A legislative action that would force the city of Durham to let the 751 South development hook onto its water system came in response to an earlier legislative "attempt to kill the project," according to Southern Durham Development President Alex Mitchell.

"This thing got dragged to Raleigh by our opponents," Mitchell said today.

On Monday, the state House Rules Committee approved a rewritten version of Senate Bill 382 that requires cities to provide water and sewer service to any area within its urban growth boundary. The new bill is scheduled to be heard by the full House today.

The bill also delays implementation of a section of the Jordan Lake Rules pertaining to new development. The 751 South site is in the Jordan watershed.

Mitchell said legislators rewrote SB 382 – which originally had to do with withholding taxes – after a provision was added onto another bill that would have barred counties from providing utility service to unincorporated areas within a certain distance of city limits without the city's permission.

In 2011, Durham County approved extending sewer service to 751 South, a 1,300-home mixed-use subdivision on N.C. 751 near the Chatham County line.

That provision drew opposition from Durham County authorities and the N.C. Association of County Commissioners after it was appended to SB 231, "Municipal Incorporation Standards," in the House Government Committee on June 7. It has since been withdrawn.

"That's what started this whole thing, this underhanded thing," Mitchell said. "That's the real deal of what went down."

If SB 382, now titled "Amend Water Supply/Water Quality Laws, is approved in the House, it would go back to the state Senate for approval. Durham Rep. Paul Luebke said Monday he would try to remove the bill's sections affecting Durham when it came to the House floor.
 

The saga of 751 South took a twist through Raleigh today. A House committee approved a provision added onto a Senate bill that would require cities to provide water and sewer service to any area within its urban growth boundary.

In February, the City Council unanimously rejected Southern Durham Development's application for connection to the city system. In 2011, though, the council had expanded the urban growth boundary to include the 167-acre 751 South site, on N.C. 751 near the Chatham County line and Jordan Lake.

The provision was added to Senate Bill 382, "Required Withholding for Nonresidents," and approved in the House rules committee with backing from committee Chairman Tim Moore (R-Cleveland). The committee vote to approve was 15-4, Durham City Councilman Mike Woodard said.

The amended bill goes now to the full House. A vote could come Tuesday.

State Rep. Paul Luebke (D-Durham), a member of the Rules Committee, told Durham city administrators that he will will try to remove the Durham section of SB 382 when it comes to the House floor.

Durham City Manager Tom Bonfield was in Raleigh Monday to oppose the provision. If the House approves it, the provision with the amended bill will have to win approval in the Senate before taking effect, he said.

If it does pass the House, the bill could reach the state Senate by the end of this week, Woodard said.

Along with Bonfield and Luebke, Rules Committee memberJoe Hackney (D-Orange) spoke against the provision, which Hackney called "sneaky and underhanded."

Attorney Cal Cunningham, who successfully defended Southern Durham Development in a lawsuit over a rezoning for 751 South, spoke in favor of the provision making particular references to the Southern Durham Development project.

As planned, 751 South would include up to 1,300 homes and 600,000 square feet of commercial space. Opponents claim it would threaten water quality in already polluted Jordan Lake. 

Durham County Commissioner Brenda Howerton said today her re-election campaign has not collaborated with a super PAC backed by Southern Durham Development.  

Elections Director Michael Perry forwarded about eight complaints to the State Board of Elections this week claiming county commissioner candidates Rickey Padgett and incumbents Joe Bowser and Howerton illegally coordinated with the The Durham Partnership for Progress.  The complaints allege Padgett and representatives of Bowser and Howerton distributed the Super PAC’s fliers at early-voting sites over the weekend.

On Monday, Bowser, Padgett and Southern Durham Development, the would-be builders of the 751 South mixed-use project in southwest Durham County, denied any collaboration. Efforts to reach Howerton that day were unsuccessful.

Perry, who said forwarding such complaints is standard procedure, indicated in an email that he spoke with a Howerton supporter on Saturday who was passing out the super PAC literature.

Here is an an early look at Bob Wilson's column coming Sunday in The Durham News. Tell us what you think below (with your name) or in a letter to the editor at editor@newsobserver.com

BY BOB WILSON

I hope you didn’t reflexively toss the mini-billboard that came in the mail a few days ago. You know, the one with the beaming faces of County Commissioners Chairman Michael Page, fellow incumbents Joe Bowser and Brenda Howerton, and incumbent wannabe Rickey Padgett.

The billboard – er, campaign post card – appeared to be from the candidates themselves, all fervent supporters of 751 South, the proposed 167-acre, mixed-use project hard by the Chatham County line.

And hard by the eutrophic upper reaches of Jordan Lake, which needs another patch of urban sprawl about as much as James Harden needs another elbow punch from the Lakers’ Metta World Peace.

