Superior Court Judge Howard Manning ruled today that former Planning Director Frank Duke's 2006 placement of the Jordan Lake critical watershed boundary "is binding."
But only so far as Southern Durham Development's property is concerned.
Manning's summary judgment in Southern Durham's lawsuit against Durham County clears the way for the company to proceed with its plan for a mixed-use subdivision on N.C. 751 near New Hope Creek.
However, he dismissed numerous allegations of negligence and impropriety on the county's part which had been part of Southern Durham's suit.
The ruling does not affect any other land affected by the county commissioners' Oct. 12 approval for a rezoning and land-use plan amendment that essentially confirmed Duke's decision. The state Division of Water Quality has declared that Duke's decision exceeded his authority, but approved the county's request to use the same survey data as Duke did to formally set the boundary through a public-review process defined in the county's development ordinance.
Southern Durham had contended the review process was unnecessary and impeded its project. Although Manning upheld Duke's decision, he agreed that the county had acted correctly in subjecting the boundary to the review process.
Manning did, though, have harsh words for the county regarding how the boundary determination was handled.
"This thing was botched by the planning department, botched all the way through," he said at the outset of today's hearing.
"When you botch something as bad as you did," he said, "my sympathies are with the developer."
