Showing posts tagged “Durham planning department”
Samiha Khanna ·
3 Mar 2010, 4:43 PM ·
1 Comment
After a meeting of city and county elected officials, it doesn’t appear that the City Council or County Commissioners will be reconsidering the Durham’s 26-page ordinance on signage any time soon. When asked by Durham’s planning department whether it’s time to revisit the ordinance, Durham leaders vehemently answered, “No.”
“I personally am not in favor of opening the sign ordinance,” said City Councilwoman Diane Catotti, at Wednesday’s meeting of Durham’s Joint City-County Planning Committee, for which she is chairwoman. “I think it’s a lot cleaner in terms of litigation to support the sign ordinance in place. I do fear litigation. It’s a lengthy and costly process and I don’t think I have to remind any of you that the city has significant litigation still pending. I’ll just say ‘lacrosse.’”
Catotti commented that sign litigation is a prominent form of action taken against governments, and that Durham itself went through a nearly 10-year battle over a signage lawsuit from the 1980s and 1990s that cost the city nearly $1.5 million. Continue reading »
Durham, Durham County, North Carolina, news, politics campaign contributions, City of Durham, Diane Catotti, Durham City Council, Durham County Commissioners, Durham JCCPC, Durham Planning Commission, Durham planning department, Durham politics, electronic billboards, Ellen Reckhow, Fairway, litigation, Patrick Byker, Steve Medlin, Unified Development Ordinance
Samiha Khanna ·
23 Feb 2010, 4:13 PM ·
2 Comments
From Correspondent Rebekah Cowell, cross-posted from the Indy’s Scan blog:
In a packed Durham City Hall Committee Room early this morning, the Durham County Board of Adjustment voted unanimously in favor of issuing a special-use permit to The Broad Street Cafe.
For the past four years, Broad Street has operated as a nightclub in a district that is zoned so that such a special-use permit is necessary to host music after 10 p.m. Less than one year after the first noise complaint was filed by Clarendon Street neighbor Waldo Fenner, who was not present at this morning’s hearing, Broad Street officially received the green light on amping up their regional music bookings in a space that musicians and business owners says is vital to Durham’s art scene.
“Broad Street Cafe is important for more than just music,” says Melissa Thomas, founder of the Durham-based indie label 307 Knox Records. “It provides a great venue space for music, festivals and family events, as well as a place to eat for locals and visitors. This hearing just showed us today how much we all have built in Durham over the past five-plus years.”
Paul Brock, one of four Broad Street owners, says he’s relieved to finally get the permit. “I was very impressed with the board. They were gracious to us, and they asked very smart questions and got a feel for what we are doing,” explains Brock.
Continue reading »
Durham, Durham County, arts, business, music, news, politics 307 Knox Records, Broad Street Cafe, Durham, Durham planning department, music, noise ordinance
Samiha Khanna ·
16 Dec 2009, 5:50 PM ·
4 Comments
A superior court judge found in favor of Southern Durham Development on Wednesday in its major lawsuit against the county.
Superior Court Judge Howard Manning said that lines drawn in 2006 by a former planning director that outline the protective boundaries around Jordan Lake are binding and must stand.
This means that 146 of 165 acres on which Southern Durham Development was hoping to build a mixed-use community are no longer considered part of a protected zone that heavily restricts commercial and residential development, opening the door to broader development options.
In his ruling, Manning dismissed other arguments in the lawsuit against Durham County, including claims by Southern Durham Development that county officials were trying to undermine its development plans for the land (west of N.C. 751 in South Durham), and requests for $20,000 in damages.
Both parties seemed pleased with portions of the judge’s actions.
“We feel we’ve had the facts and the law on our side the entire time, and that’s what the court said,” said Alex Mitchell, president of Southern Durham Development.
Continue reading »
Durham, Durham County, environment, news 751 Assemblage, Alex Mitchell, development, Durham County Commissioners, Durham planning department, Durham politics, Howard Manning, jordan lake, Lowell Siler, protest petition, Southern Durham Development
Samiha Khanna ·
18 Nov 2009, 8:44 PM ·
4 Comments
A memo sent from Durham planning Director Steve Medlin to County Manager Mike Ruffin last Friday shows that Medlin changed his initial ruling and has found a debated protest petition regarding Jordan Lake is valid.
The memo (PDF) was requested by the Indy and other media outlets and released Wednesday evening with personnel and other information redacted. It shows that petitioners actually did include the required percentage of signatures, although Medlin initially said the petition did not include enough.