The post card actually came from the Durham Partnership for Progress, a political action committee formed by Southern Durham Development Inc., the local outfit behind 751 South. The PAC exists for one purpose: Elect its four anointed candidates to ensure that 751 South has a future.

Don’t be dazzled by Southern Durham President Alex Mitchell’s declaration that the PAC has high-minded ambitions to “foster a political environment … that encourages equal opportunity, job creation, smart growth.”

Smart growth?

What’s so smart about planting 1,300 homes and townhouses and 600,000 square feet of office-retail on 167 acres of environmentally sensitive land whose runoff by Southern Durham’s own assessment will put 600 pounds of nitrogen a year into Jordan Lake?

The glossy, full-color political flier appearing in Durham mailboxes this week brings local politics into the "Super PAC" era on behalf of the controversial 751 South subdivision project.

The flier endorses incumbent county commissioners Joe Bowser, Brenda Howerton and Michael Page, and aspiring commissioner Rickey Padgett in the May 8 primary election. All four support the 1,300-home mixed-use project in southwest Durham County.

Prospective developers of the controversial 751 South subdivision have created a political action committee of their own in time for the county commissioner elections.

On Friday, The Durham Partnership for Progress registered with the Durham County Board of Elections as an "independent expenditure political committee."

Treasurer is Rhonda Hall Sisk of 9222 N.C. 751, a residence owned by Southern Durham Development at the 751 South site that is also the company's registered office. Assistant treasurer is Tyler Morris, a partner in Southern Durham Development.

The filing forms list a $100 cash donation from Southern Durham Development as well as the company's in-kind contribution of $2,500 for services of Public Policy Polling, a Raleigh survey and robocall company.

In a formal statement, Southern Durham President Alex Mitchell said the PAC will make candidate endorsements "in the near future."

Three incumbent county commissioners running for re-election have been strong 751 South supporters and have said during the campaign that they would continue that support: Joe Bowser, Brenda Howerton and Michael Page. Candidate Rickey Padgett has said he supports the project "100 percent."

Mitchell's statement described the Partnership for Progress's purpose: "to foster a political environment in Durham that encourages equal opportunity, job creation, smart growth, new business and industry, affordable housing and education while protecting property rights."

It also alluded to "an alternate political action committee" that has made opposition to 751 South "their primary election issue." The Durham People's Alliance endorsed four candidates who oppose the project – Fred Foster Jr., Wendy Jacobs, Will Wilson and incumbent Ellen Reckhow" and listed candidates' positions on the project among the factors considered in making the PA's endorsements – along with "tax fairness, remedies for homelessness ... responsible government and the Constitutional Amendment."

The plaintiffs in a lawsuit over the 2010 rezoning for 751 South have withdrawn their case, by an agreement signed Wednesday with Southern Durham Development.

Two property owners near the proposed subdivision, and the Chancellor's Ridge Homeowners Association, had appealed their suit's dismissal by Superior Court Judge Henry Hight in January.

"They agreed to walk if we agreed not to pursue sanctions for a frivolous lawsuit," Southern Durham President Alex Mitchell said.

Hight dismissed the suit "with prejudice." The plantiffs had sued Durham County, contending that their protest petition against a rezoning vital to the project was improperly ruled invalid. Southern Durham Development subsequently joined the suit on the county's side.

Withdrawing the lawsuit means the Durham County commissioners' approval for the rezoning remains in effect. However, in December Southern Durham filed a request to re-rezone its 167-acre site in southwest Durham County. The new rezoning would remove some restrictions included in the original.

Terms of the settlement agreement bar the defendants and plaintiffs from further action in the matter, but the terms expressly state that the plaintiffs are free to express their opinions of the plaintiffs publicly.

Rental-housing inspections upstaged 751 South at the City Council's meeting Monday night.

Council members took only four minutes to reject, 6-0, Southern Durham Development's request for a city water and sewer extension to its controversial subdivision.

That vote, though, came only after an hour and 55 minutes of comments, questions and discussion on the proposed Proactive Rental Inspections Program – resulting in a decision to talk about it some more two weeks from now.

The City Council decided this afternoon to put Southern Durham Development's utility extension on its Feb. 20 agenda.

City Attorney Patrick Baker informed Southern Durham attorney Cal Cunningham of the decision after a closed session with the council.

Southern Durham Development has withdrawn its attempt to collect expenses and "sanctions" from plaintiffs in the 751 South lawsuit.

According to the withdrawal notice, Southern Durham did so "as a gesture of good faith."  Attorney Cal Cunningham said the company "has agreed to resume confidential mediated settlement discussions" and would make no further comment.