Good afternoon Bull City good afternoon Durham North Carolina it is great to be back I hope that everyone had a h wonderful holiday I was extremely busy I got in the car and started driving with my wife's son wife and son and we just ended up places and it was relaxing so I hope everyone got a chance to at least get some downtime welcome back colleagues it is great to see you all I know we were supposed to take a break but many of us were talking and somewhat working over the break so makes me feel glad to be a part of this Council because you care so much all right and I was just getting the hang of this and I just sat down here I was like wait what do I do first again so pardon me I am calling us to order that is right thank you so much all right and at this time we will have a moment of silence led by council member Freeman.
I'm gosh that is the Pledge of Allegiance if we can have a moment of silence.
Please thank you so much now we will have the Pledge of Allegiance thank you it's our practice to stand and salute the flag as we say the salute to the flag our Pledge of Allegiance thank you Al to the flag of the United States of.
Thank you Madam Clerk if you can call the road please mayor Williams I'm here may Pro Tem Middleton I'm here council member Baker here council member cabayo here council member Freeman pres council member rist pres thank you thank thank you and at this time do we have any announcements. Colleagues that is right we do not here okay we have one ceremonial item tonight we will go ahead and highlight this and often times you'll see council members reading different proclamations I'm been selfish tonight this is something that's personal to me so I'll read this one Miss yes did all right and you refreshes mine is yeah thank you Mr.
Langy.
Right tonight I have the honor of reading the proclamation Mr Langley here standing with me this Proclamation reads where at created in 2002 by the Harvard School of Public Health and Mentor the national mentoring partnership January is National mentoring monel an annual campaign to focus attention on the need for Quality consistent and competent mentors and whereas the goals of national Mentor mentoring month are to raise awareness of mentoring recruit mentors equip mentors with the skills needed to support youth encourage organizations to engage integrate quality mentoring into their efforts with a focus on mental Wellness academic support life skills training and career Readiness Workforce preparation to motivate youth to Excel and whereas a mentor is a caring dependable and authentic person that provides support ad guidance advice assistance and devotes time to a young person to help youth discover personal strength to persevere and achieve their potential through a structured and trusting relationship on a regular basis and whereas quality mentoring encourages and empowers youth to make Positive Choices promote self-esteem and character development support academic.
Achievement social emotional learning leadership and professional development college readiness and career exploration and whereas during the covid-19 pandemic mentoring programs stepped up to fill gaps for Youth and families connecting them with resources and ensuring mentoring relationships continue to prevent social disconnection and mitigate learning loss and whereas recent research has demonstrated that mentoring programs have a significant positive impact on a variety of academic achievement measures including truy abent absenteeism Scholastic efficacy and engagement School related misconduct and peer support and whereas mentors serve a critical role in helping youth successfully complete high school and gained admission to college or training programs earn a postsecondary credential or certification build new in demand skills prepare for the future of work and succeed in everchanging workforces and whereas mentoring programs must incorporate work-based learning to prepare and connect youth with real life work experiences whereas they can apply academic Technical and soft skills and develop their enjoyability employability while in exploring career Pathways and whereas the city of Durham strategic plan goals include shared economic prosperity and creating a.
Safety Community together and whereas the city of Durham supports community- based mentoring programs as keep Community Partners to support Youth and their families and whereas National mentoring month is the time of year to celebrate Elevate and encourage mentoring and recruit caring adult mentors in the city of Durham now therefore I Leonardo Williams mayor of the city of Durham North Carolina do hereby Proclaim January 2024 National mentoring model in the city of Durham and hereby call upon public officials business and Community leaders and Educators and encourage all citizens to observe this month with appropriate ceremonies activities and programs to one recognize the valuable contributions to staff of staff and volunteers and quality mentoring programs that Empower youth enabling them to discover inner strength and realize their full potential to potential two acknowledge the manifold between mentoring the man the manifold benefits of mentoring including fostering healthy identity development promoting educational achievement reducing J juvenile delinquency enhancing career Readiness improving life skills and outcomes and fortifying communities three advocate for the establishment expansion sustainability and funding of.
Quality programs throughout durum aiming to provide youth with the necessary tools of leading healthy productive and meaningful lives and for support initiatives aimed at bridging academic achievement opportunity and mentoring gaps emphasizing critical mentoring to assist board thank you mayor Williams for that Proclamation I know it was rather wordy anyone who's worked with me knows that I can be very worthy but I would like to wish the mayor members of the city council as well as the residents of Durham and public staff here a happy New Year mentoring is critically important and as you heard from the resolution we have a lot of organizations here in Durham many of which I will email you all about so that you can learn more about organizations that are stepping up filling gaps and helping our young people thank.
You.
