Jordan petition referred to closed session

What promised to be a routine meeting of the Durham County Board of Commissioners turned testy at the outset, when commissioner Becky Heron asked County Attorney Lowell Siler for a report on the Haw River Assembly/Southern Environmental Law Center's protest petition regarding the Jordan Lake Watershed boundary.

Siler said that would be better discussed in a closed session, because he expects the petition sponsors to take the matter to court.

"I hope we don't have to go to litigation," Heron said. "I just want a report."

Eventually, the board voted to discuss the petition in closed session, along with discussing the Southern Durham Development lawsuit against the county over the watershed.

The protest petition was filed prior to the commissioners' Oct. 12 vote on a rezoning and land-use plan amendment that effectively relocated a critical watershed boundary in southwestern Durham County. The Haw River Assembly and SELC oppose thhe relocation.

Before the vote, the Durham City-County Planning Department ruled the petition invalid. The rezoning and plan amendment passed 3-2; had the petition been validated, approval would have required four votes to pass.

Subsequently, the Assembly and SELC reviewed the petition and claimed the planning department's decision was mistaken. Last Thursday, Siler released a statement upholding the decision because of unspecified problems with some signatures.

"What's wrong with the signatures?" Heron asked.

Commissioner Joe Bowser said discussing the petition tonight would be unfair to commissioner Brenda Howerton, who was absent; Bowser also said discussion should be reserved for closed session due to anticipated litigation.

"The public needs to know," Heron said. Reading a prepared statement, she said, "The response from our staff has been so ambiguous. ... It's time to shine a light on what's been going on behind closed doors for the last two weeks "

Commissioners Chairman Michael Page said he regretted Heron's statement and resented her implying that the County Attorney had acted inappropriately. Heron said she was not disparaging the County Attorney. Bowser said the planning department was the agency that had decided the petition was invalid.

"I agree with Joe on one thing," Heron said, "this all started with the messup in the planning department."

The whole dispute stems from former Planning Director Frank Duke's 2006 decision to relocate the boundary, based on a survey commissioned by a landowner now partner in a subdivision proposed for a tract removed from the critical watershed by the boundary relocation. In 2008, then-County Attorney Chuck Kitchen determined that any boundary change required state approval, and Duke had exceeded his authority.