Advocates for restraining growth in southern Durham won a small victory this morning, winning a recommendation to put a strip of land along the Chatham County line outside the city's Urban Growth Area.
The recommendation has a ways to go before it takes effect, though, says city-county planner Joe Carley.
The land is south of Scott King Road, east of a Duke Energy substation and west of N.C. 55, and includes several designated natural heritage areas.
Some nearby residents have pushed for some time to have the UGA boundary moved north, to protect what rural character remains in the fast-developing area. At a community meeting with city-county planners in March, about 60 residents expressed unanimous support for moving the line.
The city-county planning department had recommended leaving the line as it was reasoning that , the Joint City-County Planning Committee — made up of City Council members, county commissioners, the planning director and planning commission chairman — voted unanimously to reset the UGA boundary.
"I'm just trying to protect as much of the significant natural area as I can," said Planning Commission Chairman George Brine, who moved to relocate the line.
Actually accomplishing the relocation, though, has a process:
- City Manager Tom Bonfield and County Manager Mike Ruffin give the planning staff a go-ahead;
- Planning staff calls a neighborhood meeting;
- Staff drafts a zoning-ordinance change;
- The change goes to the Planning Commission for a public hearing;
- The City Council and County Board of Commissioners vote yea or nay.
Comments
Lines in the sand are easily erased...
Wed, 04/01/2009 - 22:15 — Enough_AlreadyAfter Southpoint Mall and its 'Renaissance Center' strip mall was constructed, the News & Observer reported that Mayor Bill Bell said "he'd like to preserve the remaining rural character of South Durham as much as possible. Bell said the city and county must send a stronger signal to developers and landowners that they're going to stick with their long-term goals for the area. "At some point in time, we have to draw a line in the sand and say, 'Here's where we are and here's what we want to take place,'" he said." (March 10, 2002).
So much for that sentiment...
Perhaps Mayor Bell will prevent what little is left of South Durham from becoming a sister suburb of Cary.
I hope that he and the rest of the City Council will support this retraction of the UGA line in order to save what few inventory sites South Durham has left...as for rural character, it's too little, too late.
Better late than never ... ?
Wed, 04/01/2009 - 21:54 — mmr121570I was at the JCCPC meeting today, and I am encouraged that our elected officials are listening to their constituents and the citizens who live in this area.
I'm still disheartened with staffs recommendation to leave the line as it is...this stance seems to be based mostly on the need to repair/maintain/replace the pump station that currently serves this area of Durham. First of all, if a developer puts in a pump station, he is required only to pay for the percentage that his development uses...the rest is supposed to come back to him as new developments pay to tap into the system. Wonder how they'll handle a situation where the pump station is going to serve CURRENT developments who aren't in a position to provide pay-back. Somehow the cost will come back to the citizens in the end -- it always does (overcrowded schools, lacking infrastructure, Jordan Lake Nutrient Rules, etc. ).
Regardless, Durham needs to get off the development industry's teat. Being beholden to the development industry is what got us the environmentally irresponsible development that continues to pollute our water resources with run-off and sedimentation (oops, I meant our neighbors' water resources, as if that should make a difference).
To quote planning director Steve Medlin (at the meeting with South Durham Citizens on March 19): "'I hate to say this -- we didn't get in front of this as early as we should have.' Medlin said the county's thinking on stormwater issues had been piecemeal, not holistic." (Mar 20, 2009, Herald Sun, Matt Milliken).
The least we can do is get behind it now...