All right thank you so much council members at this time are there any announcements start to my left to my right all mayor Pro him thank you your honor good to see you sir and to my honorable colleagues everyone in the chamber and whatever platform you're watching on tonight happy New Year to everyone we made it ready to start another great year of work here in the city Mr Mayor I I just want to on personal note and perhaps an appeal and challenge to you sir as a human being on October 7th I was absolutely disgusted by what happened to people in Israel particularly babies and since then I have been absolutely mortified by what's been happen happening to babies in Palestine as well but tonight as an American Municipal elected official I'm worried about the babies in Durham a city where I actually have some power and I can actually make some things happen it has been 13 days 2 hours and 10 minutes since our government.
Decided to turn down a request from our Police Department and allowed what I thought was a modest request and allowed our shot spotter censers to go silent what has not going silent is a gunfire in our city and to Mr Mayor tonight I just want to put to you what I've been receiving and I'm sure other council members have been receiving from residents as well as to now that we've repealed what is the replacement what is our plan to replace what has happened since the centers have gone a hot namely a quicker response time people got into the hospital in time to save lives weapons collected and shell casings now that we have repealed that what what is a replacement so I want to just parrot that to you sir I know as you focus on the first 100 days of this Administration that violence will be a a major part of your focus and I I I want to put that on your agenda publicly I also want to speak to the.
Folk who live in actual effect the people who actually live in these areas where this is happening where this is where these shootings are happening we've heard from many of them who have asked questions and and I I want to say to you Mr Mayor some of these folk have reported being harassed online for having a different opinion from people and I just want to say tonight to our residents and to our citizens as we participate in debate in our Public Square if your arguments are factual and strong enough and have integrity then they will stand on their own you don't need to harass anyone or intimidate anyone who has a different opinion from you we don't do that end Durham so I also want to say these folk who are living under gunfire constantly if you think they're going to be intimidated by keyboard gangsters you have something else coming so I want to just put that on record Mr Mayor to you I want to thank you for.
Your voice I want to thank voices like Sheriff Burkhead his honor mayor Bell and community members as well at the Grassroots who actually live in these areas who are asking questions now and quite honestly Mr I don't know what to say but you were you were swept into office with was an incredibly huge and diverse Coalition and and I put that to you to respond to FK what we should be saying as we seemingly once again wait for Duke to speak particularly when it comes to things that are going to impact once again primarily black and brown and poor areas in our city we need to wait for the voice on high to come so I I put that to you as the clock continues to tick where we've repealed but we haven't replaced anything to mimic of the results that we've seen so I'm putting that on your desk Mr Mayor as a challenge and as a hope that that will be a focus and perhaps you can tell.
Us what we should be saying to our people in the city tonight happy new year God bless Dr thank you sir thank you mayor. Proen all right I had a few brief announcements first I wanted to just share my public condolences to the city of greensbor and mayor Nancy vaugh and the leadership and families over in the Greensboro Community it takes a lot to sign up for a job in which you know you're running toward the danger that most people run from and I I just anyone that is serving our country serving our communities trying to keep us safe when you know the line of work that you're in you may have to dodge bullets you may have to deal with irrational people and this is your daily engagement so I just want to send my condolences Greensboro City had a police officer to get killed in the line of duty although they were off duty at the time they were trying to prevent a matter from happening where others could have been harmed and.
They were shot and killed and so I have reached out to the mayor of of greens sporl and shared my condolences with her directly and I wanted to share that publicly on tonight as we wish all safe on those streets on a lighter note I have a few guests here visiting on November 4th there were 251 Mayors newly elected Mayors across the country they chose 29 to be a part of a program at the Harvard Kennedy School and with that came with that came an option to work with a few grad students who are major studying in public policy and I was fortunate enough to have three of them come to Durham and so they Mary Justin and and Tuan are here from the Harvard Kennedy School public policy and they are going to be with me for about 2 and a half weeks as we are working on media please here that's working on my 100 day plan I got calls today what is it it's coming but they're going to be.
Here working with me this is my transition team and I'm really grateful to have you guys so please. Stand they are going to be dermit before they leave here cuz we are exposing them to a lot also we are introducing a new staff member tonight and this person will be a direct Point person from my office the position of Special Assistant to the mayor and born and raised he'll tell you a little bit about himself as most of the community will be working with him directly as you're working with me but you can just briefly run you're who you are so that Durham can know who you are again yes sir and thank you for the introduction Mr Mayor Mr Mayor Pro and for members of the council I am Derek Stanfield a Durham native North Carolina Central University grad proud North Carolina Central University grad and special assistance to the mayor prior to this experience I was in DC doing a bit of work in National politics.
And I've also done a bit with the state legisl as well very excited to be here as the mayor said I will be a point person working with the community as an extension of the office itself so happy to be here thank you so much welcome we should add he is a former Board of trustee member at nccu as he was the sgaa president there so welcome Dereck and it's great to have you on board as well all right let us get to the people's business here and welcome back to school all students from The Break at this time I will recognize priority items by the manager good evening Mr Mayor Mr Mayor protm and members of the Durham city council this evening the city manager's office we have no priority items for you we'd love to hear it there we go all right Madam attorney good evening mayor Williams mayor ptin Middleton members of the council it's good to see you the city attorney's office has no priority.
