Only We Can Save North Durham

City Mice, your County Cousins (who live outside the city limits and can’t vote) sincerely hope you all will vote to change the majority on the Durham City Council. You have today, Friday and Saturday left of early voting. Then, the official election day is Tuesday, November 4th. All polls are open from 6:30 AM…

VOTE EARLY, VOTE OFTEN: That’s the old joke.  Sadly, 80 to 90 percent of registered Durham voters don’t vote early, often, or ever.  Non-voters just coast along, wondering why their neighborhoods are being ruined by unwelcome development, why they are being priced out of their homes, why all the trees are being bulldozed, why construction…

Citizen’s Rebuttal of Caballero/Ritchie OP-ED: Ramsay Ritchie, who is employed in the building industry, and Javiera Caballero, a city council member who has voted for developers in over 95% of the development applications decided by the council co-authored an opinion piece in INDY week, published September 25th.  The title of the OP-ED is “We Can’t…

For those of us who are concerned that Durham is sacrificing its natural environment, its historical neighborhoods, and its very soul, for the benefit of developers serving anonymous, mostly foreign, LLC investment companies, this municipal election is crucial.  Three councilmembers have been fighting an uphill battle to make sure development is responsible and to protect…

Spoiler alert: While the win described here is notable, the real point is the win wouldn’t have happened without a public hearing. The pending UDO revision threatens to upzone Durham to allow greater density up to the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB). Since rezoning is the most common reason public hearings are required, an across the…

A Citizen’s Response on the State of Durham Nothing really has changed since I wrote this after Mayor Leo Williams’ first State of Durham speech. Except, much more has been given to developers. The economy is worse. The environment is worse. Can’t think of anything in Durham that is better. Those of you who can…

They are coming for the North, as predicted. Open letter to Durham’s Planning Commission Developers are seeking to have have 43 acres of land currently designated as Agricultural Reserve and OUTSIDE the Urban Growth Boundary, annexed to the city and rezoned in order to build 81 single family homes (but the tier would allow duplex,…

The story of “Griselda,” part cat, part fish, all fake. As I’ll explain, “Griselda” is an instrument being used by someone to affect upcoming local elections. I think it’s appropriate to warn our local politicians of the skullduggery they may face at the same time I alert community members to beware of fake neighbors and…

In my previous post I shared the questions I submitted to the Durham Planning Department regarding the UDO amendment, passed by the council on April 21st, which nullified tree coverage requirements for developments. Below are my questions and the answers I received. I will analyze the planning department’s answers in a future post. The planners’…

On April 21st the city council unanimously passed a private amendment to the Uniform Development Ordinance, drafted by developer lawyer, Patrick Byker, that allows developers to ignore the UDO’s tree coverage requirements if they proceed via a “statutory development agreement.” A statutory development agreement is a special contract negotiated between the individual developer and the…