 Yeah, so Michael may have to okay. I'll worry about thank you Email your schedule so that we could get some footage of you Yes, I will I will send you the footage I will send you the I'm gonna have to put together a schedule Charlie's got a whole mess. I took a picture of it Because he is What what happened what they say? Oh, yeah My prevents are on Okay, the in cruise I need to reschedule One in a while yeah, so Do we have a regular we have something regular set up for this month Is now you've been invited I'm there No Good evening Like to call these this meeting of Durham City Council to order for Monday August the 6th 2018 7 o'clock p.m. And certainly welcome all of you all in attendance and very glad to have you here tonight. I Would like you now to please join me in a moment of silent silent meditation Thank you I'd like to recognize now council member Reese to please lead us in the pledge to the flag. Thank you, mr Mayor appreciate that good evening everyone if you're able to do so and if it's your practice Please rise and join us for the Pledge of Allegiance Thank you very much council member Reese And now madam clerk will you please call the roll mayor shul here mayor pro tem Johnson here council member Alston here Come some member Caballero here comes a member Freeman president comes a member Middleton here and comes a member Reese here Thank you very much madam clerk And now I'm going to introduce the ceremonial items for tonight. We will start with the Breastfeeding Awareness Week proclamation and I'm going to ask council member Caballero if she could do the honors Good evening. I'd like to ask dolly reads just come forward as well Come on up dolly and whoever came with you. Yeah, I don't have their names. I apologize And now I'll read the proclamation Whereas families are a priority in Durham and ensuring they receive community support to develop and sustain healthy lifestyles with help Which helped them to achieve thrive and where as according to the American Academy of Pediatrics America Dietetic Association American College of Obstetrics and gynecology America Academy of Family Physicians World Health Organization and other leading health organizations breast milk is the optimal food for infants and whereas a parents decision to Breastfeed should be supported by their family Workplace community and whereas the mayor's council for women was established to improve the opportunities and quality of life of all women And girls in the city of Durham and whereas by providing a supportive and welcoming environment a breastfeeding friendly community Encourages all families to continue breastfeeding Now therefore I Stephen M. Shul mayor of the city of Durham, North Carolina Do you're hereby proclaim the city of Durham to be a breastfeeding friendly community in Durham and hereby urge All residents and community institutions to support and encourage breastfeeding witness my hand and the corporate seal of the city of Durham North Carolina the sixth day of August 2018 and now if I would first like to thank Love Anderson and the letter league Group of Durham over here for coming forward to the mayor's council for women to ask for this proclamation Just a few years ago. I was a breastfeeding peer counselor and a local WIC department and As becoming part of that position you go through a training with with the lactation consultant before you get the job and little did I know at the time I would be Mentored by a well-known person in the breastfeeding community at Norma Escobar. I Just wanted to briefly read off something that she wrote in light of World Breastfeeding Week She said it's World Breastfeeding Week, and I've been thinking about how breastfeeding and prayer are a lot alike Both are sacred and common activities. Some people only do them in private spaces Others are comfortable in public. Some will follow prescribed routines others go with the flow When done in certain spaces both activities are bound to draw attention and offend There are always someone there is always someone there telling you how you should do it and the world could you certainly use more both Happy World Breastfeeding Week. I thought that was a beautiful sentiment. I don't want to say anything further I would love to pass the mic off to love Thank you. I'm love Anderson I'm a mom here in Durham a local LLH League leader and a serving board member for the North Carolina Breastfeeding Coalition And I would like to thank everyone in Durham for helping us many people don't realize how this saves babies lives I just was able to speak to another mother About her journey through breastfeeding as she struggled not to be able to breastfeed her first to breastfeed her second shortly And to finally be able to master breastfeeding with her third She cried with me as she talked about the death of her first baby to Syds She knows more now and she mourns that she was not able to breastfeed her child Wishing that hoping maybe that that would have made things different It's my dream that every parent in Durham is able to treat to achieve their personal infant nutrition Goals breastfeeding is the first thing we often do as a mother And it's my hope that every woman will be able to do it the way that they want to do it Thank you all very much. We really appreciate you being here. Thank you so much Before we we have one item that's going to be on consent agenda tonight, which is the C-doll revs resolution And we haven't had a chance to read that yet so I am going to ask the mayor pro tem if she would proceed to the microphone and Read this resolution and and that she might ask those present for this resolution to come forward Good evening everyone Could the folks who are here to receive this resolution join me at the podium Resolution of the city of Durham in support of the committee on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women or C-doll Whereas the cities and counties on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women C-doll was originated from the convention on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 18th 1979 became an international treaty as of September 3rd 1981 and has been ratified by 186 UN member nations and Whereas C-doll provides a comprehensive framework for local governments to examine their policies and practices to women and girls and to rectify discrimination based on gender and Whereas although women have made major gains in the struggle for equality in most fields much more needs to be accomplished to fully eradicate discrimination based on gender and Whereas women generally earn less than men in the city of Durham Women and girls are more likely to be victims and survivors of intimate partner violence and women face inequities and comprehensive access to comprehensive healthcare and Whereas C-doll has proven effective in many counties and cities as a mechanism to advance gender equality And whereas more than 30 cities and counties across the nation are engaged with this national campaign including Pittsburgh Washington DC New York Salt Lake City Louisville San Francisco Los Angeles and Durham County and Whereas the Durham Mayor's Council for women can act as an oversight body for gender analysis And will be supported by the Durham City Council in their creation of a report on the status of women and girls and Whereas the Durham City government has an appropriate and legitimate role in affirming the importance of the principles of C-doll and the city of Durham and using them as a guide for public policy and Whereas the city of Durham has a demonstrated commitment to women's rights and full equality Now therefore be it resolved that the city of Durham hereby supports the cities for C-doll initiative and is committed to Eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls to promoting the health and safety of women and girls and to providing equitable access to Educational social economic and cultural opportunities in the city of Durham Thank you very much. I am inspired tonight by passage of C-doll Because I know what does that mean? It is not just a piece of paper that the city council members and the mayor has agreed to pass it The C-doll at the local level has three components C-doll means Women's human right to be implemented at the local level passage of this resolution inspires me because all the elements are already in place in Durham we have advisory board advisory women board council in place that They will conduct gender analysis and they collect data and information with the help of North Carolina Coalition for C-doll members and They provide annual report the city council members So to bring to their attention the challenges that women are facing in Durham And I am sure I am inspired because I am sure about the commitment of our city council members and the mayor and Having the championship of Jillian with us I am sure that all together we can make a difference in Durham And we will improve the situation the status of women having said that we need to Recognize that Durham is one of the most progressive cities in North Carolina But that's why we started to run this project in Durham because Durham community Will be the model for all other cities across North Carolina and even in southern United States we are moving from Durham to Greensboro and to Martin County as a next step because we see all the elements are in place and Gives us assurance that Implementation of CEDA will continue with the support of our city government. Thank you very much to everybody. Thank you very much All right, thank you, and thank you Madam Mayor Pro Tem We are now ready for announcements by members of the council are there any announcements by Councilmember Austin, thank you, mr. Mayor. I wanted to share some exciting news that wallet hub financial management website Recently ranked 150 of the largest cities in the United States based on their operating efficiency their research included cities like Portland, Oregon Austin, Texas Miami, Florida Seattle, Washington And and pleased to share that Durham was ranked seventh Out of those hundred and fifty cities ahead of all the cities. I just mentioned in so many more That alone is impressive. I think it's also additionally impressive Given that according to this ranking Durham has the 12th largest budget per capita of any city on that list So the scope of the work that we that the city Does is big and the expectations are certainly high both inside the city and out But I think that this demonstrates that those expectations in large part are being exceeded And that the work of the city is being done in a truly exceptional way So I just want to congratulate you very much city manager Bonfield and every member of our staff So you're here. Thank you. Thank you member council. Thank you council member Austin any other announcements Any other announcements? I have two very brief ones. One is as you all know a Great friend of the city of Durham Dr.. Fail win Has to weigh recently and I spoke about fail at our at our work session and I just want to say that We all mourn his loss and we will be Honoring him In a bigger way at an upcoming city council meeting probably in early September Along with his wife Peggy, and I just wanted to let folks know that We mourn his loss he was a tremendous leader here in our city and In his last days was working very hard in so many ways to improve life here in the city of Durham We will miss dr. Wynn and we look forward to honoring him Very soon in these chambers I also wanted to welcome tonight a group of Folks that I have just spoken to this evening before the meeting Who are from various countries in North Africa and the Middle East from there? We have Israelis. We have Palestinians We have Lebanese Tunisians Moroccans Jordanians, and I think I missed one or two Algerians, thank you, and I just want to say They They're here there and they are and they work in private sector. They work in various NGOs They work in government. They're here for a program at Duke University where there will be for several weeks and then go I believe to Washington, DC for several more weeks to study government and civil society in our country and we're very glad to have you and Welcome you to our council chambers We know that you won't be able to stay the entire meeting so we'll leave whenever it gets boring But but we're very very very glad to have you Any further announcements? All right, then we'll move to prior priority items. Mr. Manager any priority. Thank you, Mr. Mayor Good evening everyone and welcome back No priority items from the city manager's office evening. Thank you so much. Mr. City attorney Thank you, Mr. Mayor on agenda item number 27 zoning map change rolling Dale Based on the conversation that we had at our last council meeting before the break I did have a conversation with the county attorney Which I will share the upshot of that with you when we get to that item. Thank you very much Do we need emotional now? I do not all right Mr. Attorney happy birthday. Yes 29 I'm pleased that the guest from Algeria came all the way to celebrate that with me. So thank you for coming Madam clerk any prior yet priority items evening mayor and council no items. Thank you very much Alrighty, we will now move to the consent agenda The next order of business is the consent agenda and all items on the consent agenda will be approved by a single vote Unless an item is removed by a council member or a member of the public for separate consideration at the end of the meeting tonight I'm now going to read each the consent agenda items Let me just look here for a second. I do have some speakers on Okay All right for the consent agenda item 1 Durham Board of Adjustment appointments Item 2 through 5 can be found on the general business agenda Item 6 the Durham homeless services advisory committee appointment item 7 the city County ICMA local government management fellow interlocal agreement Item 8 resolution of the city of Durham in support of the committee on the elimination of discrimination against women or CDaw Item 9 pre-development grant agreement with a housing authority for DHA downtown and neighborhood planning Item 10 we are going to pull we have a speaker Contract for neighborhood bicycle routes designed TIP number C 56051 we're pulling that for consideration at the end of the meeting item 11 FY 2019 agreement with North Carolina State University for the development enhancement and maintenance of the triangle regional model Item 12 Durham Beltline EB 5904 supplemental The municipal agreement mr. Mayor Yes, and we have we have speakers on that Item 14 May 2008 so we'll be pulling item 12 item 14 May 2018 bid report item 15 June 2018 bid report item 16 Constructing contract with Ruston paving company ink for asphalt paving at multiple park sites Item 17 proposed sale of foundation encroachment easements Durham ID P1 owner to LLC Item 18 algal flowway site selection and preliminary design project and presentation Item 19 contract amendment number one with MA engineering consultants ink for utility locate tax services Item 20 utility extension game with a miracle League of the triangle ink to serve Miracle League in American tobacco Item 21 munis software annual soft support and lights agreement for 2019 And 23 to 28 these items can be found on the general business agenda public hearings and item 33 This item can be found on the general business agenda public hearings You have heard the consent agenda And I will accept a motion to approve the agenda with the exception of items 10 and 12 Second moved and seconded that we approve the percentage Adam madam clerk. Will you please open the vote? Close the vote council the motion is passed seven zero. Thank you very much We will now move to the general business agenda Item two participatory participatory budgeting steering committee appointments Let me just explain that as my colleagues and the administration are aware at the Work session two of our members were away and at National League of Cities and Those of us who were there voted for the participatory budgeting committee And it's our tradition that if people get a majority of the council at the work session to put those Put the members who have been approved on any appointment just on the consent agenda for this meeting Because we know they already have an majority of the of the body we However subsequent to that meeting are two members who were at the National League of City council members Freeman and Middleton We're able to also cast their votes and It turned out that we now have filled the 15 spots that we are that we have allotted for this committee five from each of the three wards and and I Would say by good fortune or amazing intelligence on the part of this group, and I think I'll go with the ladder We have filled the 15 positions Each person getting four votes or more, but we now need to approve that slate the members are listed here on your agenda, but Yeah, and so each of these people has received at least a majority of our of our group And I'm going to ask for a motion that we approve the participatory Be very budget participatory budgeting steering committee appointments. So moved second. It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Any discussion of the approval of these appointments? I just want to Thank you guys for holding the slots open and not going through the whole process without us here So glad to do really appreciate that glad to do it. I'm glad it worked out the way it did It worked out very fortuitous. Yes, it was worried a little bit that we were gonna have a little you and I both Little bureaucratic stuff to do tonight, but we don't which is awesome. No, no piece of cake. Okay Any more discussion? All right If not, we have a motion to to approve these 15 members of the participatory budgeting committee And I'm gonna ask madam clerk to please open the vote He's closed the vote the motion passes seven zero. Thank you very much We'll now move to item five audit services oversight committee appointment. Let me again explain We this was a position that is to be held for someone To serve on our audit services committee who has certain financial expertise We had one applicant and before approving it We wanted to make sure that this applicant was a person who was qualified We asked your main Brewington of audit services department to Ask other members of the committee to look at this person's qualifications and they felt good about this person's qualifications And that was something we wanted to do before approval tonight. So given the Given that vetting by the members of the audit services committee I will now ask for a motion to approve Disappointment some move second Any discussion? If not madam clerk, will you please open the vote? close the vote The motion passes seven zero. Thank you very much now We're gonna move to our general business agenda public hearings and we will start with item 23 the resolution of proving The issuance of public finance. Thank you authority of its education revenue bonds Excelsior classical Academy series 2018 and we will now hear the report from the administration Good evening mayor members of city council David Boyd finance director This is a public hearing being held pursuant to the federal tax equity and fiscal responsibility act To consider a resolution approving the issuance of tactics and bonds by the public finance authority of the state of Wisconsin for the benefit of Excelsior classical Academy in an amount not to exceed 20 million dollars The bonds do not constitute a debt of the city of Durham nor does the city have any obligation to repay any of the bonds The council is hearing this item as a federal requirement for them to access the tax exempt market in order to achieve a lower cost of funds Details of the item have been provided to you previously But staff and members representatives of the school are here to answer any questions that you might have Thank you very much. Mr. Boyd You have heard the report of staff. Are there any questions about members of the council at this time for our staff? I do have one. I know that in the past Some of this bond financing has gone to the county commission for their approval rather than council Is there a reason that it came to us rather than the county commission? Yes, there is mr. Mayor within the past year the county has Adopted a policy that any of these hearings for For projects that are located within the city limits They are asking that the city council hear those while as any projects that would be located in the county They will hear thank you very much any other questions for staff at this time Is I'm just one question. Is this only going through the finance department or is there other staff involved in this? the the finance department and the city attorney's office were involved in in Putting the agenda item together Thank you, I Don't believe I've opened this public hearing. We've heard the report from staff. I'm now going to declare this public hearing open And let's see see if there any speakers I do not see anyone has signed up to speak on this item Is there anyone who would like to speak on this item that we may have questions for Members of the school community who are here tonight, but is there anyone who would like to speak on this item prior to that? Okay Seeing none. I'm going to ask council members if you have any questions or comments that you would like to make at this time So we have a question for staff Can you tell me a little bit about how these Bonds work to the extent that you know I thought I heard you to say that the bonds would be issued in the state of Wisconsin and then Something about a market. Can you help me understand that? Actually, it may be easier for the bond council from the school to Give you a little bit of background about how that works Good evening. My name is Mary Nash rusher. I'm a lawyer with McGuire Woods in Raleigh We are a bond council to the school in this transaction These bonds that are being issued are what we call conduit bonds That is you have a governmental issuer who issues the bonds and turns around and lends the proceeds to the school The school is completely responsible for paying the bonds back In this instance the school has elected to use an issue that a nationwide issuer Public finance authority. They are located in Wisconsin, but they issue bonds across the country Rather than using a North Carolina issuer The primary reason to select that issuer is that the North Carolina? Capital city's finance agency, which is the North Carolina issuer has a very strict limit of a 20-year maturity The proceeds of these bonds are being used to acquire the building in which the school is located and then to add on to it Which is a 40-year asset and so in order to get Better use of cash flow the school really wanted a longer maturity and the agency will not permit a maturity beyond 20 years So that was the reason for using a different issuer Record please regardless of whether or not the issuer were in Wisconsin or North Carolina Would a governing body either be at the city council the county commission have to go through the process We're going through right now So if the North Carolina capital facilities finance agency were the issuer The governing body that approves those issues is actually the governor So the public hearing would be held at the agency level and then either the general assembly or the governor would would approve and Typically these goes to the governor So the only reason this is before us is two-fold number one because the borrower The issuer of the bonds is out of state That's right and number two because it's in the city of Durham and at not exclusive of it's not in the county Portion that's not in the city. Yes, sir Can you talk a you may not be Prepared to talk about this, but can you tell me what kind of like what's gonna be what's gonna wire What are they gonna do with the money? I know you you said briefly gonna buy the building and expand it Does that mean that more kids are gonna be going to the school? I don't I have representatives from the school who can talk about the charter and how many students the charter permits but they do have a Charter that permits Expansion of the school and so they're adding they're adding students year by year as they grow But it is all within the charter that was granted by the North Carolina State Board of Education Which is what sets the limit on the number of students Is Nash sure is nash or Russia Russia. I'm sorry miss Russia I think you have reinforcements on that question as well. So would you like to come and I do also answer memories Hi, I am Cynthia good old the executive director of the school What was the question that you just asked? What are y'all gonna do with this money? We are