Petition protests Jordan Lake boundary move

DURHAM -- The Haw River Assembly has filed a protest petition at the Durham City-County Planning Department regarding the proposed relocation of the Jordan Lake critical watershed boundary.

Elaine Chiosso, director of the environmental group, said the petition was filed Monday on behalf of about 20 property owners in the area that would be affected by a boundary move.

Planning Director Steve Medlin said his department is in the process of determining whether the petition is valid. He said Tuesday afternoon he did not know how long that would take.

If it is valid, four of the five Durham County commissioners would have to vote in favor for the rezoning and land-use plan change required to move the boundary to be approved. The item is scheduled for a public hearing at their Monday-night meeting.

“We have no reaction,” County Attorney Lowell Siler said. “We're going through the information and don't have any definite conclusions so far.”

Former planning director Frank Duke changed the boundary in 2006. In 2008, the state Division of Water Quality confirmed then-County Attorney Chuck Kitchen's belief that Duke had exceeded his authority. DWQ has approved Durham County's making the change, which under Durham's development ordinance requires a series of public hearings before the commissioners vote.

Moving the boundary would remove an obstacle from Southern Durham Development's plan to build a subdivision on land now within the critical watershed.

The Haw River Assembly opposes the change, claiming it would remove protections from a reservoir that is already polluted. The General Assembly approved a program for restoring the lake to acceptable quality during its 2009 session.