The Durham City Council wrapped a seven-hour meeting at 2:22 a.m. Tuesday having approved one housing project and rejected two others that would have added hundreds of homes to the city.
The lone approval was Bella Ridge, a 78-acre site at 3013 Burton Road about six miles from downtown. The land currently holds one home and agricultural use. The council voted 4-3 to annex and rezone the property for up to 300 homes, paired with a $2 million roadway improvement commitment. To secure the votes, the applicant, represented by Raleigh engineering firm McAdams, raised its affordable-housing share from 5% to 8% and added a stormwater plan built for a 100-year storm event. Mayor Leo Williams and council members Javiera Caballero (Ward 2), Matt Kopac (Ward 1), and Carl Rist (Ward 4) voted yes. Council members Nate Baker, Shanetta Burris, and Chelsea Cook voted no. Baker said he could not "in good conscience" support "auto-centric sprawl, car-dependent development on the outskirts of our city."
The Environmental Affairs Board had flagged concerns about sedimentation and degradation of the Panther Creek watershed. Those worries did not stop approval, but they shaped it.
Patterson Hall fared worse. The council voted unanimously against the proposed 180-unit mixed-use project on Patterson Road off two-lane N.C. 98 in southeast Durham. Applicant Tim Sivers of Durham firm Quinty sought to rezone 40 acres for townhomes and 3,000 square feet of commercial space and offered $700,000 in traffic improvements as part of a $1 million community investment. Not enough. Residents said congestion on Patterson Road already slows emergency vehicles. Geraldine Lawson, a 50-year resident of Patterson Road, put it plainly: development in that corridor should happen "in coordination with the city and county governments before we allow a lot of explosive development."
A third project, Morgan Farm, proposed by Raleigh developer M/I Homes, ended in a 5-2 council vote. The Burton Road stormwater plan now heads into construction, and the 300-home Bella Ridge site will move into the development review process.