purchasing the building that we have been leasing for the past three years in order to be able to What we've been expanding within the building as we grow our charter start we started off as a K through 4 school and The Charter is for a K 12 school. So we add a grade a year. So we expand each year and We have been upfitting the building that someone else owns and increasing the value of the building and So we would rather increase the value of our own building and Be able to expand Our own facility It's also more cost-effective for us to Purchase the building instead of lease it the payment the monthly payment will be smaller and As a charter school we have to pay for our own building unlike district schools And so that comes to about 25% of our budget which means that it's difficult to pay teachers enough So The purpose of trying to have this you know be a 40 year bond instead of Or a 30 year bond instead of 20 years is so that we can have a better cash flow to be able to pay our teachers better But we are not In purchasing this building. We are not expanding beyond what our charter says. We have always we will do that whether or not You know, of course, that's that you're not breaking the law. I appreciate that Well, no, it's not that it's that we are not growing beyond Expectations that have always been there with our charter. Thank you It does not mean we're going to be bigger than we expect it to be Other questions mayor pretend. Thank you, mr. Mayor. I just wanted to have a follow-up question for our city attorney we had Had a brief email exchange about this question and I wanted to follow up with you about There are kind of two remaining points the practical effect of not approving the request and whether that decision is discretionary or if findings of fact are required if you had a Thought or response to those questions. Sure. We did take a look at that question madam mayor for a time I find no authority that requires us to approve this in fact the Check with the bond council. I think there are multiple agencies that that could Approve this it could be done by the county the only reason that it's here is because the county is no longer Accepting them. There's no law that says of the county couldn't do it And I believe the state could do it as well since they're also part of the state and of the county and of the city So there's no requirement That you do it and the the practical effect of that I'm not sure other than it is part of the rules of this process that they get Approval the resolution through An agency that they they are governing agency that they reside in so so one of the three and there may be others I'm not exactly sure That would do that and I'm not aware that you need to make findings of fact. It's just a It's your it's within it appears to be within your discretion. Thank you Any other questions by the mayor project? No, thank you Councilmember Freeman. Yes. I just had a question about the population of the school So you mentioned not expanding your current population. I'm assuming is middle school elementary Currently it's K7 K7. We will eventually be K12. Okay, and Can you can you speak to the breakdown of how that works? Like is it like 20 kids per class or it's 24 students per class. We have four sections per grade and What about your ethnic and racial breakdown? Last year's figures. I know this year. I'm not sure of yet, but we were about I think it was 52 percent white and I'm trying to remember all the figures. We were about 11 percent Latino About 29 percent African-American and We have a I think it's about nine percent mixed Multiracial and Whatever else is left and I just speaking specifically to that breakdown. It's heavily a Caucasian or white school Is there any conversations around racial equity in your school? Yes, and we actually do Specifically our board is very diverse and we are specifically marketing to ethnic diversity and I think actually You know, there are charter schools that are Predominantly white. There are charter schools that are predominantly minority We actually have more of a mix than most schools in this area do My name is Mark Simmons on the chair of the board of the school Just to add a little bit to that we track towards or we have a goal of mimicking the racial breakdown of Durham on the city of Durham and So as she mentioned there are marketing initiatives that we have to reach The pockets of the population within the school that are under represented so that we can try to get that Representation up but a lot of what happens is based on the school being on a lottery system. So we can't control who Apply to the school and it's all done in a blind fashion. It gets accepted by a computer program So it just so happens that the majority of the applicants happen to be Caucasian And we're trying to get those other numbers up into the pool so that they can Distribute throughout the lottery system. Can I also act? I'm sorry, please go ahead a follow-up to that on the On the side of faculty staff With the breakdown might be on that as well I did not realize I would have to have these figures, but We do have Might be able to pull it up on my phone I have reported it to the board before But we we do strive on our board on our faculty On our staff we do strive to have a good ethnic mix and racial mix So if you need me to I can look up the figures Do you want me to do that? All right, hold on Mr. Mayor, I also have a few other questions by council members council member cubietto. I'll wait until okay Are the questions or comments for the bond council or mr. Simmons? I'll just comment about the bond council I'm sure you're very good bond council because my brother was a partner McGuire was for 30 years So I'm sure you're excellent. Thank you Okay, so these are figures from March of 2018 so Sex breakdown 11 males 48 female 0% American Indian 31% African American Sorry 31% African American 2% Asian 60% Caucasian 4% Hispanic or Latino and 4% two or more race categories Thank you, mr. Simmons welcome, mr. Mayor So I'm just trying to cross-represent you said 31% African American some assuming some of those are African-American male teachers and Some of them are African-American female teachers and then I didn't catch the I saw two two and six I think I'm sorry. I wasn't moving as fast as you Was it 2% Asian which represents one one teacher and There's 4% 4% Hispanic or Latino and 4% two or more race categories So you don't have any any teachers that are not of color Sorry 60% Caucasian or white. Thank you Councilmember Freeman any other questions this time a lot Councilmember Caballero and then Councilmember Middleton. Thank you, sir. Out of curiosity. How long has your school been open? This is our fourth year Fourth is that way? Okay, and then do you offer free print transportation? Sorry. Do you have a bus a free print transport? We do have busing and we do have free lunch and we do have uniform assistance Customer Wilson, thank you. Mr. Mayor. Thank you colleagues. I want to firstly self identify as a former member of the Board of Directors of Excelsior a classical a classical Academy The information is already in the public domain, but I before I vote For this resolution. I want to share that I was actually one of the founding members I helped to write the founding documents and when I was approached to be a part of the board The two things I told them that were absolutely non-negotiable was that they had transportation And lunch for their students. It's good to see all of you We're not I'm going to support the resolution and I I This is a tempting. I think time to use this as a foil For the larger philosophical conversation about charter schools And it's a conversation we need to have And I welcome it I went to the public school I was supposed to go to in Brooklyn I did not go to because my mom Charterized another public school and pulled me out of my district. She I don't know how she did it I won't speak too long on it finagled and got me out of my one district to go to another Am I so I understand the the the Passion around this issue. I've sat in so many IEP meetings as a An advocate for students usually young black men with a single mom um And I've gone to a lot of suspension hearings that I've looked at a lot of desperate parents Who while we who are already matriculated and have degrees have debated the philosophical components of charter schools Each year another class is being graduated or promoted many of them can't read So this is a very real issue for a number of people that for many of us that have the luxury of debate There are young people a lot of them who look like me Um, who are who are just moving through the system and parents are desperate To get their kids in the best situation so We're not going to spend any money as a city This is not about granting this school's Charter this school is already functioning. It's already serving our children. There are Bull City children Durham children that are already attending it. Um, I understand the the questions about Charter schools, but for me this issue isn't really about The overall philosophical argument about charter schools, which we need to have absolutely This is about the school that's already open. That's already functioning That has many of our students our and I stress our students Durham young people attending it Who want to do some things for them? I'm voting for this resolution and I urge my colleagues to do the same. Thank you. Thank you councilmember Other comments other questions at this point I have a few Can you um, I've seen the uh The school identified as a team cfa school. Could you comment on what that means? Uh team cfa is a network of charter schools Um, there was a family that donated a lot of money to improve education It is not a cmo We do not give them any money They have given us some grants Um, and it allows us to instead of operating all by ourselves have a network of schools to talk with and To um, you know Try to solve problems with and so on Um, but that's all it is. Yeah I have I know that team cfa and I'm not sure if you'll be able to comment on this, but I'll tell you something that gives me concern is that team cfa lobbied in the legislature for the Innovative school district, which Is your probably wears a statewide school district which Through that the state was going to take over Potentially two of our Durham public schools elementary schools This was very troubling to many of us Myself included that didn't end up happening. But of course they did take over a robson county school and um Which is now managed by team cfa And uh, I am I have a lot of concerns about this Do you have any thoughts about that any comments or any way you would see that related to your school or not? ahead I think it's important to make the distinction that team cfa while they offer support Through these grants and training for the teachers to improve their skills, etc They don't do and they don't have any management power over the school The school is completely controlled by the school board And while there are there is one team cfa representative on the school's board He's in the minority Um, so it's just the important takeaway is that the school controls itself the school is managed on its own and is not influenced or In any other manner controlled by team cfa And and and the school is a local nonprofit board Yes I would just like to add that This is a direction team cfa has taken since we became a team cfa school It was not something we had anything to do with Okay, thank you Any other questions or comments? Councilmember austin just to clarify. Thank you. Um, the team cfa member that's on your board is a full member of the voting member Yes Thank you councilmember caballero Now that there has come to light at least in north carolina What team cfa has been doing in our local community or a local education community? Have you all considered separating yourself from them as a parent organization and finding? and Finding another organization Who's uh, quite frankly whose politics aren't as problematic? um We have a forgivable loan from them at this point if we disassociated we would have to pay that back But in In the first three years we got one each year and uh, this is our fourth year. So the first year will be forgiven in the second in the Fifth year the second year will be forgiven and in sixth year the third will be forgiven, but it would be It would be difficult to have to pay that back So right now we are not considering it For the time being thank you Any more questions or comments mr. Mayor if I might yeah, sure markin and and the member thank you mr. Mayor the members of the cfa The um excelsior a staff will attest to this I had many knock down and drag out fight With the cfa folk oftentimes on issues and politics that had nothing to do with school Many and they're and they're well documented one of the assurances that The threshold of assurances that had to be crossed for me was that the school would be locally controlled And I I remember saying to One of their uh, their officials I said if you want to write us a check And send it to us and let us determine how we run things So be it But if it's not going to be that way then Then we're going to have some issues Again, this this is I want to the scope of our decision tonight Is is this resolution? And I I know as I've said before that this is it's tempting to use this as a foil I think to have the larger conversation about charter schools, which we need to have But I just want to make sure that we're not muddying The issue that is before us tonight Which is this is a school that is open now. It's functioning now It's serving Durham residents and citizens right now And I think that we ought not lose that and and and let's let's have a debate about Schools and and charter schools versus traditional schools. It's interesting Usually in this chamber when issues of education come up this this body is somewhat reticent To get this to take a deep dive on education because it's not within our purview So it's it's it's rather interesting tonight that that we're We're doing precisely what You know what I indicated that I think we're using this as a foil to work out The philosophical debate on charter schools. I don't think this is the appropriate issue Not and I think there are good the arguments and and and there's much merit to the debate on What's being said here tonight, but I think In fairness quite honestly this issue Is is very specific and the scope is determined its scope has been set and I think we should act on the resolution For what it's worth and for what it contains. Thank you, mr. Mayor. Thank you councilmember Any other comments? Any other comes councilmember allston. Thank you. I'll just confess i'm i'm struggling with this um decision But because it's hard to Ignore What I see is a threat that our that charter schools play To the resources and talent and stability of our public school system and it's hard for me to disassociate that issue From this from this item that's before us I I do kind of in light of that help me understand if If this resolution were to not pass And you say weren't able to have these funds accessible to purchase the building and to expand In the ways that you you know ideally want kind of what's planned be like if if you to the extent you can If you aren't able to purchase it with these these funds Do you have one? So at this point the school already actually has an interim loan that it has used to purchase the building It had to do that in order to get the renovations done because the school year started on august the first And so They owned the building They would then have to refinance. That's an interim financing Lining up the permanent financing They would then have to go get a taxable loan to do that which would just cost more and would Would just be more operating dollars going to bricks and mortar and less to resources for running the school Thank you Other comments or questions Mayor pro tem and then council member freeman. Thank you, mr. Mayor. Um I also find this issue very complicated. Um, I As a parent Feel very strongly that Like that I understand why parents in this community Want to pursue the best possible educational outcomes for their children Um, and I as a parent also want to pursue the best possible educational outcomes for my own children But I don't think that we can ignore the larger social impacts of that decision And that we as a body could ignore the larger social impacts of a decision to To support The expansion of a charter school in our community We can't stop the state of north carolina from granting as many charters as they want And we have very recently seen that they've you know chosen to expand the original number of charters from 100 to something in the 170s rather than Rather than acting as labs for for innovation and for exploration I believe that charters are now becoming a mechanism By which public education in our state and in our community is being is being threatened and is being harmed um, and we You know, we can't stop the state from for example setting up an innovative school district that would turn over control of our local schools to A charter board that is run by people who have poured their personal fortunes into expanding charters around the country as well as Pay you know donating to the politicians who vote to expand the charter schools, right? There are a lot of um, there are a lot of political and social implications of this choice And I think that we have an opportunity tonight to actually Do something like we we cannot stop the state of north carolina from doing What they want with regard to the expansion of charter schools, but we have the we have the discretion Not to assist that not to contribute our cities Stamp to that endeavor Um, and given the fact that you know Every student who goes to a charter Is taking resources away from a public system that the majority of our students rely on that the majority of low income And black and brown students rely on and continue to rely on Um, I feel uncomfortable making a decision that I feel directly impacts The viability and the future of Our public system. Thank you Thank you councilmember freeman. Thank you Can I ask a question about who owns the property currently? The school currently owns the property and and who owned it prior to that I'm sorry who owned it prior to you you guys purchasing it. It was a a building originally it was legged in mires national headquarters and um The person that owned it was arnold but when logan who lives in canada And uh, we purchased the building from him I just I I mean I'm Thank you. I want to say that I want to be upfront and saying like My children attend a charter school and I completely disagree with what was stated prior to In regards to funds being taken by charters. I think we all should understand that the situation that's been created Has been created by the way financing happens for our schools And the issue I take specifically in this instance is that there this Charter school has been been bound up on the basis of how our system is set up It's not that the charters fault That they don't have the funds To purchase the building in order to operate the The fact that cfa is feeding off of them does not mean that we should also kick them in the gut And then make sure that they can't operate in the same I mean I find it quite Offensive that we would even consider using this as an opportunity to to pretty much push a charter school out of business For children who are in school I mean there's enough going on with our kids in this in this city Around immigration and then you want to add into it education These are not the ways in which you go about adjusting to the systems You have to take the steps that we need to take to actually address the issues around racism and around systemic and institutional Racism so that we actually hit the issue at the root not Not picking and choosing which Folks are going to be hurt by our rules This is this is not the opportunity to to do anything of the sort It is actually harmful more harmful to put them at risk of taking more money from a cfa Or any other organization that would try and come into this state and put them at risk of of of their board being I mean this is frustrating because I I understand the philosophical arguments and debates as well Around how in which the north carolina state assembly has assigned Funds to schools We would not be sitting here having this conversation if they were the north carolina school of math and science Which is also a charter It is a state charter Is a publicly funded It is operating in the same manner Those funds are also allocated in the same manner and we cannot We cannot sit here and say that just because it's a Celsius year that we're going to do this to one and not the other We have to come up with a way that addresses the system and institution Not the individuals in this case You would be harming the students that attend that school the parents that have decided for their children to attend those schools Approving this funding we don't we don't pay any funding We're not a lot. We're not responsible for any of their funding. The school is This is not this is not a This is not The football that we want to throw like this is not the case I would go to the mat on defending public schools. This is not how you do it thank you councilmember cabillero did you have comment I just was sharing that the school map and science is not a charter school. Okay. Um other comments Mr. Mayor just one there are Durham students attending this school right now Thank you Thank you any other council members council member race sure Thank you, mr. Mayor. I want to thank the folks from excelsior for being here tonight. I want to thank My colleagues for a very spirited conversation about some very complicated issues I think what they what the conversation tonight reveals to me is that The rules have been established To force communities To have these types of very difficult conversations Um, I am the parent of two children in our public schools. Um, I don't want to cast a vote that will Harm their schools their school or any other school in our public system and to the extent that This vote that we're going to take right now authorizes The issuance of bonds that fund the purchase and expansion of this What sounds to be like a fantastic charter school that does so many of the things we wish all charter schools would do in this state And that was partially founded and established by my friend and colleague at the other side of the dais Um, it's going to expand your school more children more Durham children are going to go to your school And more of our tax dollars are going to go to your school because more kids will be going there That's the crux of the problem. We're having is that That the vote that we cast tonight could easily cause Fewer dollars to go to our public school system. I can't do that. I understand Your your school like I said, I wish every charter school in the in the state would do the things you do for your kids I had the same kind of eye on diversity of population of student population of Of staff You know the the meals and the transportation But you know from my perspective I won't cast a vote that would do that and I'm somewhat comforted by the fact that There are lots of other governmental entities that can provide this authorization for you Um, I just don't believe this body should be one of them. Thank you, mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor for my Thank you. I thank my colleague for the acknowledgement. Um, I do just want to push back a little bit on the use of the word causality Um, I don't believe voting for this resolution will cause the school to expand the charter that was issued By the state Is the causal factor that will have they're going to expand anyway. So I I while it might um aid them um, and I and I um I think the point that more money would go to brick and mortar as opposed to Our kids who are going there right now to school is already functioning Um, but I I would take issue with the the the use of the phrase causality I'm suggesting that they will not expand if we don't do it Um, they've already been issued a charter which will allow them to go to k through 12 Um, this is not costing us any money um, this is Being used as a foil In a conversation that we need to have and again, I'm just surprised how much time we've spent on education in a chamber by a body that has almost In a mantra tight way. We have nothing to do with education. It's not our business and now we're we're doing a deep dive. It's clear um that and I would venture to say probably everybody up here agrees um, uh Would come down on the same side