Items hi Madame clerk good evening Mr Mayor Mr Mayor Pro Tem and council members and the city clerk's office has no priority items it's a triple trip all right unusual thank you thank you so much so at this time I'll read the consent agenda and that will be our next order.
Of business the consent agenda consists of items that the council has previously considered in a work session all items on the consent agenda may be approved by a single vote of the council items may be removed from the consent agenda by a council member or member of the public and those items will be considered separately at the end of the meeting tonight that this time that we update M okay thank you all right item one mayor's Council for women appointment item three November 2023 bid report item four contract modification for language Services Solutions item five contract with project access of Durham County to provide rapid rehousing services item six contract with housing for New Hope to provide rapid rehousing services for households experiencing homelessness that's number seven okay number seven contract with families moving forward for Supportive Services and emergency shelter that item has been pulled number eight contract with housing for New Hope to provide Supportive Services to participants in permanent Supportive Housing item nine contract with Urban min iies for supportive Supportive.
Services in emergency shelter item 10 Cooperative group purchase contract three automated refuse trucks item number 11 contract with Oracle elevator hold holdco Incorporated for elevated maintenance and repair services item 12 first renewal and Amendment to the city of Durham and Durham Arts Council Incorporated building and services agree Services agreement item 13 contract contract for the Central Square Services agreement item 14 the US Department of Justice Office of Justice programs Bureau of Justice assistance 2023 local solicitation Edward burn Memorial Justice assistance grant Jag project ordinance superseding Grant project ordinance number 16192 15 Gaston storm water infrastructure repairs number 15 number 16 Grant project resolution for belch Street storm water improvements number 17 Amendment two to contract 1864 each with EMA resources Incorporated for handling and disposal of water and wastewater treatment plant biosolids number 18 Professional Services contract award to HDR engineering Incorporated of the Carolinas for per and polyl we go again polyl polyl kill FL Flor alal substances Consulting support inter local agreement with Durham County for the Northeast Creek sewer Basin hydraulic.
Model 26 contract for Central Square Technologies LLC service agree Services agreement number 27 midatlantic Associates Incorporated contract Amendment and that will complete the consent agenda other items will be discussed tonight at this time I'll at this time I'll entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda as red Mr Mayor I think one number 15 I think was I see on our sheet here okay got sorry good all right I'll entertain a motion to approve the consent agendas right so move second it's been moving properly second mayor Madam Clerk number seven number seven was PO number seven was pool with the exception of number I'm sorry with this with the exception of number seven all right would you please open the vote close the vote the motion passes unanimously thank you so thank you so much put number seven right all right next order of business is the GBA number yeah General business yeah number two general business agenda racial Equity commission.
Appointment Madam clerk so we have number two racial Equity commission yes we do do you have questions about the information. Provided okay sorry I was trying to figure out who put it on GBA so council member Freeman thank you just to note that I think as a advisory to the council the racial Equity commission should be I mean the volunteers are great but it'd be really good to have volunteers who have experience with racial equity in a more professional way and I want to encourage us to look for candidates around that and so I do want to want to read advertise this item and see if we could actually get a candidate that actually has some experience around racial.
Equity you're asking the council to consider read vertising it Council colleagues we we've already stated our voting on this so right and you're asking that we reconsider Council I'm not sure the process here do I mean do I take a consensus of do we reconsider or do we stay as. Is I guess actually I have to call a call a motion for us to entertain a motion for us to actually reconsider or we take it as is we can entertain a vote and that will state whether we Rec we accept it as is or not Mr Mayor if I might one more yeah the the one moment oh I'm sorry I just had a question for the clerk because I thought we voted and accepted the person at the work session you appr nomination right right I know it's on the agenda toight for a formal vote but at the work session there was consensus on the applicant right correct okay okay so we okay so at this point what happens.
When a council member requests for a reconsideration is there action that we take or we leave the vote as is Mr Mayor if I might the council member is free to vote against it we we we've done our due diligence on this matter it was part of the consent agenda the council member has the the right to pull something but the time to ask to read vertise would have been at the work session when we consider this matter I also want to say with I I don't know if this we have a citizen who's volunteered whose name is now public I I don't want to send out the message that Mr Williams is somehow deficient or not if he's watching or or not fit for this position I have no idea why we're considering this tonight and this resident has put his name forward to be volunteer but the time to have done this would have been at the work session council member Freeman free to just vote against it and.
