Schools could get 26 acres from developer

School officials could soon get 26 acres to build an elementary or middle school from a South Durham developer.

Southern Durham Development Inc. is looking to bring a dense, mixed-use development to a 164-acre spread of land off N.C. 751. 

The developer hopes to offer 1,200 residences, commercial space, as well as a brand new school.

At a meeting Thursday afternoon, the board will review a resolution to accept the land, if it's offered.

This development plan is also known as the Boylan tract, according to Steve Medlin, Durham's planning director. The Boylan project is already being protested. (More here.)

Patrick Byker, a Morrisville lawyer representing the developer, was not immediately available to answer questions about the possible deal, including how much the land is worth.

But in the quickly growing area, where schools including Creekside Elementary are bursting at the seams, such an acquisition carries a lot of value, said school board Chairwoman Minnie Forte-Brown.

"Land is very, very expensive in that area," Forte-Brown said. "We're pleased that a developer would see the need for schools being built."

The site of off N.C. 751 and Fayetteville Road, near the new Colvard Farms development.(I have plotted the basic location on a map, but am working to obtain more detailed information. Please bear with me.)

A site plan is in the works, as is a traffic impact analysis, Medlin said. Durham's planning commission, as well as city and county leaders, would still have to approve a rezoning application for the plan to go forward.

Residents of the area have protested the developer's idea (see above story), in part because the construction would fall within the Jordan Lake watershed.

This is what it would mean for schools, according to Hugh Osteen, assistant superintendent for operations:

Bond funding has already been granted for both an elementary school and middle school that needed to go in this area to accommodate growth.

Elementary C's land budget was a mere $675,000, and would require a minimum of 20 acres under current guidelines.

The budget for a middle school land acquisition was about $1.2 million, Osteen said. 

This land, if granted by SDD, could possible serve as the site for either of these projects. Ideally, it would save taxpayers money, but the bond funds already have been granted... so the schools will just spend the money on other growth projects.

Of course, having schools tied to a development makes that development so much more attractive. So, as the school would provide more space for the overcrowded southwest corner of the county, it would also be accommodating the new residents the development itself would be generating.

Currently, only one Durham school has been born this way -- Spring Valley Elementary School in the Brightleaf subdivision will open in January. The land was donated by the developer.