of debate with charter schools. I do not think it is appropriate to use this particular issue Um to to to make points or to stake out philosophical claims Um, I just don't think and many of the claims I agree with I just don't think this is appropriate And and I would just again reiterate. This is not causality here, uh, tonight. They're going to expand anyway. Thank you Thank you council member the other council members Mr. Mayor, could I just make a couple points? Yes, please This charter school does pull from 10 counties So it is bringing Dollars per pupil dollars from nine other counties into Durham county Just to make sure that that point is made and the other point is just to remember that the charter schools operate With they use the same per pupil dollars From the state and from the county To provide all the things that you heard and to pay either rent or debt service without any capital dollars so They don't get any capital dollars from either the state or the county they are using Those per pupil dollars have to also cover the Putting the kids in a building so In some ways, it's fewer dollars because there are no capital dollars coming for these children Thank you Other comments or questions comments or questions Would you like to add anything ma'am any other thoughts? I did want to point out one thing You spoke in support of public schools. We are a public school subject to all the rules We have extensive oversight from the state and The money that follows the students to our school belongs with the students not to the district schools And we are educating those students and we are doing a good job In doing that Thank you Council members any more comments or questions All right. Well, let me just say a few things I am also struggling with this and I appreciate my Colleagues and their comments on this been very useful and and I I really feel like nothing is more important in our community than the success of Durham public schools and At the same time, I definitely recognize that their parents who For many different reasons have chosen charters and that The policy which I think has been damaging. I believe all our kids ought to be going to school together The fact that our state has made a policy that is damaging to that Very important goal Has put us in the situation that we're in and I don't fault parents for making that decision To send their kids to charters, but I do think that they're here. What we have is a public policy issue and I think The reason that we're talking about it is it's come to us It's not that we've sought it out. It's come to us because Other reasons that bond council described. It's our and and the staff And so we're forced to deal with it and as we're forced to deal with it We're forced to think about our own educational philosophies and What we believe about this particular public policy My own feelings about charters and Our Durham public school system is that individual charters such as yours which Have a lot of diversity and I'm and I'm sure you're doing a really good job educating your students are You know I congratulate you and I know that you and your your teachers are doing the very best they can to educate the students that you have On the other hand, I do think that we are faced in this state with a situation where that where charters are Making it so that it's much harder for our Durham public schools our public schools in general to operate successfully It is taking parents and families out of Durham public schools who have choices And we need those parents in our school system So I think that's my feeling on the public policy issue then the question becomes And I appreciate mark anthony's councilmember middleton's comments on this is is this the appropriate Place to take that issue up Is it is this uh, is this an appropriate way to address the issue of charters and public schools? And I've really thought about that a lot over the last few days and appreciated these comments today Um, and what I would say is that what we are doing here is we are offering What what we have to offer is a financing tool We are offering this financing tool or would be offering this financing tools tool to A charter school and I think that is an important public policy consideration. Do we want to offer that financing tool? Uh and in my mind, uh, I I don't think that we do Um, especially given the fact that there are other options for the school It may be that the options are a taxable loan understand that that's more expensive It may be and I expect that there are other uh, non-taxable options as well but For me, this is a very close call But I do think that in this case it does past the test in my mind of A uh As as as an actual public policy issue for us and not just something kind of technical And so I feel like I can vote on that basis and I will vote on that basis Other comments I would just like to add that the Public policy around providing a financing tool for a nonprofit on the basis Of what's been laid out Seems like a very good reason to support this charter So if you're stating that You know during public schools is more important than the children who attend those those schools I understand your vote and saying that you wouldn't support But if you're not saying that I don't understand and I'm trying to reconcile Being amongst council members that would put those needs of the children behind The public policy as opposed to addressing the issue Which would be the way that the financing occurs if you have a tool that makes it available for this school to address their Building and operating rather than Using the funds to support the students in their learning I'm struggling with why you would put them in position to not do that I'll just say for myself that what I try to think about is What's best for the most students in the most schools over time? That's that's kind of my test Mr. Mayor Thank you, mr. Mayor Immense immense respect for you and your and your In your comments The public policy issue for me Is serving our children Who are already in school? I because I can't it's not within my purview or power To vote to give 20 million dollars To our traditional public schools because I can't do that I'm not going to not allow um a charter school to um pursue Money because my hands are tied on the other hand um I I personally watched Particularly young black boys the way their face is lit up um When they walked in the hallways of that school and I've personally Listened to to countless testimonies of parents Who were so elated That their children were in this environment So I agree it this is a public policy issue, but the public policy issue for me Are the students the children? That are there now now, you know, they may get to 20 million and they may not pay it back They they I'm free. I'm I'm okay with giving them the opportunity to fail Uh, I am not okay With using this as a foil for my larger political or philosophical views And uh the adults that work in that building are going to be okay That they're going to be fine. They got degrees they can find other jobs my my focus Are the children that are being served by that school right now And if I have an opportunity to put a school and and a public school charter public school in a position Uh to spend more money on kids then more money on Uh brick and mortar while keeping faith with the residents and citizens of derm not committing one penny Of our treasures of our coffers to this effort And can put some people that are dermites that love this city that love our children In a position to help kids that i'm going to do that and I urge my colleagues to do the same Thank you and those are exactly the reasons that I think this is a very close call I appreciate that any other questions any other comments If not, I'm going to declare this public hearing closed in the matters back before the council. Thank you all very much There are here a motion that we uh approve the uh resolution approving the issuance by the public financing authority that would be the Uh approving the issuance by the public finance authority of its education revved of bond series 2018 in an amount not to So moved Is there a second second It's been moved and seconded that we approve this Uh resolution And i'm going to ask madame clerk. Well first of all there's any more discussion If not madame clerk will you please open the vote? Close the vote motion motion fails by a vote of Five to two with councilmember middleton and councilmember freeman voting in the affirmative Thank you very much I will now move to item 24 I want to thank my colleagues for their discussion on that last item. I think that's probably the longest Uh debate we've had in our months together on council and I appreciate both the passion and the ideas that were brought to me We're now going to move to item 24 zoning map change 5123 chin page road And i'm going to ask for a report from the staff Thank you. Jacob Wiggins with the planning department a request for zoning map change has been received from charlie yokely for one Parcel totaling approximately one acre located at 5123 chin page road The subject site is presently designated as industrial on the future land use map But is currently zoned residential rule So yokely is proposing to change this is only designation to industrial light which would align with the current future land use map New development plan was submitted in conjunction with this request So if approved any use is allowed in the il district would be permissible A list of those uses can be found in attachment eight in your packet At the may 8th 2018 hearing the planning commission recommended approval of this item by vote of 11 to 0 And staff determines that the request is consistent with the comprehensive plan And adopted policies and ordinances two motions would be required for this item One on the consistency statement and the second on the zoning ordinance and i'll be happy to answer any questions the council may have Thank you very much. Mr. Wiggins. You all have heard the report from staff I'm going to declare this public hearing open and first i'm going to ask if there are any questions for staff by members of the council any questions We do have one person who has signed up to speak Mr. Charlie yokely Mr. Yokely, would you please come to the podium sir? Is there anyone else who would like to speak on item 24 anyone else that would like to speak on this item? Mr. Yokely welcome. You have three minutes. Yes, sir. I'll keep it brief Just to back up what jacob said it to give your name and i'm sorry. My name is charlie yokely 2905 meridian parkway durham to 7113 Just want to reiterate what mr. Wiggins said this request is In compliance with the comprehensive land use plan Really the goal here the surrounding properties or zone i'll industrial light and in the same ownership The goal here is just to bring this small track into Matching zoning with surrounding properties. There's no intended user at this time It's just a really just a paperwork thing and i'll gladly answer any questions you guys have Thank you. Mr. Yokely for Are there any questions or comments from mr. Yokely? specific Specifically i'm just recognizing that There are hardwoods in this hardwood trees in this area. Are there any plans to preserve them? Are there any plans to what preserve the trees that are aligning this area? When in the event that this property is developed, it'll be in compliance with the durham udo which requires 20 tree save um, so what Is required to be saved will be saved And nothing more well I can't we can't I really can't speak to what additionally may be done because at this time we don't Have an end user or intended use of this property. We have no development plans drawn up or anything like that so so then What would prompt you to Make this request i'm i'm a little confused But the property owner owns a larger piece To the north and east of this small one acre track and they just want to bring It did this small piece of zone rr And they're sort of their surrounding properties own i l so the plan is just to have both of their properties in the same zoning district And what what is the like the pro of that of having both of them in the same zoning districts? In the future to save somebody the stuff of having to rezone this one small piece of land without Having to go through having a planning or development plan at hand, right? Okay. Thank you any more questions or comments if not, I just have a question for staff is this I'm noticing this is becoming more of a norm of where we're getting these future plans for you know a development But they're just being rezone now. Is there anything in in our ordinance that that could actually um Help me to understand exactly where this is happening And how it's happening because i'm i'm concerned that there might be a larger plan and play where we're rezoning And then you know having to change occur and then coming back So you don't have to come back at all to the to declare what your development is Um, there's not anything in the ordinance that would currently prohibit this type of rezoning request And is there anything in our comprehensive plan Um analysis that is occurring right now because i mean i feel like it would fall into place under the equitable development conversation and recognizing that There are multiple Like cases that have come before us that are not sharing a development plan beforehand Yeah, i mean there is for with every rezoning case where you certainly reference a comprehensive plan If you reference attachment five in your packet, you'll see a comprehensive plan consistency analysis With this request and staff did determine that the request submit comprehensive plan and applicable policies and ordinances And just recognizing like there's no Because there's no plan like there's no development plan in place. I don't know What the what the impact will be to our city So that would be covered by the existing regulations in unified development ordinance, which this body has previously adopted So if it's rezoned, they will still have to meet the requirements in the ordinance itself It's just there's not a development plan associated with this particular parcel at this time But switching from rr to il those change Yes, oh, certainly. Yeah, so they'll have you know hiring buffering standards and things like that To protect adjacent uses with the il is it higher for the buffering status than the rr. Okay, ma'am Thank you Thank you councilmember. Any other questions or comments? If not, I'm going to declare this public hearing closed and the matter is back before the council Do I hear a motion to adopt a consistency statement as acquired by ncgs 168 dash 383 move to adopt It's been moved and uh, seconded that we adopt a consistency statement Madam clerk, will you please open the vote? Please close the vote The consistency statement passes seven zero Thank you very much. Is the board not working madam clerk If the voting board not working so that people can see thank you And then the second motion to adopt an ordinance of many the unified development ordinance by taking property out of the residential rural Zoning district and salvaging the same as injustice your life for the subject site Still moved second it's been moved and seconded madam clerk. We please open the vote Close the vote Motion passes seven zero. Thank you very much All right, we'll now move to item 25 boon street closing And we will now hear from staff Or and mayor before we proceed I'd like to note that all planning's items tonight have been noticed In accordance with applicable local and state laws and affidavits are on file with the planning department noting such Thank you. I know when jake comes over there, you have to like really bring that microphone down, don't you? Or just improvise That's right The sunyak Good evening. I'm jamie sunyak with the planning department mark and madison marvelli requests to permanently close A 296 linear foot portion of boon street between ladister street and dixon street The right of way is currently dedicated But has never been built If the request is approved the closed right of way acreage will be added to the adjacent parcels as shown on the plat The request meets applicable ordinances Ordnance requirements and no issues were raised during the reviews Staff recommends the permanent closure of this 296 linear foot portion of boon street Thank you very much You have heard the report from staff I'm going to declare this public hearing open and first i'm going to ask if there are any questions Five members of the council for our staff I have a question Chair pro tem Thank you, mr. Mayor. Um, so I noticed that There's a concrete driveway that was built in this right of way, which is part of the reason For the request for the closure I'm just wondering The circumstances behind that I cannot speak to those circumstances. I'm not sure if the property owner Or the applicant is here and can Yes, sir, would you like to come to the podium? Thank you and introduce yourself. Thank you Good evening. My name is mark Marvelli. I live at 32 17. Lasseter street, which is one of the lots of joining The portion to be closed or requested to be closed And uh, unfortunately council member I I cannot tell you how that driveway got there. I purchased the property last year At the time that I looked at the property the driveway was already there And to anyone traveling down the street on Lasseter or on the opposite side on Dixon It just looks like this Paper street essentially is part of the existing properties So you found out when you bought the house that your driveway was actually Not entirely on your property Yes, that's correct Um, okay. Thank you. Yeah, just kind of wondered how that came to be It is an interesting question. We'll be left with the mystery Thank you Any other questions or comments just a follow-up mr. Mayor? Yes, please so in this instant and or I'm sorry just questions for staff in this instance Who would we go back to on I guess? Approval of this cement driveway Good evening pat young with the planning department uh council member freeman that when this occurs when you see an encroachment like this in a Right away. There was no approval granted So we do have a zoning enforcement program But in public right away unless you catch somebody in the act of installing An improvement like this it's very difficult to pursue enforcement because it's Not it's on public property. So there's really no one to enforce against So this is something we are continually in the lookout for but there's no approval granted for this driveway that's been referred to So is it in planning that that the enforcement would happen? And do you have staff on that? Is there a specific person who does enforcement on that? We do we do have an enforcement staff that looks at these items But but as I alluded to when it's an improvement in a public right of way unless someone Tries to claim ownership or use of the of the improvement such as the case here This is really the only remedy to make the encroachment legal Or the city could assert its rights to Accept the right of way and then remove the encroachment. Those are the only options really I'm trying to think of how you Implement a way so that in the future The owner doesn't have to be the one that lets you know the new owner doesn't have to be the one that lets you know that there's an encroachment And I would love to hear more about that at another time Sure. Thank you. We do have a patrol program. We have identified these in the past But that what's before you tonight is really the available remedy. I just want to be I'm sorry I just want to also note that this is also the case with Uh drainage and other encroachments in public right away that I'm concerned about So it's not just specific to a concrete. It's It's also under the ground as well Thank you very much. Thank you Any other questions or comments? Would anyone else like to be heard on this item? Is there anyone else that would like to be heard on this item? If not, I'm going to declare the public hearing closed and the matter is back before the council There's a motion Would anyone like to move to adopt an order permanently closing a 296 linear foot portion of boon street? It's been moved and seconded that we To adopt this order closing boon street. Adam clerk. Will you please open the vote? Close the vote Motion passes six one with council member freeman voting. No, thank you. Thank you, sir We will now move to item 26 k street closing. We'll now hear from staff Thank you. Jacob wiggins again with the planning department I'm mr. Ronald carpenter has submitted a request to permanently close a 766.81 linear foot portion of k street This portion of k street is currently open and maintained by the city Duke university owns all of the surrounding parcels if closed the right of way will be recombined With the adjacent properties as shown on the attached street closing plat This request meets applicable ordinance requirements and no issues were raised by review agencies during the review of this item Staff recommends the permanent closure of this 766.81 linear foot portion of k street And i'll be happy to answer any questions the council may have Thank you very much. You've heard the report from staff and i'm going to declare this public hearing open And i will first ask you if there are any questions for staff or comments by members of the council Specifically i'm sorry mr. Mayor of question specifically for and similar to the previous case. This is an underground issue Or underground recognizing that there's an easement for the sanitary sewers Once you close off that right away How does access look like By the just a manhole So there's an easement there's going to be an easement along the entire length of that sewer line So even if the street is closed the city by maintaining that easement has access and rights To access that area and operate on that sewer line if need be And you can ensure that they can't build on top of it I can with the same type of enforcement that we were just talking about yeah The only way they could build in that area is if they were to move Move the sewer line or dedicate a new sewer line And remove this one other questions I have a comment that We'll make in a moment, but first is there anyone here who would like to speak on item 26 k street closing Is there anyone here today who would like to speak on item 26? Um Let me just ask you mr. Wiggins we corresponded Today This field has been how long ago did the university purchase the field approximately do you know? I am I apologize. I do not know I know I should I should have asked that when I emailed you today But I would say it's I believe it was I believe patrick you were still city manager. Is that right when it was purchased? I believe so So at least Eight years ago then 10 10 10 years ago then The staff reports says that this is a vacant athletic field And this is not In any way a comment on staff or staff work, but I just need to say How disappointed I am I know no one's here from the university tonight, but I will be sending this message How disappointed I am The duke university has had this field for 10 years And it is it was when it was sold to the university It was in use as an athletic field as a soccer field. I have coached on that field 50 times And it is a center city field Where it's a large center city field that the university purchased from us They they tried to purchase it twice the first time we didn't sell to them. I wasn't on council at that time, but I was a Soccer coach and I came down to advocate against its sale It was subsequently a larger offer was made several years later and it was sold at the university And I know that they have plans to potentially develop there But in the meantime that field has sat there For a decade And now it is not being used when we have a tremendous need for fields especially in the city and I just I'm going to be Sending my comments to the university about that, but I just want to say how How wrong I think that is On the other hand, I'm happy for them to close the street So, um Any more comments not I'm going to declare this public hearing closed the matters back before the council I I would like to make a motion mr. Mayor. Yes, sir. I'd to a move that we adopt an order permanently closing 766.81 linear feet of case street here in the city of Durham second Madam clerk, will you please open the vote close the vote? Motion passes 6-0 with councilmember freeman voting. No, thank you very much We'll now move to item 27 zoning map change rolling dale And we will hear the report from staff Good evening. Jamie Sonnyak with the planning department request for zoning map change has been received From land