We'll be in regular order thank you sir actually after just looking at where we are in this process this is the item the vote has yet to be taken so what we'll do is just we'll call for the vote and council members can vote their vote their preference all right at this time I will entertain a motion so moved item number seven two I'm sorry item number two and it's been moved second been second it Madam cler please open the. Vote you please close the vote the motion passes 5 to one with council member Freeman voting no all right thank you so much and the other item was number seven right okay all right so number 22 GBA 21 at 21 all right we're going to move on the agenda to item number 21 we will hear from our staff report thank you Mary Williams M Pro Middleton and honorable council members good evening I'm Andy Lester the planning department and I'm happy to be here with you tonight before I begin staff would.
Like to State for the record that all planning department items have been advertised and noticed in accordance with state and local law and affidavit saal noticed his own file with the planning department this case sagebrook z22 0019 bdg 220013 was heard at the October 2nd 2023 city council meeting and referred back to staff so the applicant could perform additional res search and make any changes to the proposed proposal for the council to consider this included researching the one foot strip of land's ownership providing ownership documentation and providing comments such as income restricted units and additional during Public Schools contribution of $60,000 as such the council should reopen the public hearing before a council consideration thank you staff and the applicant are available for any questions thank you very much you've heard the staff report colleagues are there any questions for staff at this time all right this is a public hearing I will now consider this matter open are you the applicant yes thank you Randy Herman attorney from the law firm of Ballard Folk.
Thank you Randy what I'm going to need is for you to fill out a card so we'll be able to have it for the record but you can do it after you finish your comments well if I made the applicant would like to request that the matter be continued to the February 19th hearing we are working on having conversations with some of the stakeholders on this matter and because of the holiday schedule we weren't able to get in touch with everybody that we wanted to so we're requesting a bit of additional time before it comes to hearing colleagues what is your preference staff has indicated that they're okay with that date all right all right the hearing will remain open until February 19 the 19th yep all right thank you Mr Herman thank you Council you can fill out that card for me still all right next item here item number 22 and we will receive the staff report thank you this is case 58 to South Miami Boulevard multif family z22 0061 b bdg.
23008 honorable council members this case was initially heard at the December 4th 2023 city council meeting the City Council opened the public hearing and heard the report from staff and the applicant the applicant requested a continuance to work through the impacts of the phase grading and tree preservation Amendment the public hearing is still open and the item is before the council for consideration thank you and staff and the applicant are available for any questions thank you yeah so this this hearing has already been declared open so this is a theend of its continuation how much time do you I'm sorry sta Council are there any questions for staff all right as stated the hearing is open how much time do you think you need only a minute not to be repetitive but we are also reques in a continuance this evening so if if I may we as we had stated on December 4th we were working through all of the potential revisions that were needed due to the.
New standards under the Udo for phasing grading and tree coverage we are still working through those due to the holiday we were trying to meet with staff in order to confirm some elements and potential revisions to the development plan and we were not able to do so we do have a meeting scheduled with staff for next week week so that is why we are asking for continuance so we can meet with staff finalize the development plan and present the case to you tonight or on the date to be determined our understanding is that date would be March 4th March 4 right staff we have director of planning Sarah Young good evening we can actually also accommodate this case on February 19th if that works for everyone whatever the council and staff prefer we are okay with Council your preference good all right the earlier date the earlier date yes all right we will see you on February 19th thank you thank you moving on Long.
Here all right the next item before us is item number 23 and we'll now receive the staff report thank you mayor east club Gateway each 2262 bdg 2231 a request for utility extension agreement voluntary annexation an initial zoning map change has been received from Katie Hamilton of Gander development for seven properties of land totaling.
13.96% expansion of the primary corporate limits the applicant intends to connect City Water and Sewer to the proposed commercial development the current zoning is residential Rural and Commercial neighborhood for the initial City Zoning of the site if annexation is approved the applicant proposes to change this designation to commercial General with a textual development plan to allow at least three uses permitted under the commercial General zoning District the following uses would be prohibited group living uses host Hospital cemeteries mums colaria Memorial Garden electronic aiming operations firing range nightclubber bar paintball payday lenders Veterinary Clinic Animal Hospital kennel firing range nightclub bar paintball or lost my train thought vehicle Sals Leasing and rentals and vehicle service this request KC 2262 received a recommendation of approval from the planet Planning Commission on August 8 2023 by a vote of 7 to to five the properties are currently designated Transit opportunity area on the future Place type map the proposed CDD zoning is consistent with the designated future Place type thank you staff and the applicant are.
Available for any questions thank you very much you've heard the staff report I will now declare this public hearing open but first will acknowledge any questions by Council I do have one question for staff M Andrew could you clarify so in the as you mentioned the Planning Commission has voted 75 to approve on August the date in August right August 8th right so we and all we have in our packet is we have comments from the July meeting of the Planning Commission we have no comments from the Planning Commission meeting on on in August let me check that for you okay from theate the date of the Planning Commission meeting okay thank you.
