While future of 751 South remains to be determined, another subdivision proposal just up the road is also getting a cold reception from some of the neighbors.

"We moved there about four years ago and loved the rural feel," said Melvin G. Fehrenbacker of Oakwind Court. "We don't want it buried under slabs of concrete."

The reception was cold enough that, when the project came to the Durham Planning Commission Tuesday for a rezoning hearing, the developer's attorney asked for, and got, a two-month delay for further conversation.

"I think it's in the best interests to meet again with neighbors," said Ken Spaulding, representing 751 LLC, a company headquartered in Hobe Sound, FL.

The proposition in question, called "Trails at Southpoint," is for 164 residences on a  28-acre tract on N.C. 751 just north of Stagecoach Road. The site is currently zoned "Residential Rural," meaning the densest building allowed is three houses per two acres. On the south and west, it abuts Corps of Engineers land in the Jordan Lake watershed.

"We want to keep our serenity, keep our peace," said Therman Couch, whose home adjoins 751 LLC's property.

With the delay, the rezoning and a change in the county land-use plan come back to the Planning Commission July 10. The commission, a citizens advisory body, will make a recommendation to the county commissioners on approving or disapproving the zoning and land-use changes.

Fred Foster, who won a Democratic nomination for Durham county commissioner last week, is getting some support for taking his seat early.

Will Wilson, who finished sixth out of the 14 candidates, has endorsed Foster (right) to take over for Joe Bowser, who resigned from the county board after losing a bid for re-election.

Darius Little, who ran unsuccessfully for the City Council in 2009, has also said publicly that Foster should get the empty seat. Foster, currently president of the Durham NAACP chapter, finished second in the primary election. The top five candidates won spots on the November ballot and, so far, face no opposition candidates.

Who fills in from now until the new commissioners take office in December is up to the four remaining board members. State law requires they take a suggestion from the Durham County Democratic Party, since Bowser is a Democrat, but the commissioners are not bound to follow the party recommendation.

By Virginia Bridges

Durham County commissioners will await a recommendation from the Durham County Democratic Party before they move forward on filling Joe Bowser's seat.

Commissioners voted to accept Bowser’s resignation Monday night, which comes after he finished seventh in the Democratic primary and about six months before his term expired. 

On Monday commissioners indicated they wanted to fill the seat quickly, but they didn’t determine how to move forward beyond hand delivering a letter to the Durham County Democratic Party today seeking an expedited recommendation.   State law requires commissioners to consult with Bowser’s political party and gives the sitting officials 60 day to appoint a replacement. 

“I think we are in agreement that we need to take some action immediately as opposed to going through a very long process,” commissioners Chairman Michael Page said. 

Here's a look at today's local headlines:

EAGLES LEAVE NEST: N.C. Central sent off nearly 600 grads yesterday. Too late for today's Durham News, but you can see this super photo by Casey Toth and more in a gradutation gallery here.

SCHOOL FUNDING SHIFT: Durham County Voters approved money for a new high school when they approved a bond in 2007. So why do school officials now want to spend the money on something else? Virginia Bridges reports.

OCCUPY'S NEXT PHASE: The crowds are gone, but the Occupiers are still at work, making connections, learning from one another and others, and preparing for what comes next. Monica Chen reports on what the Durham-Chapel Hill area's 99 percent are up to.

Alex Mitchell tells his side of the 751 South story (we expect some letters on that), Carlton Koonce goes looking for his roots (and there's a talk at the main library on Monday you may want to check out ) and Matthew Brown, a beloved drummer and staple of the local music scene, has died at 42.

I caught "Marley" yesterday, now playing at the Carolina and Chapel Hill's Chelsea. If you've already seen The Avengers or comic book fantasy's not your style, it's a riveting, rollicking look at the reggae icon, a creative force cut short at 36. Highly recommended.

Thanks for reading,

Mark

Almost a year after damage from heavy rain led to its evacuation, the Liberty Warehouse still has a hole in the roof and its owner is overdue on plans for making repairs.

Planning Director Steve Medlin issued a notice of violation to Greenfire Development after the company failed to submit architectural plans for dealing with "deficiencies" that led to the Liberty being declared in a state of "demolition by neglect."

The plans were due April 27, according to a schedule Greenfire submitted in February. Medlin said earlier this week that, if the plans were not submitted by today, he could issue a citation and begin levying punitive fines.

Medlin said Thursday he was to meet today with Greenfire's contractor.

Liberty Warehouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the last of more than a dozen tobacco auction houses that once operated in Durham's "Tobacco Row" just north of downtown.

In April 2011, the city condemned part of the building due to rotting in the roof and water damage. After a May 14 storm collapsed a section of roof, the entire building was condemned and the city began demolition-by-neglect proceedings. Owners of historic structures are required by Durham ordinance to keep them in sound condition.

Proceedings were postponed when Greenfire pledged to make repairs within six months, then put off another two months at the company's request. But city inspectors, touring the building Feb. 8, found exterior walls and foundations deteriorated, sagging floor and roof supports, ineffective waterproofing and numerous other faults contributing "to a hazardous or unsafe condition" in the Liberty's southern half.

Notified that it had been found guilty of demoliton by neglect, Greenfire submitted a schedule for making repairs by the end of October.

Here is an early look at the full version of a guest column running in Sunday's Chapel Hill News.  Please tell us if you support the half-cent sales tax for mass transit at editor@newsobserver.com or below (with your name if you'd like your comments published in the newspaper.). Thanks.

