A Durham County staff evaluation has recommended denial of the 751 South developers' request for county wastewater treatment.

The county Board of Commissioners asked for an evaluation when Southern Durham Developers' design firm, Coulter Jewell Thames, made the request Sept. 1.

The report recommends denial because:

The proposed project, on N.C. 751 near the Chatham County line, is outside the county's current sewer service area and the county has no plans to extend sewer service to the area.

Providing service beyond the established area would probably disrupt the planning process for other property near the county's service area.

The county commissioners were expected to vote on the 751 South request at their Monday-night meeting. However, Dhamian Blue, attorney for a group of property owners opposing the development, has requested a temporary restraining order to block any county vote.

Blue's clients are suing Durham County, claiming that their protest petition against a 2010 rezoning for 751 South was improperly ruled invalid. The suit is currently on schedule for November trial.

Southern Durham had previously asked the City of Durham for connection to the city's water and sewer systems. The city denied any action until the lawsuit is settled.

Durham's City Council voted to put off any action on utility extension or annexation for the proposed 751 South subdivision until a pending lawsuit is resolved.

The vote came at the end of a two-hour meeting on the developer's requests.

Currently, zoning that would allow the town-size project is the subject of a lawsuit against Durham County. A number of property owners near the project site hold that their protest petition against the zoning was improperly ruled invalid.

After the suit was filed in 2010, Southern Durham Development requested annexation by the city, or an agreement for connections to the city water and sewer systems without being annexed.

The lawsuit is scheduled for trial in November.

"I don't understand why the pressure point has fallen on us," said Councilman Mike Woodard, who introduced the motion to "take no action until all pending legal issues are resolved."

His motion passed. Councilman Howard Clement favored proceeding with a water-sewer agreement as long as it could be written so as to have no effect on the lawsuit, but his motion died for lack of a second.

Councilman Farad Ali was absent.

"Of all the issues I've encountered," said Councilman Eugene Brown, "this is the one I lay  a wkae at night worrying about."

Since its proposal in early 2008, 751 South has generated fierce controversy over environmental, economic, political, ethical and legal issues. Some of the latter have been carried as far as the state Attorney General's office.

DURHAM A Superior Court judge has denied a motion for summary judgment in the 751 South lawsuit.

Judge G. Wayne Abernathy issued a decision today, in southern Durham County property owners' suit against Durham County. The plaintiffs claim their petition protesting a rezoning for the town-sized development was improperly ruled invalid.

Denial leaves the case, for the time being, on schedule for a November trial. Attorneys for the two sides could not be reached for comment.

Durham County and Southern Durham Development, the project's prospective developer, had asked that the suit be settled as a matter of law.

The plaintiffs opposed the request. Abernathy heard arguments from both sides in July.

In his decision, Abernathy wrote that a legal question remains about the validity of Southern Durham's donation of a right-of-way easement to the state Department of Transportation. The donation moved the company's property line beyond the limit for the plaintiffs' protest petition.

Abernathy's ruling leaves the project's future in limbo even as the Durham City Council considers the developers' request for water and sewer connections and voluntary annexation. The council has called a special meeting on 751 South for Aug. 18.

Superior Court Judge G. Wayne Abernathy said today he hopes to render a decision in the 751 lawsuit "by the end of next week."

Abernathy said he needed time to study the cases attorneys had cited in their arguments over a motion for summary judgment filed by attorneys for Durham County and Southern Durham Development Inc. A group of southern-Durham property owners brought the suit against the county in 2010 over a ruling that invalidated their petition opposing Southern Durham's town-sized 751 South project.

The plaintiffs' attorneys oppose the summary-judgment motion, by which the defendants  acknowledge that they do not contest facts and request it be decideed as a matter of law.

Before adjourning this morning, Abernathy quoted a legal proverb: "Bad facts make bad cases."

"This case is replete with bad facts," he said. "I'd better leave it at that."

A court hearing resumes Friday morning on a lawsuit involving the proposed 751 South development.