All right. All right so yeah it's open all right how much time do you think you need maybe five minutes all right let's put seven minutes on sorry to ruin the streak everyone I know you want to get out of here but my name is Katie Hamilton I'm here with Gander development located at 2310 South Miami Boulevard thank you mayor Williams mayor Pro Tim Milton and Council and staff for your presentation I wanted to start by introducing gender development we're a Duram based development company that has existed for all of two years now our team consists of two Landscape Architects a Brownfield super fund expert and a civil engineer we receive funding from local investors and have started working on projects across the triangle and we're excited to bring before the council our first text only development plan and Durham and for the property shown in red that is the Southeastern quadrant of the intersection of Club Boulevard and I 85 the site currently sits just outside the city limits and consists of.
Neighborhood commercial and residential rural zoning the boundaries of these zonings as you can see follow neither the existing lot lines nor the existing Duke Energy transmission line easement that bisects the site so we'd like to rezone to have consistent zoning throughout moreover the RR zoning that currently regulates 6.8 Acres of the site is inconsistent with both the existing future land use map and the proposed Place type Maps which designate the site as a Transit opportunity area so we believe rezoning and annexation will bring the site into greater Conformity with the TOA Place type isation and moreover we believe that the existing constraints of the site and lands lend themselves more to commercial uses than single family residential we are seeking a General commercial zoning with textual development plan and we've chosen this to pursue this style of zoning as we believe the ordinance requirements related to site layout including buffers and building Heights do not need to be modified and that all commitments above and beyond ordinance requirements can be clearly.
Explained through text commitments as such we provided Tex commitments to pursue prohibit what we consider nuisance uses based either on noise hours of operation typical lighting associated with uses at the same time we're limiting the allowable uses we are committing to a minimum of three uses to be developed on site per discussions with the staff this will help ensure that the property meets the intention of the transit opportunity area of designation and we want to leave flexibility in our zoning so that while three uses are required on site those three uses are permitted to change over time as both transportation and lo land use patterns in the area change following Planning Commission guidance we also added a text commitment to implement a bill to Zone West of the transmission line to better meet the TOA standards while the zoning limits nuisance uses permanently we recognize that construction can also be a nuisance in the interim so as such we have committed to protecting our neighbors that are directly adjacent to our East by.
Installing a 6-ft privacy fence prior to the start of construction on the property we also recognize that while residential uses may not be the highest and best use of this site based on our analysis there remains a need for affordable housing and Durham being as we are removing 7 Acres of a residential rural zoning and we could theoretically have supported 15 houses on that property we are committed to providing $155,000 toward DM's affordable housing fund I wanted to quickly look at the survey to discuss some of the constraints on the site and why we determined General commercial zoning is most appropriate here as you can see the site currently has two access points one of which is on the I85 exit ramp and the other driveway was for the former uphol former upholstery building that has been abandoned following extensive conversations with ncdot the access from I 85s exit ramp will need to be removed and no replacement will be allowed as it's considered a dangerous situation as such we've.
Committed to closing the entran to the site off the ramp until I 85 is widened and with that future ncdot project improvements are made to the intersection we've also committed to placing the future driveway entrance on East Club Boulevard with this limited access point the site's proximity to the interstate and the existing overhead transmission lines and existing ing groundwater contamination as found in our phase one we determined that commercial uses were the highest and best use for the site we believe that the Udo required buffers found in the staff report are for the most part sufficient protection for adjacent properties and where we felt these buffers may be lacking in protections we committed to installing a fence for our adjacent neighbors as I mentioned the environmental constraints on the site have weighed heavily on our decision- making to dat and they will continue to be a leading fact factor in our design approach moving forward from minimizing Wetland and stream impacts to taking a more constructive approach to demolition we have begun our project with.
Sensitivity in mind and will'll continue a sensitive approach as we proceed in developing our plans and while working our way through the permitting with pering authorities including Duke Energy and CDOT in the city we appreciate your consideration and are available for any questions you may have thank you thank you very much. I all right this is a public hearing there are any individuals who would like to speak on this matter you may do so at this time all right I will declare this public hearing closed and bring it back before the council colleagues are there any comments.
Questions. And also I'll acknowledge any staff that may have. Comments okay they. Coming all right so actually this is a response to council member wrist yeah so the case was originally scheduled for the July Planning Commission meeting and was continued to August so we failed to include the August commissioner comments we have them and can share them there are quite a number of them as I'm scrolling through I was going to attempt to read them into the record but I think there's a lot so it's yall's pleasure what you what you'd like me to do can they be emailed to they can can we have them emailed so we can at least look at them yeah this is I'm just can I yeah thank you this is a little bit of a wonky case there was a couple so I want to thank staff because usually their the development plan is a separate attachment and so that's been incorporated into I guess attachment L which is always there but it often we.