By Bejamin Haven and James Carnahan

Orange County has a clear and urgent need for the additional transit services that would be funded by the half-cent sales tax now under consideration by the County Commissioners for a fall referendum.
Whether you live in town or a rural area, we all have an obligation to create a sustainable legacy for those who will come after us – to curtail our carbon footprint, establish a resilient economy and make Orange County affordable to a diverse population.  Public transit is an indispensible tool for achieving these goals.

The Piedmont is still growing at an extraordinary pace; the Triangle Region alone is expected to add more than one million people over the next 20 years [U.S. Census].  By 2030, an additional 40,000 people are projected to make their home in Orange County [NC Office of State Budget, Planning, and Management].  This growth will tax our transportation infrastructure, contributing to longer traffic delays and more carbon emissions.  Already, the Triangle wastes 12.7 million gallons of fuel annually due to congestion [Texas Transportation Institute].   We can’t continue to rely on fossil fuels and sprawl-oriented development patterns, and our current transportation system is inadequate for the population boom that we face.  It’s time to invest in a real transit plan to meet our current and future needs.  

The added half-cent sales tax would specifically fund public transportation.  The Federal Government will not kick in matching funds to get transit projects off the ground unless Orange County can prove that it is capable of raising capital to finance part of these ventures.  In other words, we will not see transit improvements, including bus service expansion, a light rail line from UNC Hospitals to Downtown Durham, or a Hillsborough Intercity rail station, unless we get this  tax referendum on the ballot and passed by a simple voting majority.

Durham is already on board, putting a similar referendum on the ballot and voting to fund transit last year.  However, they can’t do it alone, and a potential light rail line connecting Orange County to Durham depends on us sharing in the cost.  It’s time for Orange County, too, to invest in transit to support the future health of our community.

A usually routine approval for renewals of privilege licenses to sell beer and wine raised a red flag at today's City Council work session, after Councilman Steve Schewel said that one applicant's owner has been cited for noncompliance with ABC regulations multiple times.

"We ought to be questioning that," Schewel said.

The comment met general agreement, leading to a consensus that the council withhold approval for the Beaver Pond Family Fare at Club Boulevard and Roxboro Street when the license applications come up at the May 21 regular business meeting. The Beaver Pond Family Fare is owned by M.M. Fowler Inc., whose stores, Schewel said, have been found noncompliant six times in the past year.

"When are we going to start sending a new message, an official message, that you can't regularly abuse your ABC license and there are no consequences?" Schewel said.

In the meantime, council members are open to hearing from M.M. Fowler and from the general public on the 303 other establishments making application.

A link to the list is below.

Documents:

Submitted by correspondent Virginia Bridges

County Commissioner Joe Bowser resigned his seat today after losing a bid for re-election.

Bowser (right) finished seventh in the 14-person race for five seats on the county board.

"Effective today May 9, 2012, I will resign my seat on the Durham County Board of Commissioners. There are some big decisions this board will be making soon, and I feel it would be better for a member who will continue beyond this year to assist in making those decisions," Bowser wrote in an email to County Manager Mike Ruffin and his fellow commissioners.
 
"I have enjoyed my tenure on the board and wish my fellow board members the best!" Bowser said.

"Commissioner Bowser has provided significant years of service to Durham County Government and we are grateful for his work," said Board Chairman Michael Page in a county statement announcing Bowser's resignation.

"He has been engaged in numerous boards and commissions and has worked diligently to improve the quality of life for the citizens in this community," Page said.  "We wish him well in his future endeavors.”

Bowser was first elected to the board in 1996 and held the office until losing a re-election campaign in 2004. He won back his seat in 2008.

He is the second county commissioner to leave the board in less than a year. Last July, Commissioner Becky Heron resigned for reasons of health.

The four remaining commissioners will discuss replacing Bowser at their regular meeting Monday night.
 
The top five vote-getters in Tuesday’s primary were incumbents Page, Ellen Reckhow and Brenda Howerton, along with Durham NAACP branch President Fred Foster Jr. and environmental consultant Wendy Jacobs.

Bowser finished with 17,098 votes, 268 behind sixth-place contender Will Wilson, a Duke University biologist, according to unofficial results.
 

A vigil will be held at 7 p.m. tonight (Wednesday) at Peace and Justice Plaza outside the Franklin Street post office.

"We are aware of the dismay that many of our members and friends are experiencing today following the passage of Amendment One in North Carolina," the Revs Jill and Richard Edens of United Church of Chapel Hill, said in an email they sent us today.

"Let us remember that churches across our state stood with those who would be harmed by this Amendment including the Episcopal dioceses of North Carolina, both Methodist bishops in North Carolina together with the NC Council of Churches and many, many UCC, Baptist, Lutheran, Unitarian, MCC and progressive Pentecostal pastors from across our state," the email says. " We are aware of the special pain that comes with reading quotes from people saying things like, 'God's mercy prevailed.' Not only is this hurtful to the LGBTQ community, but also to the integrity of God's word and God's love."

"At these times we are comforted by the words of Martin Luther King Jr. 'The arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice.'"
 

On the eve of Tuesday's elections, county commissioner candidate Steve Hopkins fired a verbal broadside at the People's Alliance and Commissioner Ellen Reckhow.

Accusing the PA of "Tea Party-like tactics," Hopkins accused the liberal political-action group of making race an issue in the commissioners race and making "wild accusations" about incumbent commissioners Joe Bowser, Brenda Howerton and Michael Page.