Tonight the City Council will decide whether to allow the Urban Growth Boundary to be violated by annexing to Durham 43 acres of land, competely unattached to any other part of Durham, so that a private land owner can build 81 units outside the UGB. This would set a precedent for dense development in rural north Durham County. Hamlin Road branches off of Old Oxford Road near Falls Lake.
Open letter to Durham City Council:
Say “NO” to Hamlin Reserve.
Developers are seeking annexation of 43 acres of land currently designated as Agricultural Reserve and OUTSIDE the Urban Growth Boundary. The applicant asks that the property be rezoned in order to build 81 single family homes (but the tier would allow duplex, townhouses and rowhouses.) The property is located at 2503 and 2523 Hamlin Road, Durham. It is in the Falls Lake and Jordan Lake watershed district.
The Hamlin Reserve project violates both the UDO and the comprehensive plan. The project would be built outside the UGB and would create a donut hole of Durham.
This council has rejected developments for either or both of these reasons in 2025.
Moriah Ridge was unanimously down voted in February because it was outside the UGB. Even the two most pro-development members, Mayor Williams and Vice Mayor Middleton, voted against Moriah Ridge on the basis that the recently adopted comprehensive plan defined the UGB. No council member wanted to violate public trust by ignoring the boundary.
In addition, in April, a majority of the council rejected another project, Sheffield Farms, because it failed to comply with the UDO regarding traffic mitigation and violated environmental policies such as protecting steep slopes, minimal tree coverage, and Natural Heritage areas.
The developers tout that Hamlin Reserve would be a conservation subdivision. Don’t be fooled by that label. Although the original purposes of the conservation subdivision were laudable, and in 2008 the purposes were made required standards, the conservation subdivision was eviscerated by amendment in late 2023. Shockingly at the behest of the planning department, the language requiring the conservation purposes be honored was eliminated. Conservation subdivision became just another vehicle for dense development serving to maximize developers’ profits.
In this instance, the developer seeks to double, to 81 units, the maximum number of units that would be allowed without annexation. While the report indicates that up to 40 residences could be allowed under current zoning, far fewer would actually be built. Without annexation the number of houses built is limited by perk ability. The streams and topography of this rural area also reduce the number of buildable lots.
Please don’t approve annexing land beyond the UGB. There has to be a limit to the expansion of Durham into our rural areas and the UGB is intended to be that limit. Don’t let north Durham suffer the same fate as southeast Durham.
Please vote “NO” on Hamlin Reserve.
Sincerely,
Katie Ross
Bahama
Save Durham 