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.
 

Advocates for restraining growth in southern Durham won a small victory this morning, winning a recommendation to put a strip of land along the Chatham County line outside the city's Urban Growth Area.

The recommendation has a ways to go before it takes effect, though, says city-county planner Joe Carley.

The land is south of Scott King Road, east of a Duke Energy substation and west of N.C. 55, and includes several designated natural heritage areas.

Some nearby residents have pushed for some time to have the UGA boundary moved north, to protect what rural character remains in the fast-developing area. At a community meeting with city-county planners in March, about 60 residents expressed unanimous support for moving the line.

The city-county planning department had recommended leaving the line as it was reasoning that , the Joint City-County Planning Committee — made up of City Council members, county commissioners, the planning director and planning commission chairman — voted unanimously to reset the UGA boundary.

"I'm just trying to protect as much of the significant natural area as I can," said Planning Commission Chairman George Brine, who moved to relocate the line.

Actually accomplishing the relocation, though, has a process:

1. City Manager Tom Bonfield and County Manager Mike Ruffin give the planning staff a go-ahead;
2. Planning staff calls a neighborhood meeting;
3. Staff drafts a zoning-ordinance change;
4. The change goes to the Planning Commission for a public hearing;
5. The City Council and County Board of Commissioners vote yea or nay.