Durham City Council approved a contested apartment complex on NC-751 and tightened language around minority business goals, while also announcing new civic engagement and gun violence prevention initiatives at its April 1 meeting.
The council voted 7-0 to rezone and annex 12 acres for Aura 751, a 350-unit multifamily development, overriding a unanimous Planning Commission recommendation against the project. The developer, Trinsic Residential, offered 22 affordable units (split between 60% and 80% of area median income for 30 years), 10 electric vehicle charging stations, and protected tree coverage. However, neighbors Andrea Maiden Beck, Nathan Jennis, and Rebecca Ives raised safety concerns about the 1,400 daily vehicle trips the project would generate on the already dangerous NC-751 corridor, arguing the affordable housing percentage at 6% fell short and expressing environmental worries about drainage into a natural heritage area. Council Members Nate Baker and Freeman expressed concerns but ultimately supported the project given Durham's housing shortage and the improvements the developer had made since the Planning Commission vote.
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