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.

Developers who proposed a low-cost apartment complex on Barbee Road have had second thoughts.

According to Patrick Young, assistant city-county planning director, the rezoning application for Crowne Pointe was withdrawn this morning, before a scheduled public hearing at tonight's city council meeting.

Jim Yamin, a former director of the Durham Community Land Trustees, Raleigh civil engineer Patty Hilburn and landowner Leslie Smith of Lavonia, Mich. planned a 58-unit project on 7.3 acres just north of Interstate 40 in southern Durham.

The proposal drew strong opposition from residents of the nearby Irvinwood and Crooked Creek neighborhoods, and on May 10 the Durham Planning Commission voted 10-1 against recommending approval for their rezoning.

New member Keiji Kimball’s first action as a member of the Durham Planning Commission got a cool reception from his colleagues Tuesday night.

You might say it was the silent treatment.

Durham County Board of Commissioners have elected Antonio Jones to the Durham Planning Commission, undoing their April 5 election of Darius M. Little.

Jones is a full-time student at N.C. Central University. He had received the planning commissioners' recommendation for the Oak Grove/Carr Township seat on the commission, but lost to Little in the commissioners' original vote.

The commissioners agreed to reconsider Little's election after allegations surfaced that Little had misrepresented himself as a lawyer and taken money for services he didn't provide. Little faces a felony charge of obtaining money by false pretense.

Durham planning commissioners gave the current billboard ordinance a vote of confidence Tuesday night, recommending denial for a billboard company's request to revise the 20-year-old law.

"There is no benefit to the people of Durham," commissioner Wendy Jacobs said. "This is purely to benefit the billboard industry."

A mixed-use subdivision the size of a small town got thumbs down from the Durham Planning Commission Tuesday.

By an 11-1 vote, commissioners recommended denial for a rezoning Southern Durham Development requested for its proposed 751 South project near Jordan Lake.

“It's an exciting development,” said commissioner Barbara Beechwood. “[But] I don't like the site, it's a site with a lot of problems, it's a site that gives me heartburn.”

The plan for 751 South includes up to 1,300 apartments, condominiums and single-family residences; and up to 300,000 square feet each of office and commercial space on a 167-acre site on N.C. 751 just north of the Chatham County line.

Designer Dan Jewell described 751 South as “a community where people can dine, shop, work, work out … go to church, go to school, all within walking distance of their homes.”

Commissioners and citizens opposing the project were also concerned about a high-density development in a still-rural area.

“That area is a unique part of the county. I ask you to preserve it,” said Harry Bailes, who lives directly across N.C. 751 from the project site. He and his wife settled there for the rustic character, but if the project is built, he said, “We look right across from what I believe will  be a parking deck."

Commissioner Jackie Brown recalled that when a rezoning was approved for Southpoint shopping mall in 1999, then-City Manager Lamont Ewell promised it would lead to “no more commercial creep.”

“Well, guess what,” Brown said. “Here we are again. This is more. This is a village. You guys are trying to outdo Brier Creek with this one.”

Last week, the Durham County Commissioners voted Darius M. Little onto the Durham Planning Commission. Monday night, they changed their minds -- at least for the time being.

A vote to "reconsider" Little's appointment was unanimous, effectively leaving the earlier approval in limbo until another vote is taken. The commissioners did not set a date for a second vote on filling the Planing Commission seat for Oak Grove Township.

Commissioner Joe Bowser asked to have reconsideration on Monday's agenda after The News & Observer reported  that the N.C. State Bar plans to review complaints that Little misrepresented himself as an attorney. The Bar is scheduled to meet on the complaints Wednesday.

Little was approved for the Planning Commission, a citizens' advisory body on zoning and land-use matters, by a 3-2 vote over N.C. Central University student Antonio Jones. Little, who ran for a City Council seat in 2009, is a student at Phoenix University's Raleigh branch.

Little has felony convictions in Wake, Durham and Orange counties relating to checks he said he bounced when he fell on hard times while attending UNC.

The Rolling Hills/Southside redevelopment project got a much different reception from the Durham Planning Commission tonight than it did a month ago.

Where a request to accept a "blight" report brought sharp criticism at the commission's Jan. 4 meeting, a rezoning and plan amendment for part of the Rolling Hills site won unanimous approval and warm words for the project overall.

"I really feel like this is the time for this area of Durham," said commissioner Wendy Jacobs. "It's going to happen, it's going to happen now. We need to really get behind this project and support it."

The City Council's unanimous approval for a new, improved downtown
zoning system opens the way for another step along the way of Rolling
Hills/Southside's redevelopment.

But City Councilman Eugene Brown says it's time to reconsider.

This particular step would be developer McCormack Baron Salazar's
request to bring eight acres of the 20-acre Rolling Hills tract under
the downtown umbrella, thus allowing the company to put buildings along
Lakewood Avenue that can serve as either residential or commercial
units.

The Durham Planning Commission declared the Rolling Hills/Southside area to be legally "blighted" Tuesday night, but its deliberation was dominated by "eminent domain."

As a result, what was in essence a formality in the process for organizing rehabilitation in the run-down and crime-plagued area off the Durham Freeway gained approval by only a 6-5 vote.

"I'm not sure what we've done," commissioner Jackie Brown said after the vote.