Showing posts tagged “haw river assembly”
Samiha Khanna ·
11 Dec 2009, 5:33 PM ·
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Four property owners who signed a petition this fall to protest the rezoning of the protective boundary around the portion of Jordan Lake in Durham County filed a lawsuit late Friday against Durham County officials.
Attorney Jim Conner of the Ragsdale Liggett firm in Raleigh filed the complaint just after 4 p.m. Friday on behalf of Milagros Napoli and Jeffrey Napoli, the Kendrick Estates Investment Corporation, as well as Kristen Corbell. All own property in the area around Jordan Lake to be rezoned.
The parties filed a complaint for a declaratory judgment and injunction, asking a judge to look at the evidence surrounding the petition and rule that the 3-2 vote Durham County Commissioners took in October meant that the rezoning didn’t pass, as the petition was valid, Conner said. A valid petition would have required a “supermajority,” or 4-1 vote to pass, instead of the simple majority vote of 3-2.
“We think the protest petition is clearly valid,” Conner said. “The courts have already said in other cases that if there’s a valid petition and there’s a vote that’s not a three-quarters vote, then the rezoning doesn’t pass.”
The county has 30 days to file an answer to the lawsuit, which named Durham County and the Durham County Commissioners as defendants. Although the Southern Environmental Law Center and Haw River Assembly worked to file the initial protest petition, neither is party to the lawsuit.
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Samiha Khanna ·
20 Nov 2009, 1:16 PM ·
4 Comments
UPDATE, 2:43 p.m. Planning Director Steve Medlin explained the meaning of the UDO section Lowell Siler referred to yesterday. There have been no significant changes in the facts or circumstances of the area to be rezoned, Medlin said. Changes to the validity of the Jordan Lake protest petition have nothing to do with the area to be rezoned, he said, therefore, commissioners may not apply to rezone the Jordan Lake watershed until 12 months have passed.
ORIGINAL POST: A comment posted to Triangulator this morning raises the issue - do Durham County Commissioners have any option other than to brace themselves for a lawsuit regarding the Jordan Lake protest petition?
We summarized yesterday that County Attorney Lowell Siler appeared to tell County Commissioners repeatedly that only a superior court action could amend the 3-2 vote they took in October to redraw the watershed around Jordan Lake.
But today, re-reading the Unified Development Ordinance that Siler cited, it appears there could be another option—at least in a very general, non-legal lay interpretation (i.e. - we are raising the question and looking for answers). We at the Indy are waiting for an official interpretation.
But yesterday, when Commissioner Ellen Reckhow asked Siler to reiterate what had been discussed at the commissioners’ closed session Thursday morning, he stated he informed commissioners of section 3.5.15 of the UDO.
“When the body has taken action, no action can be taken again until 12 months have passed,” Siler said.
He left out the second part, which is quoted here:
3.5.15 Subsequent Amendments
When the governing body has taken action on a zoning map change, no new application may be filed for a similar zoning map change until at least 12 months have elapsed since the date of the previous action. The Planning Director, or designee, may waive this requirement if the application has been significantly modified or there has been a significant change in the facts or circumstances since the previous request.
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Samiha Khanna ·
19 Nov 2009, 12:34 PM ·
8 Comments
Durham County Commissioners met in closed session this morning to discuss next steps in the controversy around a debated petition that could have affected commercial and residential development around Jordan Lake.
County Attorney Lowell Siler told commissioners, essentially, that their hands are tied. If anyone wants to question a vote commissioners took last month to move the Jordan Lake watershed, it’s going to have to be an outside party in a lawsuit, he said. Commissioners cannot go back and revisit the vote they now believe they took, even though they have since learned they took the vote under now questionable circumstances.
“The central issue is, a vote has been taken and the only way to amend that is to go to superior court,” Siler told commissioners Thursday morning. “And we’ll defend that action.”
When Siler says the issue is to be resolved in court, he fails to fully explain, said Elaine Chiosso, director of the Haw River Assembly, which filed the petition. It means a small nonprofit group has to sue the county government and city-county planning department, which have broader resources and deeper pockets.