in lovelace underfoot engineering for two parcels totaling approximately 6.65 acres Located at 602 and 606 west nc 50 54 This matter was introduced at the june 18th 2018 city council The subject site is presently zoned Residential suburban 20 The applicant is requesting a zoning designation of plan development residential 3.94 which is consistent with the low density residential for dwelling units per acre or less designation on the future land use map of the city's comprehensive plan key commitments on the development plan associated with this request include A maximum of 25 townhouse units No townhouse units Buildings shall be located closer than 30 feet to another townhouse building The on-site retaining walls will be tan brown earth toned And will be no greater than 10 feet tall design commitments for garages include use of staggered sods and varied garage door styles Exposed foundations of more than 48 inches will be covered with siding or stone brick veneer Three additional proffers were added subsequent to the june 18th 2018 city council date An addition an additional 10 feet of tree conservation areas along the southern boundary totaling 40 feet An increase in the minimum setback from the southern property line from 60 to 70 feet And wherever silt fencing is proposed as a perimeter sedimentation control measure a double row shall be added instead of a single row The Durham planning commission at their april 10th 2018 meeting recommended approval of the proposed by vote of nine to five Staff determines that this request is consistent with the comprehensive plan and applicable policies and ordinances Two motions are required for this application The first is to adopt a consistency statement and the second is for the zoning ordinance I'll be happy to answer any questions that you have Thank you very much miss sonyak before There resumed the public hearing we had asked the City attorney to have a discussion with county attorney and if you could please report to us on that, uh, mr Attorney certainly, uh, thank you, mr. Mayor I did want to let council know that I have had conversations pursuant to the direction that we had when this meeting was first This public hearing was first opened As it related to a Durham planning commissioner who had voted on the item and was appearing Before you as an attorney for the applicant I have been informed by the county attorney that that particular uh, they have Investigated that and they found no violation of their county ethics policy in that matter Thank you very much mr. Attorney Council members, I I'm going to remind you all that we are now resuming a public hearing that we had Opened before the recess And so I will now declare this public hearing resumed And first ask if there are any questions for staff by members of the council But the city attorney actually So I'm Based on what you're saying. I'm I'm understanding that there is a policy and that There is a county ethics policy and uh, the it's the manager the county manager that that determines whether there is a Violation of the policy and they found no violation of the county ethics policy in this matter. Okay. Thank you Are there questions for staff any questions for staff at this point? Okay, yes councilmember. Um, just real quickly also with the BPAC attachment just the comments that those still stand as well, correct the accommodations there I was not here at the June 18th and feel free All questions welcome So, uh, jamey sunyak with the planning department and I am referring to attachment number nine Um, these these comments, uh, do still stand that is correct. Thank you Thank you. Other questions for this staff at this at this point If not, uh, we have several speakers on this item we have Six people who are signed up as opponents and one person signed up as proponents the proponent Patrick biker And uh, the opponents i'm going to read your names and then, uh, well, I'll let you know, uh Our plan here maria guirlando larry perish ashley adkins jeff brandenburg Erica legum and keith boudreau Uh, are all signed up as opponents. Let me ask Is there anyone else who would like to sign up to speak on this item? Let me just count these. I think there's six So i'm going to, uh, give each side the proponents and the opponents 15 minutes Uh, and we will start with the proponents. Mr. biker Mr. Mayor, could I just briefly on a procedural matter? Of course, I apologize, mr. biker Um, so as I understand it, did we leave the public hearing open last time? Yes, we did And by your remarks tonight, uh, do I take you to be granting folks who may have spoken to the previous public hearing additional time tonight? I did. Yes. Right. I just want to make that clear. Thank you. Thank you for that clarification Yes, this will be in addition to previous uh previous time. Let me just say that before we get started here on this I just want you to know that One of the people who was here, um Who's remains here tonight? Who is remains here tonight, uh, who was one of the people who I spoke to is a This young woman right here who is a is a planner urban planner from the city of nazareth Let me just say that the zone planning and zoning issues that they have in the city of nazareth Are just a little more fraught than the city Are there historic preservation issues to be I think there might be mr. Biker But she wanted to remain afterwards to see how we do it here in durham And we're we're glad that both of you all were able to stay and be here with us tonight Once upon a time, there was a lot of very high quality stick bill construction in the city of nazareth Once upon a time once upon a time Okay, uh, mr. Biker the proponents have 15 minutes Good evening, mayor schul. Mayor pro tem johnson members of the city council. My name is patrick biker I'm with morning star law group. I live at two six one four steward drive I'm here tonight representing in vision homes since the last time this case was before you We've had the opportunity to revise the development plan And I want to touch briefly on the changes we've made first along the southern edge of the site We have increased the width of the tree save area and additional 10 feet from 30 feet to 40 feet In order to keep the same spacing off of the tree save area We also increased the restriction on building placement near the southern property line and that's been increased from 60 feet to 70 feet Finally, we've added a commitment to double the amount of silt fencing required at the time of construction to better control erosion Now looking at the big picture for durham My belief is that the people here tonight who oppose this rezoning generally live in houses built in the 1980s I reference that time period because it is the time frame referred to in the housing development toolkit Released by president obama's administration in 2016 when he put the spotlight on the issue of how cities can support new inclusive housing From the excerpts in this document. I quote Over the past three decades local barriers to housing development have intensified Particularly in the high growth metropolitan areas increasingly increasingly fueling the national economy Researchers examining proxy measures have found that barriers to housing development increased rapidly from 1970 to 1990 And continue to increase through the present day For decades sunbelt cities with more permeable boundaries have enjoyed outsized growth By allowing sprawl to meet their need for housing supply Space constrained cities can achieve similar gains however by building up through infill Most development today goes through a discretionary review process prior to approval such as public hearings or local legislative actions These processes predispose development decisions to become centers of controversy And can add significant cost to the overall development budget due to the delay and uncertainty they engender The trade-offs that developers make to account for these additional costs can result in lost affordability quality or quantity of units developed When new housing development is limited region-wide And particularly precluded in neighborhoods with political capital to implement even stricter local barriers Any new development tends to be disproportionately concentrated in low-income communities of color Causing displacement and concern of concerns with gentrification in those neighborhoods Raising market rents within neighborhoods experiencing rapid changes while failing to reduce housing cost growth region-wide While the housing market recovery Has meant growing home values for existing homeowners Barriers to development concentrate those gains among existing homeowners pushing the cost of ownership out of reach for too many first-time buyers And the availability of quality affordable housing is foundational for every family It determines which jobs they can access which schools or children can attend And how much time they can spend together at the end of a day's commutes Unquote I referred to this document almost two years ago during its owning map change We worked on in north Durham where I found there are some homes that have lost value according to our tax office I do not think there have been comparable losses In residential values in south Durham And so the issues raised in this report from president obama's administration are even more important relative to this case And vision homes recognizes the need for both subsidized affordable housing and market rate affordable housing to serve the missing middle On a project of this size, they are hoping to achieve market rate affordability Which is a vital concern addressed in this report In addition and vision is committed to addressing this affordable affordability issue for our city Having reviewed the affordable housing commitments. The city council has approved On other projects the average commitment is around five hundred dollars per unit And vision will double that amount as we are proffering to make a payment To the affordable housing fund equal to one thousand dollars per unit or twenty five thousand dollars Accordingly for all these reasons we respectfully ask for your approval tonight We reserve the rest of our time for rebuttal and to answer any questions you may have Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Mr. Biker And you have reserved your time. Yes, sir I will now ask i'm going to call the names of the people who have signed up to speak in opposition And if you all could make your way here to the right And uh You will have collectively 15 minutes and so that's something less you can do the math Since there are six of you a little less than three minutes per And uh So i'll i'll call your names and if you could come up in the order in which i call them Ashley Adkins Larry Parrish Maria Guerrillando Keith Boudreau And Erica Legum Ms. Atkins welcome. Thank you Please state your name and address. All right. My name is Ashley Atkins. I live at 15 st. James court in woodcroft And um, I just wanted to start out with the fact that On the developers website these homes are listed as $450,000 each So In my opinion that is not The style home that is going to fit in with the surrounding woodcroft area. Um, you know, I I also have The reason um that I don't want to look out my backyard and look at a wall or a block of townhomes Um, I don't know what the other options are but to me, that's one of the the worst options Um I'd also like to point out there is an online petition And uh, it's called know to the rezone.com. It has almost 300,000 I mean 300 signatures And I wish it had 300,000 that that would have been extremely persuasive. Yes And uh Most of the signatures come from Durham residents The developers Did not approach the neighbors as a whole And you know, I I don't think 10 feet is really going to make a difference Especially when I just saw how much runoff comes on to my property When a rainstorm comes along. Um, I'm not sure if you all saw the the photos of the runoff that occurred So I'd really appreciate you all not approving this development and helping out woodcroft. Thank you so much Thank you. Ms. Atkins If we could now hear from Mr. Larry Parrish, Mr. Parrish Good evening. My name is Larry Parrish and my family is six evident way Which is my understanding is the closest my house will be the closest to The new Buildings that will be built My concern is that we have a son that's wheelchair bound Nonverbal that was hit on highway 54 walking home from work That put him in this condition almost six years ago to be six years august the 15th Um, we and try to Give him about a quality of life. We converted our Deck into a sun room with a lot of light And if you look at the back of our house, you see green trees A lot of nature I know mr. Reese has been as at home and has witnessed that It gives Andy a great deal of satisfaction to go out every day in that house in that room We call it the rehab room because a lot of the rehab takes place there And each day we position him at a different place so he can have a different view And it's really the highlight of his Day every day if you ask him where do you want him to go? Although he cannot speak he will direct you to which room in the house he wants to go And as opposed to going to the room that we have a huge television that he can watch television He would prefer to go to the rehab room Now our concern is that when you come in and build those new condos or whatever You can cut down a tremendous amount of the trees And so just as Ashley said Andy's going to be looking at the back Of a lot of condos and that's our main concern that whatever can be done to Eliminate him having to look whatever barrier can be Established that would be greatly appreciated. I know that there's been mentioned some Alterations have already been concerted The second concern that I have is the traffic on highway 54 My son was hit on fit to four by a car With a driver that had no license We won't go any farther with that, but I don't care how many homes you put there It's going to add traffic to highway 54 recently at 2 a.m. On a sunday morning We had to take Andy to the hospital To get out on highway 54 from Hague the interest into woodcloth We had to wait for four cars To get by so that we could get on highway 54 to go to the university hospital So those are my two concerns. Thank you very much. Thank you, mr. Parish mr. Parish Just want to say that your A loving parent Thank you, and It's very moving to hear you talk about Your son and your family. So thank you. Thank you. We have the best guy on the university. I mean on the planet earth He's the best. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Jeff Brandenburg Oh, sorry. Yeah, go ahead mr. Brandenburg. We'll we'll do it in this order Thanks. My name is Jeff Brandenburg. I live at two Abingdon way There are three points that I'd like to cover first I thank the council and the county authorities for discussing the issue of conflict of interest That appeared in the previous hearing. I understand and accept the finding that there was no violation of the county ethics policy At the same time, it's going to be very difficult to accept that the decision of the planning board was entirely untainted by Events that unfolded afterward this at the meeting where the planning board made this decision There was a spirited defense given of this development And the fact that that spirited defense was followed in fairly short order by hiring as a legal representative Is just Really very hard to accept. Again. I understand though that there's been a finding that there is no conflict there The second point that I wanted to raise is about traffic I understand that the department of transportation has said that the incremental amount of traffic from this development will be very Small compared to the traffic that's already present on 54 However, it does not seem like that simple analysis in terms of percentage increase considers the specific circumstances of this stretch of 54 It is curved and hilly The prevailing speeds are high and we have frequent accidents there where people are Stopped to turn And people come up behind them or where people try to turn and someone else is coming the other way With more traffic coming into this development with a bus stop stopping on 54 at a place where there is a hill Not too much further back. We are concerned that there will be a significantly increased risk A serious traffic accidents there The third point that I wanted to make involves stormwater runoff. We've talked about this at some length Um Again, we understand that specific commitments for how catch ponds and so forth are going to be arranged Won't be produced until it's time for another phase of the development planning But at the same time while this property is zoned for approximately four units per acre one way or another That doesn't automatically make it possible for every acre to support four units These units are going to have to be arranged in such a way To provide room for a catch pond and zoning rules do not really overrule laws of physics or of hydrology You can't have a sloped catch pond We are very concerned about how you're going to build a catch pond that will hold this amount of runoff With safe retaining walls on the very steep slope where the pond will have to reside We would like very much to see A clearer picture of how that's going to work because we're nervous about the idea of a very tall pond with a very tall wall Right across from houses Thank you very much for your time. Thank you very much, mr. Brandenburg And now we'll hear from mario guirlanda Thank you. Um, I had a quick question for the city attorney. Is that all right? Yes, ma'am. Okay. Um, was the state bar asked if this was considered a conflict of interest? Noting that the law firm told us before the case came to the planning commission That they could not represent the neighborhood because they had a conflict Where they told the details So I don't know exactly what was told. Um, as it turns out, this was a county issue So it was the county attorney's office and the county manager. Uh, that actually investigated The matter I was not actually involved in the investigation The communications that we may have forwarded to you relating to us contacting the law firm before the case came to the city planning commission were not Maybe shared I don't recall getting a communication. Um, but um, but I I did not share anything other than The information that I had gleaned from the uh, the beginning of the meeting back in, um, May And the state bar was not Asked I'm not aware and on the matter. I'm not aware that they were okay I we just feel very strongly that there's a clear Conflict of interest and just because it's not illegal doesn't mean it's not unethical I'll be quick because I want to make sure they have enough Time so we know Durham needs housing. We appreciate that you will have that responsibility on your shoulders along with protecting us We're a growing city. We're a beautiful city Because of the large amount of tree canopy the trees and nature that have been protected so far We commend you for that um My family who's from miami visit me yearly For the last 16 years and my nephews this year all three of them 14 13 and 20 Have made a commitment that they want to move to south Durham From miami they want to move to south Durham. These are Very modern boys They love the nature the peace from the everything that Durham is It's not just woodcraft. It's the city as a whole and we feel that By allowing developers who are being um, I don't know how to phrase this nicely So forgive me a big gritty in trying to make as much profit as possible because we do know it's more expensive to build If you don't raise all the trees we're Doing ourselves at this favor. We'll have short-term housing, but we're going to lose All that mobility of people that want to come live here because we grew to love the city I've only been here 16 years. I don't want to ever leave. I love Durham. I lived in capital hill. Didn't quite It's cool, but I like Durham better. It's got more pizzazz. It's got something rally was also a little bit too boring so Yes, allow the developers to build I understand they made a commitment. They bought the land but Hold accountable If they want to make a lot of money go to rally and kill that city Don't come from rally to Durham And make your money of my day-to-day life of our neighborhood. Mr. Parrish His day-to-day life is going to be we can't afford to move We bought our homes 20 years ago when there were a hundred thousand dollars last And from the beginning they've mentioned that their homes will be 400,000 because in the very first meeting of october They cannot afford to build a home in that lot That they have to sell for less than 400 So I don't know what the promises are making here, but hold them accountable Protect our city, please and thank you Thank you, miss garland. Oh, and now we're here from erica legume There would it be okay if I spoke before erica, or does it um, I'm sorry. What's your name? I'm keith budrell. Sorry. I'm sorry I've missed you. I apologize. Yes. Let me just say that you all have four minutes approximately, but yes, of course That's fun. I'll be sorry because I know erica has a lot to say My name is keith budrell. I live in 19 st. James court Neighbors the proposed development We as a community have been in communication about this development proposal behind our homes for almost a year As you know, we've had two planet commission meetings where we voiced our concerns In the first planet commission meeting the developers claimed that they had made proffers with us based on conversations with the residents Commissioner hyman asked us to verify that those had occurred. We confirmed that they had not We had not spoken with the developers about anything in these proffers In the second meeting the developers claimed that they had reached out to community representatives and that no one had objections Again, we had to clear up that misstatement. We had organized that meeting with the developers for two purposes One to share our concerns and two to gather information In fact, because we were misrepresented before we were concerned that it might happen again So I made sure to email all the planning commission so that the intentions were clear about that meeting I'd like to address now the the thing that happened at the most recent meeting Uh, the commissioners had various commissioners had voiced concerns about stormwater traffic and safety And then the commissioner in question that we've brought up. I know I'm not supposed to name names. So I'll just I'll try to keep it anonymous He he was exclusively a voice for the developers. He spoke about five times as long as anyone else He shot down the arguments of two of my fellow community members And he even told an anecdote from his childhood about growing up in a townhome community enjoying trick or treating Really pulling here. Uh, I've emailed you all links to the commission meeting videos I know you're all very busy. But if you had a chance to review them, I'm convinced that you'd be you'd understand my perception That it was almost like he was a motivated salesman. He wasn't uh impartial Commissioner working for the good of our community After he made those statements commissioner turk actually says he's been influenced by what he had to say And he will be in voting in favor of the rezone as a result So this uh, this commissioner in question clearly affected the outcome of the planning commission's decision that you're being advised That he's now that he's immediately after employed by the developers Is just an education for me in the way things happen Um, this has been a news story at least five times in local news herald sun indi week spectrum news because it's a Substantial interest to the city of derm. I believe our neighborhoods concerns were not considered impartially We need to be able to trust the developers who make drastic changes in the land behind our homes are trustworthy Uh, they will do what they say they're going to do that. They have our concerns in mind and based on our experience I don't have faith that this is the case. Thank you for your time. Thank you, mr. Butcher. Uh, miss leica I have a usb with pictures on it. Is it okay to plug it in right here? Yes, it is Is it not? Um Doesn't fit here if there's someone that could help with that, please In the meantime, uh, good evening and thank you for your time Just hold on just please wait The reason that our community Initially questioned this development was because the developers refused to address our concerns about the site Even after a number of planning commissioners agreed That this area is at risk for pollution and flooding of the third