Have a development plan so we're able to see the commitments that applicant has made ahead of time and I did not see that it was in the zoning ordinance part so that's that initial list I will say that for the applicant just some of the and you you could potentially get me to a yes but I just have a lot of questions about the case it's a pretty Prime parcel of of real estate and while there's no intention to put housing there it's not been taken out either and so that just leaves some open questions for me so I appreciate the text commitments around the nuisance it seems like a lot of and I would like to see Planning Commission comments to see if there was discussion around any of the other maybe potential concerns but that that's just where I'm at right now is that I'm are are you able to email those to us now all right if would you like to ask your series of questions now or I'm just.
Sharing where I'm at so yeah my I guess my one question is my interpretation is that housing would still be allowed in the CG designation and the applicant hasn't vetoed that in the application so if for whatever reason commercial didn't go they could go and build housing up to whatever they'd be allowed in the CG designation but I just want to make sure that that that I'm interpreting that correctly council member you absolutely correct multif family would still be allowed it would not be a prohibited use listed under the zoning ordinance they're creating with this district and considering the to the applicants Point around Transit opportunity a lot of the goals on our comprehensive plan I just to me there's just a lot of questions still and so at this time I'm leaning no I would love to hear what maybe some of my other colleagues have to say yeah thanks council member Baker I'll Echo some of the concerns raised by councilwoman Kayo this is a Transit opportunity area there's.
Quite a bit of potential development not just on the site but in in adjacent areas to this site so I think that this is really setting a precedence it's not it's not a huge site but it's not a small site either when I was on the Planning Commission I did vote against this so the transit opportunity areas I'm just going to quote from the comprehensive plan they're important for connecting neighborhoods to Transit service Transit Riders to where they need to go without using a car the design of these areas is focused on moving people rather than moving vehicles with infrastructure to support and encourage safe walking biking rolling and riding Transit buildings are located close together with a mix of uses easy access to the street integrated with public green spaces etc etc so my understanding is under the requested zoning the developer could pretty much build a sea of parking with with just a a building I know that they provided the build to Zone essentially adjacent specifically to.
Club Boulevard but to me that's that's not sufficient in achieving the goals of of the comprehensive plan so I I don't think voting against cases is a is a good system I it's not something that I that I take lightly I think good development is good and that when there is a proposal for good development that we should vote for it the existing and Zoning on the site is not consistent with the goals of the comprehensive plan but I also don't see the requested zoning being being consistent with the comprehensive plan so we have a brand new comprehensive plan we've got a place type map it's not consistent with the place type map so in my view you know we should use the plan and I think it's up to us to to elevate our game so those are my comments.
Thank you colleagues would you like to respond so I I suppose in in first response to council member caber's comment on the residential we don't plan on putting residential in there anytime soon but as is noted it is a TOA and so having that flexibility to put a upper story residential in the future once there is actually like transit to support is something we'd like to leave open for in the future so that if in the future it could be redeveloped to support Transit there like a you know if a Transit stop were to come in we would want to have that as an opportunity to have upper story residential even though it's not in our plans today you know we view zonings as a long range approach and so we're not trying to do it based on our uses for today we'd like the flexibility to redevelop in the future and not have to do another development plan in the event that that does become an opportunity which I think lends itself.
To while the comprehensive plan has been redone the udio has not yet been redone and this zoning designation and talking with staff is the closest we could get to the toa's intended designation with today's Udo really when you read the TOA guiding principles the closest zoning designation are those downtown design districts but we can't apply those in a Suburban tier that currently exist so in speaking with staff this zoning designation was the closest we could get to the intent of the TOA as it's mapped so that's how we that's really how we came to this General commercial with a development plan if there were other uses that you wanted us to restrict or if you wanted us to limit it to a certain number of units or something like that we could I will say the ncdot is only allowing us one entrance point so at Max we could have 90 units but we don't intend on building any residential today just because of where we.
Are council member Baker I've got a question for staff based on what we just heard can you explain the limitation that the applicant spoke to on being able to make a commitment to better design standards the applicant has the ability to make commitments regarding design standards they just have not done so in this case thank you Council member cop thank you I I appreciate your point I guess my concern is that we're if we want to to me that's a you know that is an opportunity to start to unravel some not great development plans and I guess what I don't want is strip mall with a lot of parking right right I want something and and you're not showing me that and that's your burden and so at this point that burden hasn't me been met for for the standard that that I need to get to yes so I hear what you're saying about later development plans and that it's a I get the point but that doesn't allay my concern So yeah thank.
You mayor proen thank you Mr Mayor thank you for being with us tell me again how old your operation is when were you found it October of two years go so October of 22 how many how many people are in your operation four and are you local yes okay I I tell what what what are what is the vision of what you want to put there you're thinking about putting there so we've done multiple layouts so some of this will depend on who we can get in we've done one layout with a hotel along the I85 Corridor and then a corner retailer one of the thoughts one with our Corner retail is that it would be like a pizza shop or something like that so people who on their way home would be able to pick up pizza not a drive-thru we don't even have if you if you really get down to the constraints of the site like we literally can't even put a drive-thru in if we're looking at.