Superior Court Judge G. Wayne Abernathy called a recess after 5 p.m. today on a motion for summary judgment filed by attorneys for Durham County and Southern Durham Development Inc.. A group of southern-Durham property owners sued the county in 2010 over a ruling that invalidated their protest petition opposing the town-sized development.

As arguments developed over two and a half hours Thursday, the case came down to questions over the validity of Southern Durham Development’s donation of a right-of-way easement to the state Department of Transportation. The plaintiffs contend that the state revoked its acceptance of the easement, and that the transfer of title was improperly handled anyway. The defendants hold that the transfer was legal and remains in effect.

A ruling by Abernathy in favor of the defendants would end the lawsuit. A ruling for the plaintiffs leaves the case on schedule for trial, but plaintiffs’ attorneys Dan Blue, former speaker of the N.C. House, and Dhamian Blue, his son, said they might file for a summary judgment themselves, based on their arguments.
 

It wasn't on the agenda, but citizen Victoria Peterson (below) got three minutes of the city council's Thursday work session to make a pitch for 751 South.

Her reason: She might like to live there.

751 South is the village-sized subdivision proposed for rural Durham County near New Hope Creek and Jordan Lake. The project has stirred passionate controversy and several lawsuits, and whether it is built or not remains to be determined.

"There are persons in this community, like myself and my husband — we're starting to get a little older," she said.

"You just started?" said Councilman Howard Clement.

"We're starting to get a little older," Peterson repeated, "and it's sort of hard to wake up in the middle of the night when you hear gunshots and some of the other foolishness that's been going on here. ...  

"I think there are citizens in this community that still want to live in the city, still want to live in Durham, but sometimes when we lay our heads down on the pillow at night we don't want to hear gunshots [at] 2 and 3 o'clock in the morning," Peterson said. "We don't want to hear the police driving up and down in my stret constantly, 24-7."

One lawsuit stemming from the 751 South controversies has been settled. But what that means in practical terms has yet to be determined, and another case resulting from the proposed development remains waiting in the wings.

Kendrick Estates v. County of Durham was discontinued Tuesday, according to a Durham County statement. That 2009 suit, by owners of property adjoining the 751 South site in southwest Durham County, contested the county commissioners' vote to move a watershed boundary line so as to remove the 751 South property from a development-restricted zone.
 

Less than two weeks after backing away from involving itself in the controversial 751 South development, the City Council waded in Monday night.

By a 5-2 vote, the council extended the city's Urban Growth Area to include the proposed 751 South property on N.C. 751 near the Chatham County line.
 

This Sunday in the Durham News we take a look at issues we think will be making news in the new year. Here, in no particular order, is the first of our stories to watch in 2011.

The 751 South project could get its final go-aheads this year.

Then again, it might not.

A mixed-use subdivision the size of a small town on N.C. 751 near the Chatham County line, 751 South has been the object of fierce controversy since Southern Durham Development Inc. announced its plan in January 2008.

A planning department ruling that led to the Durham County commissioners' 3-2 approval for a crucial rezoning last summer has been appealed to Superior Court. A hearing date has not been set, and Lewis Cheek, one of the attorneys representing Southern Durham Development, has said the suit "could take one year to four years to finish."

The lawsuit, though, would be rendered moot if the city approved the developers' request to have their 167-acre site annexed. Southern Durham has pressed city authorities to approve a water- and sewer-line extension, but the City Council voted last month to put off consideration of utility extension until the budget office completes its analysis of the financial effects annexation would have.

City Manager Tom Bonfield said he expects that report soon. Several council members, though, have said they oppose any consideration of annexing Southern Durham's property until the court case is resolved.

The developers claim their project would boost the city-county tax base and create hundreds of jobs.

Opponents dispute Southern Durham's estimates of economic benefits and claim the massive, high-density development would threaten water quality in Jordan Lake. Durham already faces hundreds of millions of dollars in state-mandated cleanup costs for the already polluted reservoir.