The Durham Planning Commission approved two major residential projects and heard concerns about traffic and environmental damage at its July meeting, while voting down a procedural move some commissioners said was inappropriate.
The commission unanimously approved the Shannon at Old Chapel Hill mixed-use development after the applicant spent a month working out stormwater concerns with the neighborhood. The project includes four affordable units—three townhouses and one apartment—that will remain affordable for 30 years, plus a commitment to add an all-way stop at the Shannon and Old Chapel Hill intersection and redirect stormwater runoff away from the Valley neighborhood's overwhelmed systems into a different watershed. Commissioners praised the applicant for delaying the June vote specifically to resolve these issues before seeking approval.
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