four creek watershed The pollution the developers stated that they'd reached out to our community and negotiated with us when they had absolutely not As well, these developers refused to address the concerns expressed by the durham planning commission Here's a list of items that the planning commission wanted addressed Commissioner hyman advised the addition of a return lane on highway 54 to address a more efficient flow of traffic The developers refused commissioner harris recommended a right turn off lane and bus pull off lane The developers refused to consider this Commissioner gibb said that this site needs adequate storm water control measures and the developers refused to provide details Commissioner satterfield expressed concerns with the steep slopes and inevitable runoff She said she'd like to see a widening of the riparian buffer to a hundred feet along this entire northeast to southwest boundary of the property Again, the developers refused Commissioner satterfield also stated that without committing to a bus turn out a bus stop and shelter will simply exacerbate traffic The developers would not address tom miller of the planning commission advised that a right hand westbound highway 54 turn lane at the entrance of the development be added to the plan that the developers refused Miss lagham your 15 minutes is up. Okay. I'm going to add one minute to your time. I appreciate that Thank you. Excuse me, and I'm gonna add one minute to your time. Mr. biker as well Thank you. Commissioner brine was concerned about safety on highway 54 He said we must make infrastructure improvements that improve the safety of the traveling public a westbound right turn lane will do that However, the applicant had no desire to commit to a westbound right turn lane They refused he added that a bus pullover is essential for safety reasons The derm transportation representative agreed and once again the applicant refused Commissioner brine lives in the area. He knows it. His main concerns are environmental He states that while derm has very good stormwater regulations for the finished development The regulations did not seem adequate for the time period during the clearing and the silting Grade was already addressed at this point. The applicant was not willing to provide any more Detailed as to how the environmental disasters would be prevented for this project At the planning commission meeting the commissioner points out that this requested reno zone is out of character with its surroundings Because it's surrounded by low density residential as you can see here And is there any way to use that usb? No, there's not Now Yeah, you have to arrange that ahead of time. So thank you so much. Ms. Legum. Appreciate it Mr. Biker, uh, you have the remainder of your time I'll try to be as brief as I can mayor and members of council just need to uh Address a few points raised by the speakers you just heard Ashley Ike has been a friend of mine for a number of years Of course your parents are good friends, but uh her reference to a 450k 450 thousand dollar selling price That's in relation to the single family. That's the current zoning on this property If it were developed as single family houses on large lots those houses would sell for 450 the townhouse project We wish to build would start in the in the high twos the two to 75 range, which again We believe addresses Some component of the missing middle with market rate affordability. So I want to correct that On the record in regards to runoff in the screen buffer. I do want to Stress that the developer has voluntarily limited the impervious surface to 35 On this site, which is half of what the udl would allow udl allows up to 70 So I believe we are being good stewards of the environment I in regards to mr. Parrish again We have concerned his situation with his son very carefully And we've increased the building setback from his property to at least 70 percent means it would be probably closer to 80 feet If you look at the neighbors on his sides one on one side is 35 feet the other side is 55 feet So the neighbor are being the neighbor in the rear world We're almost twice as far away as his neighbors on the sides In regards to traffic that's addressed thoroughly in your staff report If ncdot or the city of Durham traffic department Had told us to install the right turn lane. We would do it I Advise the council as I advise the board of adjustment. It is not appropriate for lay people to give traffic advice To the city council. It's important to rely upon the experts in the city's transportation department and ncdot And that is addressed thoroughly in your staff report Last I do want to stress that We have doubled the silt fence. So we are going to take extra measures to make sure that During construction the environment is protected. This is an environmentally sound project If these issues that were raised by the issue by by these folks Had significant merit, they'd be in your staff report These issues are all addressed at the site plan issue. We have very thorough comprehensive Stormwater protection standards and we will follow them and we are proud to do that And so if there are any questions, I'll be happy to answer them But in regards to traffic storm water and the environment, we believe this is a great project Oh, and sorry and just one thing just to make sure it's clear on the record The bus stop is a committed element as part of this development plan If if there was any question about that There should not be as as you know, I was chairman of the Durham area transit authority for many years So I look at this issue carefully with every project We'll be happy to answer any questions. Our development team is here from envision and our engineering firm If you have any questions, we'll be happy to answer them But this project complies with our comprehensive plan follows all of our regulations and provides Housing for the missing middle in our belief. That is our belief and we're happy to answer any questions that council may have Thank you. Thank you very much. Mr. Becker Council members, you have heard from the speakers on both sides of the issue. Let me ask first Is there anyone else Here tonight who would like to be heard on this issue? Is there anyone else that would like to be heard on this issue? All right council members questions and comments at this point Mr. Mayor, I have a question else member Middleton for the opponent And I don't know if you have a designated spoke person spokesperson or not. I'd like to ask the opponents First statement, um, our city is growing There are 20 families moving here a day The the I used to live in park ridge off of off of a 54 I was broke. I just got out of duke and uh had a wonderful apartment at park region states some of the best days of my life And I I'd love the trees in that area. I've watched our city grow Those parcels are not going to stay empty forever So I I'm wondering if one of the opponents Tell us what you envision happening there Because I'd like to tell you that Nothing's going to happen and the the area is going to remain as it is forever But I'm wondering if any of the opponents what if you could put something there yourselves. What would you put there? We stated from the beginning. We are not against housing We completely agree with what you're saying But there are questions that have not been answered and that's the problem. So you're familiar with the area Here's the area map that I wanted you to see you can see the area for the reason is surrounded by low density So it is out of character in addition to that This is park ridge here So that is a higher density. This is what happened to park ridge when it rained last week We don't want this this happened at another community next to us After it was said to be sufficiently addressed We need this answered when we asked about the stormwater precautions. They told us don't worry. The engineer will figure it out That's just not good enough So we're not against housing. We just want it done, right? The questions and comments councilmember millton anything else? I do have a question for the staff I guess that'd be appropriate when you absolutely. Thank you And just ask the question, please councilmember. Let's make sure we know which staff can answer it. Sure Um, I'm just curious about something in the staff conclusion This not well guess clause f um development impact assessment And there just seems to be a curious formulation To me There is a decrease of one student generated from the proposed development compared to the current zoning As a result, there will be no payment to during public schools. I'm wondering if it is If it's a decrease of one student The proportional response is not a decrease in payment, but a eradication of it I'm just wondering what what the metric the formula that was used to get uh jamie sonyak with the planning department typically the way that the Prophers have been written is that the payment is for any increase in the number of students From the existing zoning to the proposed That is the way that the language has typically been so in this case there is no gain in school age children So um, so it was determined that the proffer there would be no proffer got you. Thank you Thank you Questions comments councilmembers councilmember freeman um I honestly I probably should have preface this question prior to but I really wanted to To know from all of the Opponents Whether you live up or downstream from this project um, I'm gonna ask One or two of the Opponents who may know the answer to that question in your case to come to the podium if you'd like to answer that question Anybody want to volunteer that? I'm not sure if I could say up or downstream. I'm right across the stream borders between my home and and the development It's different for each of us So I would say there's nobody In our woodcroft community that's um Downstream of this development. I think it's correct to say And the i'm the picture specifically for the flooding I just wanted to know if that was specific like if that was directly near that property or if it was actually in the neighborhood itself If I understand the stream flow correctly the stream progresses between our properties and the one in question and flows on through or past park wood So I believe that that stream I don't know what roads were shown in those photos, but that stream goes under the entrance to park wood So it is likely that that It is likely that more prompt to run off in that stream Would cause quicker rises downstream at park wood again. I don't know what those specific streets were so I'm not sure if They are involved Thank you Thank you. Mr. Beiker if if I could account some member freeman just to amplify that question I think this is responsive to what you were asking in regards to um the houses that are already in woodcroft part of the issue with with uh storm water In relation to those houses is that they were built in what today would be stream buffer areas We did not have stream buffer standards when woodcroft was built in the 80s Accordingly a number of the houses some of the houses of the speakers tonight They're actually built within what our jurisdictional stream buffers today So if they're already built within the additional stream buffers, how was it how was it that you would I'm trying to understand how the water standards would be in place to prevent any flooding in that area or any new development Especially if you're math reading right the offsite the the post construction runoff needs to Match what is currently on site today. What if they're if they're flooding Right, but that's you just match flooding and that makes sense. No, they're they're if they are it's it's flooding from a watershed That's far greater than the six and two thirds acres as before the council tonight in regards to that six and two Thirds acres is the is will be the post construction runoff will not be any more than it is today Given given the way the Durham storm water standards work. Yeah to me again. I'm sorry. I'm missing it The six and two thirds acres that they're showing in that picture As the development site would not add any more water to their current flooding in that woodcroft neighborhood That's correct How is that possible? I'm I live near uh golden bell and the the runoff is always in our streets. I'm concerned Councilmember freeman if I might we have representatives from our storm water Uh division of public works department tonight who could maybe elaborate on that Jennifer buzzin and michael arwin Thank you. Mr. Mr. Young Good evening mayor shul mayor pro tem julian Johnson and city council members on michael erwin from the public works storm water development Were you sectioned and I'm here to answer any of your questions So based on what uh the attorney and the community are saying about the storm water runoff they're in a Stream buffer already and this new development being 6.23. I'm sorry 32 acres 6.62 acres Being masqueraded and developed on would not produce any more water For those houses that are already in the stream buffer We have rules and regulations in place that um limit the two year and ten year Peak flows they would have to detain those on site And we have the option of requiring 100 year peak flow detention be required on site if there are downstream situations that would be negatively impacted by a crease in the 100 year peak flow Such as the culverts underneath that uh the roadway of that existing development And would that culvert be connected to any other like waterway? Like how do you actually alleviate the issue of the flooding so that even though they're going in afterwards with a development plan and Creating a way for water to flow away from them. Is there any way to tie it back into that? What you would have to do is you would have to increase the size of the culverts Underneath that existing roadway in order to pass the additional flows and that would require a detailed engineering analysis to Determine what the size of that culvert needs to be How do we get a detailed analysis of that before this? happens It's a simple hydraulics and hydrology calculation using the rational rscs method To generate peak flow based upon pervious and impervious area existing in the watershed and proposed in the watershed and then Miss booze There isn't any further. Oh jennifer buzzen public works Stormwater development review. There isn't any point in the rezoning process where this analysis is done If the rezoning passes that analysis will be done at the site plan stage. Does that address your question? it does but it presents the The issue that the residents are complaining about is not having an answer Before a developer moves forward and if the reason that we're doing it this way Is just because we've done it in the past and we need to figure out how to address it so that they have the answer beforehand Well, that would that would take a change in all the rules for of the planning process Which is not going to happen for this case. I presume Um, it's certainly something worth considering But the city does have storm or stormwater standards They are applied to every site plan and every site plan has to meet those minimum requirements I'm going to say again that I live in an area where the streets flood based on a new development that was Put in place with the city's stormwater Requirements that is not enough That that could be true. Um, it is true. It's not could be it is. Yeah, Jennifer. Don't argue. Please just let it go Councilmember, I'm going to ask for other questions and comments by the council members I just want to I just want to just um kind of hone in on the the context of how If we're moving forward with These projects and recognizing that which I mean just in the same way we're having a conversation about schools and charters and everything else If we're going to address the issues that the city values Then we need to make sure that we're doing that through our processes And that means making sure that that's citizens that residents in this community have answers to those questions before A developer's coming forward with a plan that that could or could not Present more flooding than they're already received or that they're already having in their community Based on the fact that they were built in the 80s. It's not like it's either side's Problem, it is the city's issue and I'm trying to figure out how we come up with a solution that addresses it on a whole As opposed to this case by case where everyone's arguing back and forth based on whether or not the water will flow in that direction Thank you council members other questions and comments Um, Mr. Mayor council member Alstom just briefly. Thank you. Um, I just want to address the um the ethical situation. Thank you Mr. City Attorney for the update. Um, and I just want to say, you know Everyone who comes before us should be allowed to make a living but I think you know the failure of the applicant's attorney to Um disclose the timeline of your relationship to the applicant in a more timely manner To me triggered an ethical violation Um, and so I planned it up for this rezoning, but you know, I can't do so without Saying that publicly and to just hope that This situation, uh will encourage Your firm and firms like it to Make greater efforts to be more transparent Um to the extent that you're consistent with your attorney-client relationship and privilege Uh to be more transparent when these kinds of situations arise. Um, so I just wanted to say that Thank you council member Alstom Any questions comments to council member Reese? Thank you, mr. Mayor. I want to thank my colleagues for their great remarks I especially want to be mindful Excuse me of commission of council member freeman's Frustration at the current state of the Stormwater protection measures that are enforced in the city um, and I think that's something we all need to be mindful of and Continue to make sure that everything that we are permitted to do as a city to protect our water and to protect Other community downstream communities from the impacts of these kinds of developments. We are doing So I appreciate that. I also Like my colleague council member Alston need to Direct a set of remarks to The applicants former council the planning commissioner who Appeared before us last time as I told him in a meeting earlier today It's my view and the plan the County manager took a different view and that is his job But I can read the code of ethics that the board of county commissioners promulgates for county officials and in that code of ethics Folks in the commissioners position Are required to conduct themselves at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity of the office Of which they for which they serve In my view The fact that the planning commissioner took a job Representing before this body An applicant for whose application he Voted on behalf of in the planning commission Violates that particular portion of the code of ethics. I told him that earlier today I also told him that it was my suspicion that the county would not find a violation and they did not But I think as with council member Alston, I felt like it was Incoming upon me not only to remember the council, but also as an attorney to express that I don't I don't have any opinion on the on the state bar issues that'll that's for other people to worry about Although quite frankly, I will say I don't I don't understand what would be the basis of that violation here With respect to the known conduct of the commissioner in question Turning to the to the substantive issues that are posed by this rezoning. I I had the privilege to go to the neighborhood Several months ago and spend some time with the residents of this neighborhood They impressed me with their understanding of the issues involved their Commitment to a neighborhood that they love in a city that they want to see grow just as all of us do In a responsible manner When I met with them and spoke to them about this particular case The message that I delivered that I don't know whether it was welcome or not um, was that the the question for the city council in When we're facing this rezoning is not between the The conditions on the ground in that piece of property that exists today And the plan presented us to us by developers about what they want to do with it That is not the choice before us the choice is Between what the developer can do by right today without asking the city for a single bit of permission Versus what they're coming with Before us today. That's the choice we have and I might wish we lived in a world Where neighbors could decide When a property has been sold to a developer and a rezoning has been applied for that No, they they'd prefer to have the woods. Um, I'd prefer to have the woods if I were you I absolutely understand that it's gorgeous out there But the fact is these folks own this property and have a right to do things to it And we don't have a right to tell them not to do that. Um, and so Looking at what they're Entitled to do by right and what they're planning to do in this particular rezoning I have to say that the rezoning Is much better than what they could do by right. I know I heard one person say it doesn't see how that's possible Or another person say the the plan proposed by the developers is is one of the worst things they can imagine well, they are Offering and have committed to do a ton of stuff that they don't have to do if this gets rejected and the the 40 feet Tree save buffer Around the edge of this property the additional setback from the tree line for the For the actual construction of the buildings those are not required by the udu. They are there are requirements, but they're not nearly that generous And that's just one area where the developer has tailored their project to Try to accommodate to the extent that they felt They could the concerns of the folks in the neighborhood Now would I have preferred some of the types of buffers that I heard folks advocating for here today? Absolutely But I don't have the authority to force them to do that That's not what this body is empowered to do and it's unfortunate it's frustrating for us sometimes and I understand that The fact that this property exists behind y'all's houses in a state that you like Means that you are Invested in wanting to keep it that way. I totally understand that But the fact is it's not going to stay that way these folks bought it. They're going to do something with it Let's get the benefits we can out of the out of the plan that they've provided to us Which by the way got significantly better since the last time we saw it back in june And that was that was what I explained to the folks that I met with And that's the same reasoning that we were faced with today except when I met with you before The buffers weren't as big And the developer had not offered to add additional Silting intervention during a really critical time in any site development the construction phase Which is a time that many of us have talked about With our planning staff and with other with each other about the fact that that is a time when Developers are not required to have the in place completed Stormwater facility And yet they have the authority under our code to Do a lot of mass grading that can cause a huge amount of erosion And silting in nearby waterways and that's something that the developer has offered to double the silting Barriers Which I think will help But this is by no means a perfect resolution To the desire of the developer to develop at the desire of the folks in the neighborhood To retain what they love about this piece of property, but there is no perfect resolution. There's there's just what we have And for that reason, I'll be voting for the rezoning tonight. Thank you, mr. Mayor Thank you very much council member other council members comments or questions I just want to make a word of caution and to my council members here and colleagues Um In this case particularly when you're moving from rs 20 to pdr There is a difference And recognizing that that is the discretion that we we as a council have On whether or not we want to move forward and making um More of a waterway issue for a community or not and that is not by right So the developer could make the this make the decision to come in and propose any zoning that they'd like It does not mean that you have to approve it. It is not a given. There's no Basis for you to just move forward because it's something that they submitted it actually should be Something that you look at and and kind of investigate whether or not it's for the greater benefit of the city I actually uh Don't see the benefit of having this rezoning and I will not be supporting it The existing rs 20 