DRAFT 6-1-10
A RESOLUTION of the
INTERNEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL OF DURHAM
WHEREAS developers have petitioned the County of Durham to rezone approximately 167 acres in southern Durham County on the shores of Jordan Lake from low density residential to mixed use allowing for approximately 1300 dwelling units and nearly 600,000 sq. ft. of non-residential uses; and
WHEREAS certain Durham residents and neighborhood organizations oppose the proposed rezoning; and
WHEREAS the Durham City-County Planning Commission, in fair and open proceedings at its meeting in April 2010, voted overwhelmingly to recommend denial of the rezoning following a public hearing and an exhaustive inquiry into the merits of the matter; and
WHEREAS the matter was then scheduled for public hearing before the Durham County Board of County Commissioners on May 24, 2010; and
WHEREAS the neighborhood opponents of the rezoning made a timely request for a postponement of the hearing under the provisions of the Unified Development Ordinance reasonably expecting thereby to delay the matter by at least two weeks; and
WHEREAS the Board of County Commissioners, interfering in the customary procedures for rezonings, and to render meaningless the grant of extra time sought by the neighborhood opponents of the rezoning, rescheduled the hearing on the matter to June 1, 2010, only eight days later and not even one cycle of the board's regular scheduled meetings; and
WHEREAS a resident of Durham County appealed the decision of the Board of County Commissioners to the Durham Board of Adjustment on the grounds that the Board's decision was contrary to the letter and spirit of the ordinance and unfair; and
WHEREAS the Board of County Commissioners then further interfered in the customary procedures for rezoning by proposing to hold a closed session on the proposed rezoning on May 24, 2010; and
WHEREAS no closed session was held because property owners neighboring the subject property made a timely filing of a protest petition in anticipation of the June 1 hearing and the appeal to the Board of Adjustment was withdrawn; and
WHEREAS one of the owners signing the petition is the government of a neighborhood association organized pursuant to a declaration of restrictive covenants and that even though the signatures of such organizations on protest petitions in past case have been found acceptable, Durham County government has cast doubt on the ability of such organizations to execute protest petitions in matters relating to these developers; and
WHEREAS the Board of County Commissioners, following communication with the developers' attorneys, again rescheduled the hearing on the rezoning to June 23, 2010, in order to give the developers time to overcome the protest petition; and
WHEREAS, rather than allowing this rezoning case to follow the customary procedure for such matters, and without due regard for the recommendation of the Planning Commission, and without concern for the due process rights and welfare of the citizens of Durham, the Board of County Commissioners has at every step, intervened in this matter to twist the process to assist the developers and to confound the neighborhood opponents, and has thereby considerably undermined the trust of Durham citizens and neighborhood organizations in the fairness of the government of Durham County generally and the ordinances governing development particularly;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham, through its government and its members, protests the unwarranted and unfair interference of the Board of County Commissioners in the procedures regulating this rezoning, and further that the InterNeighborhood Council, its government and its members, call upon the Board of County Commissioners to deny this rezoning petition in conformity with the recommendation of the Durham City-County Planning Commission because to do otherwise would reward the inappropriate and unfair conduct of this matter at the expense of the trust and welfare of the citizens of Durham; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham calls upon the Durham County Government to treat the protest petition signed by a neighborhood organization in this matter as valid in the same manner as such petitions have been treated in past cases.
Adopted this _____ day of June, 2010
THE INTERNEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL OF DURHAM
By: _____________________________________________
Thomas R. Miller, President