It’s unclear what the next step for either the petitioners or the county is, but the findings will be the hot topic at a special county commissioners meeting tomorrow at 10 a.m. All or most of the discussion will likely occur behind closed doors. A meeting notice by the clerk to the Commissioners cited personnel privacy and a pending lawsuit against the county filed by Southern Durham Development as reasons the session is closed. Continue reading »
Durham, Durham County, news 751 Assemblage, Durham County Commissioners, Durham planning department, haw river assembly, jordan lake, Lowel Siler, Mike Ruffin, protest petition, public records, Southern Durham Development, Southern Environmental Law Center, Steve Medlin
Samiha Khanna ·
10 Nov 2009, 10:19 AM ·
4 Comments
Durham County Commissioner Becky Heron attempted to get some answers about a controversial petition aired at last night’s commissioners meeting. But her attempt was unsuccessful. County Attorney Lowell Siler recommended that the board talk about the petition in closed session, in large part due to the fact that petitioners could sue the county over the results.
“I wanted us to have an open session and just be very transparent and open to the people,” Heron said.
Through the county’s channels, Siler announced last week that the petition was invalid, in part because of problems with signatures. The petition was filed last month by the Haw River Assembly, with the help of the Southern Environmental Law Center, to make it more difficult for commissioners to rezone the protected area around Jordan Lake. If the petition were valid, it would have required four commissioners to vote to rezone the area, instead of the simple majority of a 3-to-2 vote. That simple majority led to the rezoning on Oct. 12.
But the planning department said the petition didn’t present enough signatures. Since then, the planning department and county have been in a back-and-forth disagreement regarding whether the petition was valid, arguing on points of the land that was counted and whether the signatures were valid.
Read more about the history of this issue >>
Durham, Durham County, news 751 Assemblage, Becky Heron, Durham County Commissioners, Durham planning department, haw river assembly, jordan lake, Lowell Siler, protest petition, Southern Environmental Law Center
Samiha Khanna ·
3 Nov 2009, 12:11 PM ·
2 Comments
The latest update from Durham’s planning Director Steve Medlin: His staff is still evaluating a protest petition filed last month by the Haw River Assembly and Southern Environmental Law Center, and is looking specifically at signatures.
It appears, he said, that one property owner signed the petition for himself, but also on behalf of the two other co-owners. One person can’t sign for all three, Medlin said, so his staff is trying to verify the validity of the signatures.
Continue reading »
Durham, Durham County, news 751 Assemblage, development, Durham County Commissioners, Durham planning department, haw river assembly, jordan lake, Neal Hunter, protest petition, Southern Environmental Law Center
Samiha Khanna ·
30 Oct 2009, 3:49 PM ·
2 Comments
Though the Durham planning department hasn’t released any new findings on the Jordan Lake watershed rezoning protest petition, which was contested again this week, County Manager Mike Ruffin confirmed this afternoon that the planning department is sorting through signatures on the petition to ensure they are valid.
But, Ruffin said, the planning department still won’t have any conclusions to share until next week — which may or may not indicate whether Durham’s planning staff made a mistake in ruling on the petition earlier this month.
At this point, Ruffin added, any new findings would have to be decided by a judge. That is the avenue of appeal for the petitions (the Haw River Assembly and Southern Environmental Law Center) and commissioners already voted on the issue, and can’t reopen the issue and vote again, he said.
Continue reading »
Durham, Durham County, news 751 Assemblage, Becky Heron, development, Durham County, Durham County Commissioners, Durham Planning Commission, Durham planning department, haw river assembly, jordan lake, Mike Ruffin, protest petition, Southern Environmental Law Center
Samiha Khanna ·
29 Oct 2009, 11:57 AM ·
4 Comments
The Southern Environmental Law Center announced this morning that it is contesting a ruling by Durham’s planning director that its recent protest petition on the rezoning of Jordan Lake’s watershed was invalid.
The SELC and the Haw River Assembly argue that Durham’s planning director miscounted the amount of land owned by people who signed the petition, and therefore the petition actually was valid.
Had the petition been ruled valid, it would have required one additional affirmative vote from County Commissioners to rezone the protective boundaries around 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 intensive residential and commercial development closer to the lake, which is a drinking water source for Cary and Chatham County.
Continue reading »
Durham, Durham County, news, politics 751 Assemblage, development, Durham County Commissioners, Durham Planning Commission, Durham planning department, haw river assembly, jordan lake, protest petition, Southern Environmental Law Center