is is fine If the plan development residential for 3.9 40 were I mean I just want to reframe the context to make sure that we're recognizing that this is not by right that you change zoning Thank you council member other comments and questions I have councilmember caballero. I have a quick question for staff What is the Could you ask the question of yeah the tree buffer for just by by right? I know they've they've made the tree buffer much bigger than what they would have to do if they just went in there And I'm just curious what that is The requirement would be 20% Okay, 20 opacity No, oh you're talking about I'm sorry on the southern end. I'm just yeah because they've they've they've made that much bigger Is my understanding and so I'm just trying to wrap my head because I'm hearing two issues Which is one around the water and the other ones around the trees And so if if this is denied the land spot the development the developer can then just go in By our own code and so I'm trying to get my head around what the tree situation would look like Well, if I understand your your question correctly Are you looking for the difference in the tree buffer from the existing zoning to the adjacent? So from the rs 20 to the rs 20, I don't believe there would be a buffer I'm sorry There would be if so if they were building under the current zoning correct, which is the rs 20 Excuse me to the rs 10. There would be no buffer that would be required Thank you Thank you any other questions or comments Anybody else wanting to make any comments on this? I have a comment. I'd like to make I do think that That I think that the the council has been very troubled and I want to associate myself with Self with council member Austin as a council member Reese's comments about the about the process I understand very well Why the neighbors were shocked When you went to the planning commission and then you came to the city council meeting and you saw that The person who'd spoken against this at the or in favor of this at the planning commission was then representing the developer I was shocked as well. And that is why the council Kept this public hearing open rather than acting on it at our last meeting so that we could give thoughtful consideration to the Meaning of that and the extent to which the process was tainted And I know for myself the question was was I able to make a rational and and Unprejudiced decision given the given the situation with the With the process and I felt and I believe the council feels that we are able to make that decision And we also wanted at that time to Deal with that appropriately which turned out to be The fact that this was a county matter and it was turned over to the county so But yes, you know, it was very troubling to me it was it remains troubling and I can very well understand The reasons that the neighborhood thinks that the process was tainted in that way and I believe it was tainted Nevertheless I do believe that the council is prepared to make a decision on the merits I know that I feel prepared to make a decision on the merits notwithstanding What happened with the process And I think the merits are much as uh councilmember reist described That is to say, uh, I I believe that the The uh That the proffers that the developers have made In terms of the 34 impervious surface limiting to that Uh, the the double silt fence the The additional tree buffer offered Are all significant And I think in many ways better than what could be built in terms of the single family homes by right And I also agree with councilmember reist I know that we would all like to and Have a forest behind our homes. I've I went to the neighborhood twice. I went before the last rezoning I mean before the last uh meeting when we discussed it and after that discussion I drove out there and looked and Uh, it is it is wonderful to have that in your backyard But I think that given the choices before us which is by right as a single family development Where uh, there would not be these buffering requirements As opposed to what is being proffered here I think that this is um, this is reasonable um And in many ways preferable So I'll be voting for this as well. Let me just add a couple of small things that I I also want to say that there was this concert the concert about the right west turn Westbound right turn lane I felt that the My concerns about this and whether or not it should be proffered Were answered at the previous meeting and I feel comfortable that this is the right decision given traffic out there and And also the question That if necessary, there will be the bus pullover And I think that is essential and as my understanding is that has been proffered If it is deter if its necessity is determined by our transportation staff Okay, other council members have any comments or questions Mr. Mayor, I do want to say and I appreciate your comments with respect to proffers That they are by their very nature arbitrary and not formulae and just I wanted to harken back to the notion of a decrease in one student Being generated from the pro development compared to current zoning and then the language as a result there will be no payment It implies that there's a formula or an equation Um, whether there's a decrease or not that I just wanted to be clear that the the the developers are free to still make a proffer to uh during public schools Um, notwithstanding the seeming formulaic language and I'm assuming this is the developers language not the staff's Language, so I just want to make it clear. You there's no formula. You guys are free to do that If you want to Thank you did with the other stuff. Thanks Other comments or questions All right, if there are none I'm going to declare that this public hearing is closed and the matter is back before the council the I can get my uh Is there a motion to adopt a consistency statement is acquired by ncgs168-383 Move to adopt Second been moved and seconded to adopt the consistency statement. Madam clerk. Will you please open the vote? Close the vote Motion passes six one with councilmember freeman voting now Thank you very much. Is there a motion to adopt an ordinance amending the udo some of second It's been moved and seconded to adopt an ordinance amending the united unified development ordinances Madam clerk. Will you please open the vote? Close the vote the udo passes by a vote of six one with councilmember freeman voting now. Thank you very much I want to thank you and I want to thank the neighbors that came out tonight I know this is not the outcome that you wanted, but we appreciate your participation and uh Very much that you may very much appreciate you being here. Thank you Did you direct it mean to get the usb key that we I see us be for the pictures somebody took it and we just needed back. Yeah Uh vivian if you can hear us, I believe you have the usb And if you could make your way to the back and make it available to these folks Thank you We're now going to hear item 28 the Durham belt line trail master plan and um Begin by hearing from staff Good evening mayor and council members. My name is dale mckeal. I am I work with the Department And we are here tonight to talk about the Durham outline trail master plan the city received a tiger planning grant few years ago And for the last 18 months we have been working on this master plan With our consultant steward engineering I want to introduce Todd delk with steward who will Begin the presentation to discuss the recommendations of the bell line trail master plan. Thank you very much Thank you dale. Todd delk steward engineering 223 southwest street rally It's been our pleasure and honored to be working on this plan over the last 18 months. Um I've been really excited to put together this master plan um and sort of vision for the Durham belt line I wanted to uh Introduce you to a couple of our staff that are here today to help her present And those include jackie turner Who's a planner in her office and headed up to in public involvement for the? master plan Jake patroski is sort of been our head Lead on the design and planning side of putting together the master plan And also we have a special consultant kofi boon um professor of landscape architecture who helped us out with environmental justice and A crime prevention through environmental design for the project as well We'd also be remiss to not acknowledge the amount of staff time And several of our steering committee members that are here tonight in the audience I've seen throughout the audience as well as the folks that Help participate in the public involvement of the project as well The Durham belt line Is envisioned to be a rail trail in linear park. That'll be 1.7 miles in length And using the abandoned rail line that north or southern has through the western northern part of downtown It connects neighborhoods north of downtown To the downtown itself as well as a number of multimodal Transit hubs downtown both the bus station the amtrak and the future durham orange light rail station The trail provides regional connections To the american tobacco trail as well as the mountain the seas trail and is will actually in the future be part of the east coast greenway Through the city of durham the city has long um Planned this trail along this corridor and several institutes tried to buy this piece of right away from norfolk southern But in 2017 the conservation fund was actually able to acquire this property from norfolk southern And hold it for the city of durham for this future project that y'all have had in your plans for so long The rail line was actually built back in about 1890 by brody duke and was put in place to pretty much bypass the North Carolina railroad company, so he didn't have to pay his fees And work with the scheduling out there When this was built it split apart several communities in north durham And had a number and it was used a lot for the uh warehouse tobacco warehouses and linen Factories that were along the corridor which included pearl mill village And many of the warehouses you see in the western part of durham right now um Norfolk southern purchased this from uh the dukes Back in the early 1900s and the last train ran on it somewhere in the 1980s and 1990s and over the last 10 years It's been Abandoned and basically planned for as a greenway By several different organizations including durham parks and rec and the durham open space trail committee Uh if you go out to the rail line out there today, this is what you see in some of the more Urban settings in downtown that it runs through um Some of the sections have actually been adopted by adjacent landowners Uh and pretty well maintained, but the vast majority of it is fairly well overgrown with weeds ivy and uh different uh Floor all over it Just wanted to give you a brief introduction to the trail. I mean with that I'm gonna let uh jackie come up and give us a little bit more information about the public involvement and uh our visioning In goal setting for this project Thank you very much Thank you. Hi, i'm jackie turner with steward engineering um I do want to um begin with saying that um both my parents were uh born and raised in durham And so i've been uh, though i haven't lived in durham I've been uh coming here for a long time and I was excited to be a part of this project Um at the time I started on this project I actually worked for another firm and then I moved to steward and continued so it's a little bit of background about that um I We we began this project with a public involvement plan that we sat down with staff and then presented to a steering committee That talked about the uh outreach that we would have throughout the project and as Todd mentioned We worked with the steering committee. We held stakeholder meetings and I will Let's see here. It's showing up here on my screen. There we go um So we uh had worked with uh stakeholders and I had several interviews some as groups some with uh as individuals We worked with uh staff. We worked with downtown Um development group to try to figure out who our outreach would be and uh and then began those conversations In also in the early stages. We decided to look at some of other precedent trails Because right from the start we were told that wanted to make this particular trail or linear park Something that would be that could be known Regionally and maybe even nationally wanted it to be of high quality and a real amenity for the city We looked at the design features and amenities and funding funding strategies for the Highline Atlanta belt line And these are just some of them But we actually as a group along with staff in the steering committee took a trip to greensboro That is working on its own downtown green what greenway for some lessons learned The um so we can talk a little bit more about those the details of some of those projects may come up in the rest of the presentation that jake will be doing but we began the process with over um with with a Pop-up events at city of dermi events for instance. We had a booth at the You know river festival at the center arts festival and then we held us a workshop that was well attended And uh fall i think in september of 2017 so between that effort and a survey And the other groups that i mentioned we have reached over 1000 participants in the last Really what has been about a year not even a year in it not quite a year and a half to get input when we realized in uh in october after our initial input that there were groups that we were not yet reaching we also uh held some additional Meetings that were not part of our original plan for instance. We did a presentation At pack four at the jj hinderson housing complex to take our message to To other citizens that that had not necessarily participated The word cloud that you see on the The schedule up on the slide here is from our first survey which was uh in august of 2017 And the largest words are the words that were mentioned Over and over again throughout that particular process The response in the at least in the survey and in the feedback we had uh Almost 200 people attend the first workshop back in september of 2017 Had been has been overwhelmingly positive in terms of having a linear park Because the quarter is not just a narrow like 12 foot wide alignment There's a lot of opportunity To do other things there from the photos that taja showed and so other than the The workshops that we held the additional outreach we had in october We realized as the plan was developed over the winter in the spring that we needed to really Kick up the Outreach and also based on Comments that that we had heard in communities. We felt that had not been involved. So for the second workshop, which was held in june of 2018 we We there were 495 residences To which postcards were mailed And those were located within 500 feet of the belt line itself The announcements we had flyers And as well as the postcards those were sent to six churches that were near the corridor And there were yard signs at six intersections in the area And also posters were placed in 52 businesses and institutions in and around the area So those were some of the efforts to get and so at that june workshop We also had a fairly good turnout and a fairly diverse turnout So a couple of the things is that we have used all of the feedback from the the meetings over the last year and including the workshop this year to Sort of a set of vision for the for the belt line trail master plan and it's up there Well, the you know the vision is to be a vibrant green space connecting communities to the heart of durham the um See here I think that was about all that I was going to talk to you can see that inscribed on the rail there is a quote from lengthston hues Back on the previous slide and then jake's going to talk a little bit about the The efforts and more of the design focus for the project and I'd be happy to answer any other questions regarding Engagement efforts later. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Turner Jake Trotsky with steward engineering So we had the overall vision and As to accompany that we talked about some goals and they were developed to kind of Sound out some of the things we were hearing during the stakeholder interviews in the first survey and first public meeting One was to provide a safe and attractive trail for a variety of users The second incorporate engaging innovative design. That's uniquely durham Um The third improve quality life by increasing access to green space art culture in history In the fourth enhance and preserve communities and ensure equitable access These goals are also accompanied by a number of planning principles And and design principles That further elaborate them and specify some objectives. They're they're meant to be um A capture of the input At the time and they're meant to evolve with the belt line As well. So that's an important point The the trail itself is really traverses three distinct areas. One is the urban section On this slide. It's the the green area That begins kind of in downtown And extends up to trinity avenue This is where There's going to be the most traffic in terms of users. It's envisioned to be Have a separate bicycle zone and pedestrian zone that's actually illustrated in the top right And accommodate high volumes of of pedestrians and bicyclists and joggers and dog walkers and Strollers and and all of the above if we're successful in this We're going to need that separation in order to keep a safe trail for all users The preservation and restoration section From trinity avenue up to about glendale Is where the trail transitions from urban context Into Something a little different on the west side is the south ellaby creek stormwater restoration area And on the right is the historic url mill village So we want to be sensitive of those natural and historic assets through this this area and also look for opportunities for restoration as well, which i'll talk about later The neighborhood section really beginning into the vicinity of Glendale and extended eastward Really changes context again There's adjacent residential development and lower expected volumes in terms of users And the character of a trail can change again there Some precedents that we looked at for the preferred cross section this again This is in the urban urban section and would be built where Right away allows Is the indianapolis cultural trail and the katie trail in dallas and those are pictured on this slide The constraint constrained section, which is Pictured on the top left Would be for road crossings where you want to bring users together and cross the road and say fashion Or where elevation or right away constraints Necessitate a smaller footprint The neighborhood cross section is in that more neighborhood area And it's meant to be a little bit smaller footprint And have a 12 foot greenway and a natural surface path beside it for walking or jogging. That's something that A lot of the feedback we heard wanted to include if at all possible The next few slides i'll provide a bit more detail on the conceptual design of the trail in some key areas This is the southern most section of the trail adjacent to the future light rail station, which is on the left The pink building on your left the railroad track Exists right next to it And then there's an opportunity for urban park Kind of framed by chapel hill street and morgan and then great jones street On on the bottom for this planning purposes the conceptual design was was factoring in a potential two-way conversion of great jones street Just because if Great jones street does not get two-wayed then there's a bigger footprint, but we wanted to see the worst-case scenario there There's also some alternatives for this urban park You know It's it's city-owned land adjacent to the trail. It could be repurposed for a public space It could be home to a new museum of a Durham history building or infill development Whatever you choose, but we are showing it as a as a public space to um to Kind of illustrate the possibilities Presidents for this space include north end park in in boston city garden in st. Louis Or romeer bearden park in charlotte As we move north across fernway We move into what could be the gateway of the innovation district This could be one of the busiest sections of the trail trail we're in development Is likely on both sides of the trail? And we are showing the preservation of some key historic assets in this area One is the railroad gantry that could be either a gateway to the innovation district or if you're passing Southward could be a gateway into downtown The view opens up and you can see downtown skyline there There's also a historic railroad trestle in this section that is currently on private land But we are showing the preservation of that And we would have to work with the city would have to work with landowners on that, but it is a great opportunity Placemaking opportunity and an opportunity to preserve a piece of your railroad pass And also has great views of the evolving skyline of downtown Durham, which would be nice Like so this uh conceptual illustration shows what the trail could look like through the innovation district Um Active uses are recommended for the building edges, especially key intersections with key public roads A threaded path could weave around a preserved section of rail And saving or replanting the tree canopy is recommended here Moving northward across trinity avenue We get to that that preservation and restoration section Connecting people to the south alabaric creek wetland project is a priority here It's very rare that a that a city of your size Has an opportunity to have a wetland park Of of the order that's being contemplated for that within less than a mile of their downtown So that's something that we would like to connect people to This section it also connects to south alabaric creek trail Which is a signed portion of the east coast greenway and trail from main to florida And making that connection is a priority Is in this section as well Lighting on the trail in this area would have to be sensitive to the historic url mill village area And on this area the trail will be on an elevated piece of ground The railroad bed and making sure we have Downward facing Sensitive lighting that doesn't interfere with those residents is important. There's also a lot of opportunity for Environmental art and education along this trail just given the context As the trail crosses washington street, we're recommending a crossing plaza with pavers that slows vehicular traffic for the safety of trail users We're also recommending a crosswalks at dashing and making in order to slow traffic on the approach That's something that a lot of residents were very concerned in this area about Making sure that we not only create a safe trail crossing just to improve the safety of some of these existing crossings where there are barriers right now In this area, you have a lot of properties that are zoned as light industrial And reuse and redevelopment is possible in this area and it's likely not to be industrial So thinking about how we can reduce barriers to missing middle housing types and encourage neighborhood scale affordable housing Is recommended to help activate the trail edge through here and elsewhere where you have that condition and we'll talk a little bit more about that As we move east There's an opportunity to preserve and restore an area around stray horn springs, which is located just west of glendale avenue pedestrian connections between makin street and north street in this area Reconnecting those neighborhoods that were severed 125 years ago as something that we're recommending Continue to move east mangan street as an overpass on the trail This presents You know an opportunity and a concern a concern in that we want to make that a safe place an opportunity in that elsewhere Turning those underpasses into our opportunities has been successful a way to activate those those places City-owned land on rock spare street is envisioned to be a trailhead And the master plan also recommends locating a trailhead with some recreational facilities and programming in the vicinity of avondale drive A lot of participants Lobbied heavily for an access on the avondale drive that is is both a gateway to the trail and a trailhead Additional outreach is recommended in the plan to determine the location and the design of this Trailhead to fulfill neighborhood needs. So There's so many uninsured questions with this master plan, but again, there's a lot of things that needs to be figured out during the design phase Access to open space and parks is a substantial need in downtown and along the northern eastern part of the trail The trail will increase access to open