It we're squeezing a building up in that top left corner at the in interchange and that would be a flex retail and you know one of the ones we've talked about marketing too was something like a pizza place or something like that that people could come in get food on on their way home and then as it as things progress and we get maybe a Transit stop it could become more of a place that people with Transit ridership could come in stop get dinner and have more of an eaten restaurant I'll I'll tell you I voted for these type of zoning changes for far larger outfits who who who were not local to us whose list of what they were proc including weren't as exhaustive as yours as the list I've seen I'm I'm not concerned about I these anticipatory kind of zoning changes and I'm reading in the the the staff report that this is consistent with the designated future Place type map I know the we just passed a comprehensive plan and I'm.
I'm excited about us keeping Fidelity with it the Udo has not been Rewritten and I've I've said time and time again I you know I I want to be consistent in making decisions that are based upon what the rules are right now as opposed to kind of anticipatory rulings or particularly when it's smaller outfits that are local to us I'm going to take you at your word I'm going to support this resoning I think the Planning Commission got this one right thank you Mr.
Mayor any other comments all right thank you so at this time council member Baker thank you I I agree that that we do need the new Udo we need we need that to be Rewritten as quickly as possible and potentially have an opportunity here for some targeted amendments prior to the the comprehensive rewrite so that we can avoid these kinds of cases in the near future I also think that we can achieve some of the goals in the comprehensive plan particularly in cases like this through commitments being made by by applicants I I don't see those commitments here and I did raise them during the during the Planning Commission meetings and so that's why I'm that's why I'm still a no on this.
One all right did you have any other response or anything else you wanted to add so I guess in response to the concerns of a sea of parking the bill two Zone the reason we only did it on that western side of east club is because the only place we can put the entrance is on the Eastern side so it goes Eastern side is your driveway which we literally have enough room for the driveway then it's the Duke Energy easement which we can't put an entrance in or building and then it's the bill two Zone that applies the constraints here make it where we really can't put parking in front I think I communicated that at Planning Commission we literally cannot because we have to have 100t it's it's a whole constraint thing with the dot so I hear the fears I suppose just in the pragmatics of having laid this site out five different times I can tell you I cannot put parking in the front it does not fit there's not enough.
Room the parking has to be set back further where there's more room and I'd love to say that we were going to put a parking deck or something of that matter in here it doesn't fit either the standard 180 by 360 I think it is I can't really remember the dimensions maybe it's 120 by 180 when we I've tried to lay out apartments and stuff like that that are more of that Transit oriented design that I know everybody wants to see this site is just so constrained in the dimensions we're not going to we're never going to get to that level especially right here but I think we've tried our best knowing the constraints to add conditions and to rezone this and to add commitments that would meet the TOA to the best of our ability in today's.
Udl all right I have one last question for staff yes staff I it appear were two votes taken on this case it appears that Planning Commission folk voted no kind of a a as a punitive measure for not showing then there was a subsequent vote I believe the vote was on the continuance they did not vote twice on the case the first vot in July was yeah so I think some people were perhaps voting no on the continuance based in a punitive way it looked like they voted it looked like the majority carried the no vote though so how did they get another.
Vote we're looking into it hang on okay don't worry Mr Mayor that that that's not pivotal we don't need to we can still you I don't need to wait on a vote for that all right thank you council member Baker all right one one final question here for the staff and our applicant is there a public Street that's cutting through the site oh no there's no room for a public Street no room for a public Street no there literally I'm squeezing in a 24t driveway with a two sidewalks on both sides on that East Side just add between the do wanting the entrance to be as far east and as far away from I 85 as possible and then the Duke Energy restrictions on driveways being in their easements I am squeezing in a 24t driveway with a 26 foot sidewalks thank.
You all right and mayor Pro Tem you do not I think okay they're coming now good lightting yeah so the motion to continue carried 7 to five I will say that sometimes planning Commissioners will write com those comments are separate from the vote and so they can write other things that doesn't necessarily reflect the way they may have voted on something gotcha thank you for that Mr Mayor all right thank you so much at this time if there are this is a public hearing if there are any other comments that would like to be add it please acknowledge at this time if not I will yep I will declare it as public hearing closed which I think I already did right yeah all right so we are to entertain three motions.
Here and the motion one to conduct a public to adopt an ordinance annexing East Club Gateway into the city of Durham effective March 31st 2024 and to authorize the city manager to enter into a utility extension agreement with Gander Development LLC so moved second it's been moved and properly second mayor Madam Clerk can you please open the vote you please close to. Vote Mr Mayor the motion failed it is 4 to2 with Baker cabayo Freeman and wrist voting no thank you so there is no need to continue to the other motions at this time it fails thank you.
Colleagues all right next item is the planning department fees ordinance update.
