Commissioners move Jordan Lake protection boundaries
Durham’s Board of County Commissioners voted 3 to 2 Monday night to move a protected area around Jordan Lake on county maps, opening the door for a dense development being drafted for 164 acres in the southwest part of the county. Commissioners Ellen Reckhow and Becky Heron cast the opposing votes.
Though the vote approved just the zoning of Jordan Lake’s protective buffer — not an actual development plan — the change cleared a major hurdle for the much-contested development, 751 Assemblage, which would contain 1,300 residences and 600,000 square feet of office and retail space. (Read more about the proposed development and its history here.) Monday night’s change takes the land to be developed from protected and virtually unable to be developed to a less-protected designation that allows for the mixed-use vision of the developer, Southern Durham Development.
More than 70 people signed up to speak on the proposed shift of the critical and protected buffers around Jordan Lake, which is a drinking water reservoir for Cary and Chatham County, and could soon provide water to Durham’s residents, too. Most who spoke opposed the rezoning, saying it would allow development too close to the water source and would further pollute already tainted waters. Opposers included members of the Haw River Assembly, who attempted to petition the change (read more here) and residents of neighboring developments.
Supporters of the zoning change mostly were also supporters of 751 Assemblage who wanted this obstacle, which has loomed for three years, out of the way. They said the new development could bring jobs, possibly a land donation for new schools and a larger tax base for the county. Supporters included members of the developer’s cadre of lawyers and architects, city council candidate Donald Hughes and Lavonia Allison of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People.
The decision is the a milestone in a long and drawn out battle over one query — where is the true normal pool elevation of Jordan Lake? For those not fluent in fluvial geomorphology and its nuances, the location of this normal pool elevation determines from where to draw a one-mile critical watershed, in which virtually no development is allowed. The problem is, the county has moved the critical watershed back and forth three times now because of various incidents that have gone on behind the scenes. (Here’s the backstory.)
This is just an abbreviated version, of course, of what happened Monday night and the potential consequences of the events. We break down the complicated issue in Wednesday’s paper.
5 Comments
I hope Chatham and other counties sue Durham. They deserve it.
— Durham Resident 13 October 2009
It is truely sad that the commissioners think there is no water pollution in Durham or caused by Durham and its going, rapid development. Once again, the tax payers are getting a bad deal. Donating land for a school. Is the developer going to build the school? Who is going to pay for all the extra services? Road upkeep? More police? Fire stations and personnel? Improved roads for increased traffic flow up and down 751? I am sure a bond will come in the future for all, and the commissioners will cry how we do not have enough money. The same commissioners who just fail time and time again to realize the social costs borne by the residents of Durham for development. In addition, they thumb there noses to city-county rules as well as their own legal advisors. Message: come to Durham, the rules really do not matter. My question, why have these paid officials if rules do not matter?
— E.J.R. 13 October 2009
[...] Summers cited two controversial cases on which city and county leaders went against the Planning Commission’s recommendations — Brightleaf Commons, a shopping center planned for U.S. 70 near Falls Lake, and the rezoning of Jordan Lake’s protective boundaries, which the county approved Monday. [...]
— Planning commissioner resigns in light of Jordan Lake, Brightleaf rezoning cases - Triangulator - Indy Week Blogs 14 October 2009
[...] does this all matter? Because had the petition been valid, it would have made it harder for county commissioners to pass the rezoning of the protected buffer around Jordan Lake. Residents in protest of the rezoning [...]
— Orgs behind protest petition criticize county attorney’s ruling - Triangulator - Indy Week Blogs 6 November 2009
[...] Jordan Lake. Without a valid protest petition, commissioners needed only a simple majority, and voted 3-2 on Oct. 12 to shift the protective boundaries around Jordan Lake to the west. Doing so would allow for more [...]
— Update on Jordan Lake protest petition - Triangulator - Indy Week Blogs 16 November 2009