Rental-housing inspections upstaged 751 South at the City Council's meeting Monday night.
Council members took only four minutes to reject, 6-0, Southern Durham Development's request for a city water and sewer extension to its controversial subdivision.
That vote, though, came only after an hour and 55 minutes of comments, questions and discussion on the proposed Proactive Rental Inspections Program – resulting in a decision to talk about it some more two weeks from now.
Twenty citizens spoke on the inspections program, with Durham Association of Realtors President Bram Luknight and three others opposing aspects of the plan but the rest, including several property owners and managers, speaking in support.
Mayor Bill Bell, though, said opponents raised some issues "that I think deserve a little bit more time."
Among the issues were potential cost to the city and to property owners and managers, and the program's geographic scope. The city's Neighborhood Improvement Services department requested a "designated area" of 40 square miles to fall under the program, including an unknown number of rental properties.
City Manager Tom Bonfield said the administration would re-evaluate the plan and respond at the council's next regular meeting, March 5.
The vote on utilities extension for 751 South came in response to a Jan. 24 letter from attorney Cal Cunningham, who represents Southern Durham Development, asking for a decision within 30 days.
Southern Durham Development requested an extension agreement in late 2010, but the City Council deferred action until a lawsuit over the 751 South zoning was resolved. Southern Durham won a summary judgment in the case Jan. 13, but that judgment is being appealed.
By rejecting the extension, the council blocked the developers' progress, which requires connection to a municipal water-sewer system due to its size and density.
Planned to include up to 1,300 homes and 600,000 square feet of commercial space on a 167-acre tract in southwest Durham County, 751 South is too large and dense to rely on wells and septic tanks.
Since it was announced in January 2008, the project has generated strong opposition, particularly from environmentalists who claim it would threaten water quality in Jordan Lake.
The developers claim 751 South would be environmentally benign, while creating several thousand jobs and adding value to the city and county tax bases.