Sta all right thank you at this time we'll hear from deputy director Smith good evening mayor Williams mayor pend Middleton and council members I'm Grace Smith and assistant director with the planning department Grace can you hear is that better that mic yeah yeah okay thank you I'm a one of the assistant directors with the planning department you may recall that through the omnus 18 udio text Amendment the geographic notice area for mailed notices was expanded from 600t to 1,000 ft for there a few specific applications that would be comprehensive plan map amendments zoning map changes govern ody quasa judicial hearings and statutory development agreements Omnibus 18 was effective just yesterday so happy New Year this particular fee ordinance includes an increase in the current fees for these particular notices to cover the cost of providing notice in the expanded areas the fees associated with the letter notices are paid by the applicants at the time of submittal the fees are calculated on postage costs and letter preparation including staff time.
Cost of the contractor to prepare the notice and mail the notice changes to the fee scheduled require public hearing so that's why we're here tonight and staff is available for questions would like to point out I didn't mention this in the memo but one of the CH one of the fees you'll notice jumped from 104 to 460 and it was discovered when we put together this item that when our fees changed this past July they went they that one should have gone to 230 and in that vast fee ordinance that one was not changed to 230 so we're it's playing some catchup but it's fairly inconsequential because we don't get very many of those applications so thank you thank you so much this item is a public hearing well and this of the public hearing I will open it up at this time declare it open and colleagues do you have any questions for staff all right thank you this is a public hearing if there are any members.
Of the public who would like to have any questions answered or comments made all right thank you I will at this time declare the public hearing closed and it's back before the council and on this item we have one motion that is to approve an ordinance updating planning department fees to cover the cost to provide mailed public notice as required by the Udo so move second it's been moved and seconded mam clerk please open the. Vote please close the vote. The motion passes unanimously thank you very much all right was pulled yep and at this time we'll go back to our pulled item which was number seven contract with families moving forward for Supportive Services and emergency shelter this item was pulled by one second council member fre no she's not sry all right I had Janetta Austin who's left the chambers and I had edua Gabriel I think she may have left as well Mr Mayor just FYI I believe her her main concern was that the doors at.
JFK towers still remain open and so those was were she was just raising yeah thank you for that I and I personally went out there one of the doors are working the the closer door inside is it is malfunctioning and I did speak with the owners of the property it is taken a bit long for the contractor to come in and fix the door but they are are whereare and I've been checking in Daily with the U property management as well as the owners of that property and the residents are concerned about it all right so at this time that well actually I'll personally provide that update and the residents also wanted to make their voices heard on that I personally have been involved with them all right at this time we will entertain a motion to authorize the city manager to execute a contract and approve contract amendments as May needed as may be needed with families moving forward in the amount of $240,000 for a three-year contract term using.
Cdbg funds to support case management services to families in emergency shelter and to further authorize the city manager to ex execute any required amendments during the term of the contract up to the total contract amount so move second it's been moved and properly seconded Madame clerk please open the. Vote please close the vote the motion passes 60 thank you colleagues this concludes our consent agenda the I'm sorry this this concludes our entire agenda give me one moment. Please. Okay thank you and as as we're sitting here you know thinking I May protim you made a comment in the beginning and it it sort of caught me off guard a little bit but I I've been thinking about this as well I did want to respond to you because I I have been getting some of the same messages and you know I think what I can say right now is you know we we all as as I've stated publicly I want to make sure that I honor each Council member's.
Actions taken you know and everybody have their reasons you know we we won't always vote the same on things I I'll just you know encourage everyone to as we are making our decisions to you know just be in concrete you know trenches with why you're making those choices and I what I I don't want to re I don't want to litigate things on our votes amongst one another but what I will say to the public is you know it's important that you know we are paying attention and also being attentive to how things change you know in our community it's important that you are paying attention and it's important that we are you know communicating with you at this time you know regarding the folks who reached out us and just said what do we do now if you do hear gunfire you do have to call 911 you know I and and we will take this matter up in March and I think that that is where we will be.
Able to debate among one another we'll have the data before us I at this time I I encourage each council member to just make sure that we're communicated with the public you know to the to those who are speaking with you and even those who are not and that's what I'll say to my colleagues and that's what I'll say to the public. Do your excuse ABS oh thank you for that and it's on my calendar colleagues I need to request an excuse ABS absence. For January 15th I'm sorry 16th and Janu and January 18th I'll be representing us at the US Conference of Mayors for the first time and I would hope that you all will give me an excused absence here so move second thank you oh y'all said it quick you're trying to get rid of me all right we're just trying to go home early all right all right it's been moved in probably second that you excuse my absence all in favor I'm sorry.
Well do we do it this way yeah could you open the vote pleas oh hand vote good all of thank you guys so much enjoy where I'm going at this time it is 8:08 and thank you for a great meeting we are adjourned of course it is quiet.
Here.