>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. <br></div><div><br></div><div>On behalf of INC, I wonder if you could tell me:<br></div><div><ol><li>Who are the Commissioners on the committee,<br></li><li>how many meetings you have had, <br></li><li>how many and when the future meetings will be held before the matter goes before the whole PC, and <br></li><li>how the public can view or participate in the meetings.</li><li>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?</li></ol></div><div><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><br></div><div>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). <br></div><div><br></div><div>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. <br></div><div><br></div><div>
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 <i><u>after </u></i>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. <br></div><div><br></div><div>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. <br></div><div><br></div><div>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. <br></div><div><br></div><div>Please ask him to engage with the residents of Durham directly. He has our names and numbers.</div><div><br></div><div>Thank you,<br></div><div><br></div>Mimi Kessler<br>919-599-2892<br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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</div></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">Mimi Kessler<br>919-599-2892</div>