“We’re hoping to meet that challenge, but it’s a big challenge,” Chiosso said. Continue reading »
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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 »
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Samiha Khanna ·
16 Nov 2009, 2:02 PM ·
6 Comments
Durham County Commissioner Becky Heron said today that commissioners are scheduled to meet with the planning department and county attorney at 10 a.m. Thursday to hear a report on the status of the Jordan Lake rezoning protest petition.
Heron said the board will discuss the issue in closed session. The Acting Clerk to the Board of Commssioners wasn’t available this afternoon to confirm the meeting, but her assistant did confirm a meeting has been scheduled. Heron said commissioners communicated over the weekend to schedule it.
It’s unclear whether the planning department or county attorney have anything new to add to a Nov. 5 announcement by County Attorney Lowell Siler that the petition was invalid. The Indy has several calls out to public officials, and will update accordingly.
UPDATE, 3:15 p.m. - County Manager Mike Ruffin received a memo late Friday from planning Director Steve Medlin regarding the Jordan Lake protest petition, Ruffin said, but Siler has advised the county that the memo isn’t public because it contains confidential information protected by state law. It’s unclear whether this is relative to a pending lawsuit against the county.
Ruffin also said the County Attorney has advised members of the planning department not to speak about the protest petition, and that he knows of no plans on the part of any county department to publicly outline the county’s findings on the protest petition, but that county commissioners have the power to order the county to make the protest petition findings public after consulting with Siler on any legal ramifications.
Ruffin also said he couldn’t confirm why commissioners are meeting Thursday, just that they’re meeting in a closed session.
Read more about the Jordan Lake protest petition >>
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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 >>
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Samiha Khanna ·
6 Nov 2009, 12:46 PM ·
3 Comments
The Southern Environmental Law Center and Haw River Assembly, two groups that filed a protest petition last month in an attempt to prevent changes to the protected area around Jordan Lake, responded this morning to the county’s final ruling that the petition was invalid. They criticized the county’s findings, its evaluation process and its statement that further appeal of the decision would have to be presented in a lawsuit.
“That doesn’t give citizens a role in democracy that they should have,” said Elaine Chiosso of the Haw River Assembly. “Suing a local govt is a very expensive proposition. It puts a very big barrier in front of citizens who are trying to hold their government accountable.”
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Durham, Durham County, environment, news 751 Assemblage, Durham County Commissioners, Elaine Chiosso, haw river assembly, jordan lake, Lowell Siler, protest petition, Southern Environmental Law Center
Samiha Khanna ·
5 Nov 2009, 5:27 PM ·
3 Comments
From a news release from the county, sent at 5:24 p.m. today:
Durham City-County Planning Director’s Protest Petition Ruling will be defended
County Attorney Lowell L. Siler stated today that upon receipt of an appeal, his office will defend the Durham City-County Planning Director’s determination that the Jordan Lake protest petition is invalid based on factors that include, but are not limited to the standing and authority of certain parties signing the petition submitted by the Haw River Assembly.
Siler informed the Board of County Commissioners that any legal challenge will be defended in Superior Court.
See previous post for more information.
Durham, Durham County, news 751 Assemblage, Durham County Commissioners, haw river assembly, jordan lake, Lowell Siler, protest petition, Southern Environmental Law Center, Steve Medlin
Samiha Khanna ·
5 Nov 2009, 4:01 PM ·
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The People’s Alliance this morning released a letter it sent (pasted below) to Durham County Commissioners, Durham’s county manager, planning director and county attorney supporting the validity of a protest petition filed earlier this year by two environmental groups looking to preserve development restrictions around Jordan Lake.
The petition, filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center and Haw River Assembly, was ruled invalid one business day before Durham’s County Commissioners voted 3-2 to move the protected area around the water reservoir, which will allow commercial and residential development closer to the lake. Last week, petitioners challenged the Durham planning department and its director, Steve Medlin, to take another look at the petition.
The groups who filed the petition say the county missed two parcels of land that could have affected the outcome of the petition. Medlin said this week that the planning department hadn’t yet ruled on whether those parcels were mistakenly left out, but did say there was a question about the validity of the signatures.
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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.
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