space by 52 Based on a health analysis conducted The eastern end of the trail has higher rates of obesity heart disease and mental health issues than the rest of Durham So this access to to open space will certainly Be in a good location Those lower than average health outcomes also correlate with low incomes that we found in the social equity analysis The master plan also recommends Addressing affordable housing to the degree it can it's a it was raised early in the process and we've worked with Planning staff and department community development to make some recommendations Encouraging infill and affordable housing along the trail strategies build on existing efforts by the city and other organizations to preserve existing affordable units and develop new affordable housing in close in neighborhoods. This is an issue not only in The trail board or also in other parts of close in neighborhoods We looked at crime prevention techniques and built on the analysis done of the att and created crossing plazas That will help define public and private space and also increase the safety of trail users preservation and restoration of the natural communities as a priority it's rare that the city has an opportunity to Accept 17 acres of new green space So close to downtown and in neighborhoods in need of that green space So part of the next steps is is going to go into documenting these communities and enhancing them The cost estimate is broken out into two pieces the belt line proper with trail essentials and also some other related costs and other items 15.1 million for the trail and trail essentials and then Some other costs including parks and bioswales are listed on the right And they could be funded incrementally as grants or private funds as they become available overall funding mix for all components of the trail is shown in the plan And overall the funding mix is targeted to be a combination of local federal state and private funds Opportunities for value capture could be explored to fund priorities that federal funding Is not doesn't qualify things for The overall concept for the the belt line shows amenities and key connections The next steps include purchasing right away and moving into the actual design phase of the project Which will entail additional outreach engagement to customize the design based on the needs of neighborhoods There's two organizational structures that were We looked at For the belt line trail one is a single or multiple agency model that's led by the city of Durham Another is a public private model where there's a partner organization that plays a larger role The task show Shown in the bubbles below the options are simplified and could also include a number of other roles Other than what's shown The potential for public private partnerships is significant and the master plan provides a foundation for building these partnerships portion of the public space improvements along the trail Could be funded privately as in other precedent projects indeed a significant amount of Private funds have been pledged so far for the project And this slide just shows an example of a donor wall from the greensboro downtown greenway And also an example of funding opportunities that are available along the Philadelphia rail park Overall the master plan recommends that the belt line should be part of a greater equity planning initiative In Durham that studies how to improve equitable access to housing transit jobs and open space and close in neighborhoods This type of planning would be beneficial before the belt line is constructed And future public space and transportation improvements such as the great loop proposed by the parks foundation occurs to the east and south of the trail There's this is the beginning of the process for the belt line There's more work to be done for sure. The master plan is meant to be the start of conversations Decisions on commitments and metrics are needed by public and private partners That weren't necessarily in the scope of this master plan, but hopefully this plan will start Start those conversations and move them forward the implementation timeline for the plan is elaborated In the master plan and includes at least three years before the belt line is constructed This provides ample time to address concerns related to housing and equity through implementations of policy recommendations in the plan and equitable development planning efforts And I think that's it. Thank you very much Any other anything else from the staff or consultants at this time? All right. Thank you very much for an excellent report. We appreciate it We now have uh several people who have signed up to speak on this and then we will have comments and questions from the council We have quite a number of people and it's late So i'm going to uh ask people to please speak for two minutes And uh, let me count the number of people 11 people that we have signed up I'm going to call your name and as I call your name if you'll please come over here to the right of the podium And uh in the order in which I call you that would be great John martin Jeff bachal chuck James speed rogers james nishimuta laura stroud jim's farah terry landsdale diane standard christin gorman gen mcduffie andrea muffin hudson Let me just ask Is there anyone else that would like to be heard on this item? Is there anyone else? Okay, if you'd like to be heard on this item you need to go to the table over here And you need to fill out one of the yellow cards Okay, and once you've done that we'll get you in line to speak as well And i'm going to declare this public hearing open and we're going to begin uh, mr. martin you have two minutes Please state your name and address Thank you. Good evening. I'm john martin I live at 401 east trinity avenue in old north durham And i am the president of the old north durham neighborhood association Which its board has endorsed this? Proposal we do support the the plan to go forward The durham belt line is the northern boundary of our whole neighborhood It separates us from the duke park neighborhood and the western part of the Belt line Is just a little ways from the western part of our neighborhood And in putting this out in not just to the board but on the listserv I mean what many of the people in the neighborhood commented about was that they were tired of an overgrown Debris strewn impenetrable Abandon railroad track around the neighborhood and they would like to see something done with it Having said that in support of it I do do want to say that we have um a particularly serious concern When this is put forward it is always shown as going to avondale drive and one of the maps staff showed Showed it going to avondale drive But if you look on page 94 In the master plan It says a gateway and trailhead is envisioned for the trail in the vicinity of avondale drive The exact location of this trailway has to be determined An intermediate trail way trailhead could be located near greenleaf street Now greenleaf street is a one block street in the duke park neighborhood with all due respect A trailhead that ends at greenleaf street a trail that ends there is a trail to nowhere We strongly believe it should go not only all the way to avondale drive It should go under avondale drive and connect our neighborhoods with the commercial area That is across avondale drive that would provide parking for people who wanted to use the trail And it would also provide a means for us to get from our neighborhoods Across thank you. Thank you very much. Mr. Martin. Mr. Bacchal chuck Thank you, mr. Mayor. My name is jeff bacchal chuck I am a former commissioner on the Durham open space and trails commission and a former commissioner on the bicycle and pedestrian advisory commission One point of disclosure. I am employed by measure and a shareholder of measurement incorporated and measurement incorporated owns property That abouts the proposed trail That said trails represent a vital element of our transportation network They provide a safe corridor for people who are disadvantaged economically and cannot afford a vehicle It provides an opportunity for them to bike and walk in a grade separation approach One element of the master plan and I'd like to commend dale mackiel and the department of transportation staff And the staff at steward engineering for doing a wonderful plan One thing that they mentioned in the plan is converting the loop the downtown loop to two-way traffic Two generations ago our civic leaders made what we now generally consider in our community a poor decision to create the loop That has stunted development of downtown It has created an environment downtown where our streets are not as safe as they could be for pedestrians and bike riders We have an opportunity now to rectify that If we don't seize this opportunity now ongoing development downtown adjacent To the loop will preclude the opportunity in the future to have a viable street grid and Do it in an effective way if we fail to do that now future generations will look back at our civic leaders now And regret the decision not to do that in the same way that we regret the decision To install the loop in the first place Thank you. Thank you very much Mr. James speed rogers Mayor schwell mayor pro tem johnson and members of the council. Thank you. I'm speed rogers I live on 1007 drew street just outside of downtown Durham I'm here to speak in favor of the Durham Beltline project. I think it Helps us achieve many of our or move to achieve many of our goals as a city Towards climate justice and transportation alternatives I would like to repeat and affirm The displacement concerns that many community members expressed at a Durham Beltline for all equity event that I was fortunate enough to attend last week There were many concerns about potential impact on the community And I believe those should be taken into consideration when pursuing the project With those concerns in mind, I would like the council to consider Providing some type of up zoning or affordable housing Component to this Beltline proposal to either add units or add affordable units along the Beltline And that's all I've got for you. Thank you so much. Thank you very much, mr rogers I will now hear from James Nishimuta Hey, thank you for this opportunity. My name is James Nishimuta. I live on 16 Sweet Bay Court I'm a board member of bike Durham. We are a nonprofit advocacy organization working for bike friendly changes in Durham We advocate for affordable equitable and safe mobility Car ownership in the u.s. On average costs 8,500 a year And people of color make up the largest share of u.s. Households without access to cars That's 25 of african-americans and 13 of the latino community do not own a car So clearly transportation is equity issue people of color are the largest growing demographic in the cycling community These are typically the people who you know, they don't have access to cars. So bike lane bicycling is Their way to get around they have to bike Um However, 30 African-americans are 30 more 30 percent more likely to be killed than white cyclists They're disproportionately affected by poor bike infrastructure and lower income neighborhoods and lower lower income neighborhoods have have the highest rates of bike and pedestrian accidents So clearly the belt line can serve as a safe and affordable transportation alternative However, the u.s. Has to use a history of disenfranchising people of color from the transportation opportunities and Durham is no exception We didn't we need to make sure that the community is involved in the planning But more importantly that they won't displace the people that could potentially benefit from this the most Thank you. Thank you, mr. Nishimura We'll now hear from laura stroud Good evening council. Thank you for having us. I'm my name is laura stroud. I live at 912 Rose Hill Avenue I am a member of the Durham open space and trails commission commission. I am A parks and recreation planner by trade Um, and I'm a resident of Durham. Um, I'm here tonight in part with the group Durham belt line for everybody I'd like to ask everyone here with them this evening to briefly stand to show the support for the For the cause a lot of us are already in line And I'm here this evening to request that the council pause in their approval of the Durham belt line master plan Now this is a very difficult Moment to pause here on the cusp of a master plan approval And people have been working on this plan for 10 years And we absolutely acknowledge their visionary spirit and the wonderful design plan that stewart has put together But there are many more issues at play here than there were when this plan was envisioned 10 years ago In other communities some of the case studies that the master plan uses such as manhattan the Highline and the the atlanta belt line These projects have caused extreme and immediate gentrification along the trail corridors And we understand that that will be the case in Durham as well Once this plan is approved and to move forward there has yet to be a city A growing city where this type of high profile development has not caused displacement of existing residents Through housing speculation eviction and people priced out of the homes that they've lived in for years There's also yet to be a city that has solved this problem But we know that Durham is special And we're not special because this wouldn't happen here It absolutely would and a lot of these folks will be speaking to the evidence for that But we know that we in Durham can come up with a visionary solution to create Neighborhood stabilization policies in advance of the approval of this master plan Thank you mistral We'll now hear from Jim Svara Good evening. Jim Svara 11 14 woodburn road I am a bicyclist and an advocate for affordable housing I'm here to encourage the council to send the master plan back to the staff For further review and clarification. This project has gotten off track You've heard speakers talk about the importance of a trail that provides new access for biking for hiking But if you go to the project website, there is a very telling statement The Durham Belt Line project has tremendous transformational potential for downtown Durham The transformers have diverted this project With extra amenities that are not Central and have potential gentrifying effects on the area The proposal devotes 10.6 million and tonight we heard 11.3 million dollars to amenities That are not essential to the main purpose These investments could increase the cost of property and housing Around the trail the report states that one of the benefits Of the project is an estimated increase in real estate values of six million dollars The final version of the master plan includes a new section on equity And it proposes to a point an equitable development task force The outline plan should include only the essential elements of a trail Until the work of this task force is completed Still the memo from staff that came along with this item With this item states the park amenities could be built at the outset Or constructed separately as funding becomes available The connections to end Dorothy and those the central Durham need to be clarified and the Kelly Bryant trail integrated better into this plan The master plan should be sent back to staff It should be returned with an implementation plan that focuses on trail essentials On affordable housing on connections to northeast central Durham And on promoting equity Thank you. Thank you, mr. Svara We'll now hear from terry landsdale Hello mayor city council. I come from charlotte north carolina. I am the executive director of bicoat north carolina Almost 20 years ago. I stood in front of a dais in charlotte Advocating for a similar plan for our rail trail system for the charlotte area transit system We're seeing the benefits of that now 20 years later You have an opportunity in front of you to make a generational decision The design standards the design the final designs are not yet formulated But the master plan gives you the framework gives steward and your Staff the framework to do its job and to execute the plan the way you desire it the most beneficial for the community I think there's other opportunities that align this master master plan With your previous durham walks plan with your sustainability plans With your bicycle and pedestrian plans in place Again, this is going to be an opportunity for durham to Shine as a light for north carolina and how we we plan our transportation and actor transportation future And for me and for many many people in north carolina durham's fast becoming a transportation tourism destination The trails the bicycle friendliness the pedestrian friendliness that you're Incorporating into your budgets and your plans Really are a shining star for north carolina. We hope that you continue to do a brilliant work here. Thanks very much Thank you. Mr. Lansdale and thank you for coming all the way up from charlotte to spend your two minutes of time with us here That's a that's a great civic commitment. Thank you Diane standard. I'm sorry. Diane standards next. Yeah, I'm sorry You need to scare you off the podium there Uh, so good evening. My name is diane standard I'm here's chair of the durham human relations commission This evening. I would just like to submit for the official record a report that the human relations commission did on structural racism within the city of durham Which you all have already received And it was approved by the commission in june 2018 I'm just going to read up some excerpts of that report as quickly as I can Uh structural racism is considered to be a system in which public policies institutional practices Cultural representations and other norms work in various often reinforcing ways to perpetuate racial inequity We know that a compounding set of past and present policy decisions at each level of government has contributed to this racial equity But we're particularly interested in how policy decisions by the city of durham Contribute to these disparities one example of durham's influence on racial disparities Is the approval of the destruction of houses and businesses in haytai the construction of north carolina highway 147 Our report looks at racial disparities that persist in durham today across areas of health employment education And other areas, but I just want to highlight two examples this evening housing and businesses We know that home ownership is rooted in a deep history of racial discrimination in the housing market such as redlining restrictive covenants And even explicit exclusion from federal government benefits following the great depression We see those outcomes still today in durham the white home ownership rate is 66 But the black home ownership rate is 41 Further in terms of businesses on october 2014 report showed the city only spent 2.66 Of contracting for minority with with minority owned and women owned firms and specific between 2012 and 2017 Specifically the city awarded only 2 of contracts to black owned firms So we know that um just to speed things up We acknowledge that all disparities have multiple contributing factors in addition to race such as gender economic status sexual orientation But it's undeniable that race is present at every step and must be addressed head on So we encourage our local elected officials to examine Race at the front end of its decision-making processes rather than waiting to react once disparities have manifested And as a standard, thank you very much. And so we encourage you to do so in this process. Thank you Kristen Gorman Hi, honorable councilmen and women and mayor My name is Kristen Gorman. Um, I live at 721 mill spring drive, which is in the crowstall farm neighborhood Um, I am a member of Dost and I'm on the trails Subcommission and I'm here tonight to raise some concerns I have about adopting the master plan for the Durham belt line trail in its current form Um, I love trails. That's why I'm on the trails commission. Um That would be the number one reason However, I'm not the only one that this trail is being built for I'm not paying for it alone After examining the effects of the belt line in Atlanta on nearby property prices, which rose over 40 percent in four years I'm not sure residents in old north Durham You know Duke park all of the adjacent neighborhoods are going to be financing the trail so much as financing their own displacement And that is my number one concern Well, actually, no my other number one concern I'm not at all confident that a polarity a polarity Of residents in these communities are aware of the changes soon to be underway in their backyards If I had not been a member of Dost, I would not have been aware of the online belt line survey And I would not have been aware of the open house that was held at Durham nativity school earlier this summer What I propose is that we put a pause on adopting the master plan while we work to Inform every resident along the plan route and also collect their opinions and questions If 100 percent of residents sounds like an unachievable goal, then maybe we need to re-examine our vehicles of outreach If we mail questionnaires to every residents Along the route, even if the response rate isn't 100 percent We will have informed elderly residents who lack access to the internet of a major change that is being proposed This questionnaire could have the address of a website on which residents could upload videos themselves talking about concerns We could even include a number to call in for the less technically inclined that would be man during specific hours of the day My my concern is that we need authenticity to ensure equity And thank you. Thank you very much Thank you very much. Ms. Gorman gen mcduffey Evening all I'm gen mcduffey 41 21 settlement drive Durham. I belong to lots of groups in this town I think they're probably on either side of this issue So i'm speaking as a private citizen who thinks that this can be a both and Because we can have community input and accept the master plan and not hold up the process Of something that we've been working on already for 10 years The trail is important for physical activity for alternative forms of transportation To make bike commuting safer and to increase green space Ensuring adequate community input is important for equity for innovation because some of our best ideas come from ordinary citizens And for the common good of all of our citizens But the point is that we have time for both Because I remember the 20 years it took to get the bridge over i40 because I worked on it for 15 of those years And we're only at the master plan stage The master plan can be changed down the road as they start to do the design work as we get more input from the community One of the organizations I work with is the partnership for healthy Durham We do intense community Input gathering for a community health assessment. We write every three years. We know how to do this So we can be gathering more input while they do the design We can even put down the basic asphalt trail because there isn't any question about how we do that It's a rail bed. We can't move it. It's going to be there And we don't have any money for any of these amenities anyway We only have the money for the design work and the basic trail bed So I think this can be a both and thank you Thank you very much We'll now hear from Andrea Muffin Hudson Hello everyone. I'm Andrea Muffin Hudson. I live at 32 junction road Durham North Carolina 27703 If I was not on the cip if I was in the board member, I wouldn't have known that there was going to be a belt line and I work downtown. I work everywhere and I'm in all different type of communities and people that I have spoken to have not been aware But with that being said, um Those prices I saw up there those millions of dollars. Can we use that for our public school system as opposed to This bike this belt line right now Let's just make it a moment because I want it to be equitable and I want it to be fair And we're already being displaced already. So with that being built We're going to displace even more of us that are already being displaced by the gentrification that's happening now That's just going to increase the number So if you can please just put a pause on it Thank you. Thank you very much I'm going to now call the other people that have signed up to speak and if you all would come in this order that would be great Brett Stenfield Stangefield. Oh, hey Brett Can you work on your handwriting? Uh, Kamala Hayward, Hayward Rattini. I'll work on my handwriting if you work on the trail Uh, Justin Robinson Mariah Monsanto Tia Hall Angel Dower Heidi Hannibal And Fleming Talton Okay, uh, you each have two minutes if you could state your name and address I was just messing with you. You know, I love you. Um, my name is Brett I'm at Six Jewel Valley Durham, North Carolina I would implore the council to take a few steps to ensure equity Number one is to recognize that the precedents that were laid out by the store company are not A good comparison To a city like Durham given the size of Atlanta, New York, Chicago and the effects Um of gentrification on cities like those that vastly that displaced a lot of residents could be Even greater in a small city like Durham Number two is to conduct A survey and workshops that is hosted by the city as opposed to the store company to ensure that race income and length of tenure in Durham Is covered And representative of the population of Durham To make public As best you can to your ability Who has pledged private funds and committed private funds to the process already and who also does moving forward And to also make public public And vacant space that the city Currently has or plans to acquire in order to do Affordable housing in the adjacent area of the trail And then lastly to commit that jobs that are a consequence of the trail As well as art that will be Going up around the trail go to Durham residents, especially Durham residents that fall on the lower end of the income scale Thank you. Thank you very much Kamala Heyward routine Good evening I feel like I already have a win because you pronounced my first name correctly. So thank you mayor My name is Kamala. I was sure luck My name is Kamala. Heyward wrote to me. I live at 1606 p. Street Durham, North Carolina That's in duke park I am also I serve on the Durham open spaces and trails committee And I want to give a very big thank you to Durham Beltline for everybody for Organizing everyone to come out and speak this evening Um, my comments are informed by my living in Durham and also my professional experience I I study communities I study access to communities and their access to information as anthropologists Um, one of the things that stands out to me about the dorm belt line Uh, the first thing is I do believe this is of the possibility to be a model for Not just Durham pushing for an equitable development plan, but possibly the nation And so I do want to thank the dorm belt line steering committee and the consultants What I do want to say however is that The possibility for that to be realized can only happen if all communities are heard from So when I say all communities I think as human beings we generally take for granted our built environments But we don't realize that the built environments not only Um, that the places where we live, but it shapes how we live And that's why it's important to hear from everyone The other thing that comes up for me I have attended some of the public meetings and I applaud The efforts to get the word out about the dorm belt line and I do applaud The point of trying to start discussion about the equitable development plan, but what I will say Really quickly is that the usual methods of outreach need to be expanded So that other communities that who are historically not heard Can be heard in this moment. Thank you. Thank you very much Justin Robinson I'm Justin Robinson. I'm I address the 1612 south rock squirrel street That's in the cc. Spaulder neighborhood. I'm on the Durham parks foundation board among lots of other boards My main concern is what the Durham belt lines master plan is part of the steering committee You know Durham's demographics pretty well of the 30 people who were on the steering committee only four of those people were people of color Um, and some of the survey results were fairly troubling because because of the Of the the method of funding was to the federal tiger grant which is supposed to Operate ladders of opportunity for people who live in these neighborhoods On which around the belt line is the average where the median income is uh, 38,500 Of the people surveyed 11 of those people made less than 40 thousand dollars 22 of those people made more than 120 thousand dollars. So our issue is Or my issue is about who is this trail being built for If if it is if it is being built built to promote Mobility justice and the people who are surveyed need to look different I don't know if the if the materials went out in spanish If I had not been in the role that I am in and lots of different places I would not have known that the belt line was happening either Thank you very much. Mr. Robinson Mariah Monsanto No relation. Hello, um council members. Um, I'm here to ask you also to pause Um of approving this plan. I'm here as a community member Um, I live at 517 north guthrey avenue a white dude from georgia owns my house. Um, I say that to say, um I share qualities um three qualities at least that none of the people who presented on during belt line That are doing this qualify with which means I'm a resident. I'm black and um Yeah, I also didn't know about it. So, um, I just find it very ironic that people who are Not living in Durham and breathing in Durham are creating for Durham. Um, I work downtown for multiple organizations If I wasn't walking around downtown and didn't see um a sign about a public forum for this I would not have known about the dirt about line being built um Outside of that, I say that to say, um, I would hate for um, Durham city council to continue to support Um development for residents that do not live in Durham Um, I con I only have been here for about three and a half years And I've seen the demographic change greatly in terms of the population you see in Durham the people you see developing Durham, they don't look like the residents here. Um, so things like, um Saying that there's possibilities any tangible things are actually going to happen with the people who are creating this belt line So the possibility for affordable housing is not an option when there's not place where people live already not when Sheriffs are already are um and the Durham And the department of transportation is already evicting homeless cancer people who don't have homes And then to build something like this who has historically from places Um in atlanta and greensboro in new york city Um further displaced people so the whole possibility is not a feasible option in terms of the people who already live here To be able to be um to be able to live here affordably and not be displaced from their homes like they've already been have Five seconds. Thank you. It's late. I'm hungry. Thank you. Thank you. Ms. Monsanto tia hall Hi, good evening. I I'm tia hall and I live at 306 gray avenue and cleveland hollow way neighborhood I want to read a brief Bit from policy link A more equitable city is one where all residents regardless of race ethnicity Nativity gender or neighborhood of residents are fully able to participate in the city's economic vitality And contribute to the region's readiness for the future and connect to the region's assets and resources So I better read so I can get all this in But while we while the loop seems to have many accoutrements of fun and joy Does it bear the same stamp of equity for all of Durham? I love Durham and to those we love we owe a truth telling of reckoning We are a city that has a history that is planned for all of Durham absent Equitable input especially for equitable enjoyment and thriving Durham was incorporated 149 years ago Just after the end of slavery and at that time one of out of three residents were enslaved Black and non-white community members were relegated via redlining policies to historically divested spaces Those practice. This was practiced by banks Real tours and lawmakers and the practice started in 1937 Yet we still see the remnants of those today. I'm going to skip forward But what I want to say is right now we have a moment to stop and fully engage all of Durham in an equitable manner We Durham should do our very best to make sure that the most vulnerable communities are richly engaged in this development process We Durham should do the very best to eliminate and mitigate racial disparities and displacement And build towards a readiness for the future Let's do our very best to assure that all residents are fully able to participate in the fatality Of Durham's growth. Thank you. Thank you, miss Angel dower My name is angel dozier And I live at 815 south rocksboro street. No problem Um, I have lived in Durham for 19 years. I raised my 26 year old son Here I started my first business here and my second business and my third business here and I started an organization called be connected Durham Which addresses disparities and fosters equity among Audiences within this community The vision statement Here for the Durham belt line master plan says that the belt line will be a vibrant green space community I'm sorry a vibrant green space connecting communities to the heart of Durham Gold number four says That This project will enhance and preserve communities along the trail. Miss dozier. Could you pull back just a little from the microphone? Yeah, that way we'll be able to hear you. It's a teacher thing Golden do I get my time back? You I'll I'll work on that. Okay um go number four Says that this will this plan will enhance and preserve communities along the trail and ensure equitable access But if people are displaced within their communities goal number four goal number three To improve quality of life Goal number two to engage To be innovative to provide something that's uniquely Durham And goal number one which provides key connections to a variety of users not all users Here in Durham will not happen Uh, there will be residual effects in terms of the commercial properties that will be developed as a result of this And uh, this will not be these goals will not be met authentically I am also here to ask you to pause the plan as is And to engage the community more authentically JJ Henderson for example is I believe one of the Second largest elderly housing communities here and that does not represent Durham In terms of the the marginalized people who don't have the confidence Or the knowledge information access to be here and speak on behalf Of um themselves. So I ask that this be paused Thank you, miss. Thank you Heidi Hannibal Hi, Heidi Hannibal 2404 print street I'm also showing up tonight as a Proud participant in the Durham Beltline for everybody and asking council to consider pausing on this This plan Um, I've lived in the city for 20 years had DPS helped me raise four kids. I feel very proud of the city and all that it does It's creative energies. I think we have an opportunity here to really think about how we're proceeding on this particular project I'm involved in land conservation professionally and even having that background the Beltline trail experience has been a very new and recent Understanding for me. I was not aware of all of the activities that I've been going on for the last 10 years And the presentation tonight was really helpful Um, I appreciate the work that's gone into that But I think that we have a moment now in which we need to take a pause and ensure that we put equity at the front of this project One more point I'd like to make is simply that um as a resident here for 20 years Watching the city develop under the pressures that it's in currently It is is hard on the heart I feel that part of Durham's soul is starting to seep away And I worry about the the neighborhoods that we haven't Properly invested in that we haven't spent our energies on The neighborhoods that I've also had certain environmental impacts on them. That's part of the work that I'm doing right now I'm engaged in a project with other community members Some of whom in this room and feel very proud of the work that we are doing putting process before a project And ensuring that we're understanding where we all are and how we can work together in improving our city Thanks. Thank you. Ms. Hannifold Fleming-Talton Mr. Talton, please state your address along with your name because it's not on your card here Uh, yes, sir Fleming-Talton 1604 Greenleaf street in Durham um I I'm really excited about the potential for the trail and I um I'm very interested in the in the community input as far as as particularly as it pertains to affordable housing I attended the uh workshop with mr. Nathaniel Smith in which we um explored a lot of the history of Durham And how it is manifest now in in our policies and our procedures um, I I didn't I didn't come with uh much prepared in terms of what to say because I I looked at the uh Durham Belt line for everybody Website I poured over the website trying to figure out exactly what The methodologies or end goals um of the proposals are and uh I I can't I don't quite understand why the pause is necessary. So You know to get straight to the point. I I am in favor of drafting the uh the master plan um I I don't understand the length of the pause. Um, or why We need to obstruct the timeline in order to get Adequate community feedback. I feel that there is Plenty of time in the current Timeline as it as it exists to pursue those ends. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Thompson Is there anyone else present here who would like to speak on this item at this point? Tonight anyone else? Thank you all right I'm going to declare the public hearing closed and we will now discuss this at the council council members questions and comments Mayor pro tem johnson. Thank you, mr. Mayor. Um Is there somebody who? Has worked on this master plan who can help us with a definition of master plan because I I feel a little bit um I feel a little bit like there is um Um Misunderstandings about what this plan Is and what it's intended to be and like at what point what stage in the project? We're at and my kids have been watching a lot of animaniacs and so I immediately when I hear the word master plan I'm like pinky on the brain time to take over the world and But that level of detail is not what we're talking about right now I think so just more of like a context for What exactly this document is intended to do in terms of where we are in the process and moving forward before you answer that I just want to say that I totally miss that cultural reference And the city manager doesn't know either and afterwards you can tell all right. Yeah, if you grew up in the 90s, steve you It's lost on me as well Okay, great. Yeah, okay, I can say it's even younger than you are but for your information. I grew up in the 50s All right. Yes, sir. Let's say, you know, uh, Mayor pro tem, you know, what are we planning to do? This this monday night the same thing we plan to do every other monday night take over the world Discuss these issues Take over the world No, the master plan document was set to Give a general premise of what the vision and objectives of the the plan would be Based on the the funding that was provided the goals were to Uh Work on the community involvement side and hear what people thought And what their values were what they wanted to see in the plan But then to begin to set up to set up the design concepts for the plan as well and some uh conceptual designs What we wanted to do was first establish An idea for the cost of the project what type of cross sections were you're going to have The different users that would be there As jackie and jake had discussed when we heard and the first public meetings We heard time and time again from pretty much all the stakeholders across the board and from surveys that The original plan for this project was to almost be an extension of the american tobacco trail through downtown and around the north side But across the board we heard It really needs to be a whole lot more than that and it can't just be a trail It needs the steering committee and and stakeholders really said, you know, this needs to be almost a linear park This needs to be a signature facility in the in the project so Our goal is to set that design and then to also begin to set up some of the ideas for how do we implement design And move this uh process on beyond just a conceptual design and actually into engineering later on down the line I think mr. Bellamy may have some more comments on that as well. Yes You hit it for the very will you introduce yourself terry bell me director transportation city of Durham The the process that we're in when you say master plan is that it's the beginning of the communication with the community So in each phase there's more and more outreach and communication This is only to give us that snapshot in time The next phase that you will go to would be the design as taught Basically Indicate but then there's again community outreach and what we heard through the process is that it's more and more community outreach As we go to the next phase As they mentioned, this is a tiger grant funded project. So what this project can only be Useful is for the transportation component The other pieces to it which is a part of the master plan would be other funds that comes from someplace else Our objective is to do the the transportation piece which is the trail. Thank you. Um, I'm sorry. Thank you. That's helpful. I I some I'm just gonna say some other things I want to say which is that the I would be Very much in favor of there being an more detailed equity plan in place Um, as we move forward into the further phases of this project But again, I want to emphasize the reason that doesn't exist is because there is no detail Like the this plan is not a detail plan. It's not an implementation plan. Like we're not there on any of that so um So I'm excited about all of the All of the things that are being recommended Including, you know building our equity plan first before we move into a design plan doing more extended outreach Um, the thoughts around affordable housing local hiring racial equity analysis and racial equity lens Um, I I am fully in favor of all of those ideas. I don't I think where where I'm lost is why that requires a pause And I also don't think we ever I don't think this is gonna move quickly like like trans building projects transportation projects Um, these are these are not fast moving things, right? Like it's not We're looking at several years before Anything is on the ground. So Yeah, I I don't I don't think that Adapting the master plan is going to in any way In any way conflicts with any of the goals that I have around uh around building The equity plan that is Around around putting more details into the thoughts around equity that are in the master plan And I would 100 support doing those things in advance of A design phase for example but the other thing that I want to say and I I get stressed about it, but a pause and an equity plan Like I I don't want to I don't want to over promise like that will not stop displacement There is very little the only thing that will stop displacement is not building this and I am actually honestly I'm like willing to consider that I'm not like gun 100 gung-ho. We need to move forward with this plan But there is no way to actually stop displacement In the economic context that we exist in If we are going to build infrastructure like this it is necessarily going to but that is what it does that is We are in the city is growing their gentrification. We you know, we Have a market for housing something that every human being needs and we buy it and sell it like it's a commodity right on a market. So There There isn't an equity equity plan in the universe that's going to solve that problem So I want to say while I while I'm Completely supportive doing all these things and we should do all these things There is a limit to what the city can do To have an impact and solve these issues and we can do whatever we We should do whatever we can do but again If we're going to build this it is going to have an impact and And that's that that is an economic reality that I think we all need to be going into we need to be going into this With our eyes open about that like that is just a fact Of where we are right now. That's all thanks. Thank you very much I want to start with a quote because I know someone else shared a quote that kind of made me think about it and put it into context and Just recognizing that True community is based upon equity mutuality and reciprocity It affirms the richness of individual diversity as well as the common human ties that bind us together and that's polymary and just acknowledging that When the community stands up to say that they need a pause There's usually some history some background and some issues that have arisen that have created a A kind of agit about what's coming That is real and so I feel like We're talking about these plans in a very flat sense. It's the reason why we set up the way we are We do the consultants We do the plan the master plan the design phase and all of the engagement after And this is how the system has been set up And everyone in this room knows that that system is set up to create the displacement But if we're all going to sit here and say That's the way it's set up. We have to move along with it It's not going to stop and so my concern which I raised at that event with nithaniel smith The other night is that as much as we're all progressives around this dais And it's progressive as our city is It's not that we don't have the tools or the Political will or the wherewithal to do it is that We have to recognize that these are systems and institutions in place to prevent that There are there's not going to be a lever that lets you stop it We have to make it stop and so if that means creating a pause In the process so that we can evaluate what an equitable plan looks like And it actually looks at race and gender and ability and disability like Those things should have came first Recognizing there's a tiger grant. I mean I understand the context of all of these things in the municipal government But there is still room for us as a council to make These adjustments the same way in which we just went I mean I'm going to keep repeating it because it's the same thing You just did it with the public with the public versus charter conversation You created a way to prevent the charter school from having funding Plain and simple they will not have nonprofit Status on their funding for their building You created that Based on your will you can do the same thing and this equitable development if you don't it's not going to occur So yes that tiger grant funding is there. Yes, you yes, you can approve the master plan as it is Or you can place a pause on it and say we need to figure out how to build an equity first and actually mean it I want to also add that I made a couple of notes. I won't go through them all. It's kind of late, but if our plan does not include Conversations that are had on how these tiger grants are applied for with planning transportation stormwater and workforce and economic development The folks who are here are going to continue to be here In outrage and kind of like what's happening because they're not seeing how it all ties together It's our it's our it's on us to make sure that they understand it and so recognizing that yes I think it was diane standards who with our um human relations commission who's pointing out like two percent two percent of what the city sends sends out and And to the communities for black owned or minority owned businesses We have to be consistent in recognizing that this racial equity conversation is more than just a conversation It's more than just plans. It is actual people being displaced. It's actual um actual life happening That is creating a situation where everyone feels Like it's all pit against them. It's not just but it's not just by race It is it is because these systems have impacted us all in a very similar way. They're oppressive We just need to be Consistent and actually use our power to to actually undo that Thank you. Thank you comments Yeah, the comments questions I have some comments um, I'll just say that I Appreciate very much everyone who came tonight To talk about this and I think that the issues that were raised the equity issues If you've ever come to a Durham city council meeting or Work session, you know that those are the issues that are on the top of this council's agenda every time And so I'm very appreciative of you all Raising the issues again tonight and we need to be made constantly aware of them and it was good to hear you I'll say that I've advocated for us Getting this trail funded for a long time Uh pushed for it in the capital improvement plan. I was Overjoyed that I could uh help make the Connection between the conservation fund and our city administration so we could get this job done It's really been years of strategizing about How to shake the trail loose from Norfolk southern um, Norfolk southern on Norfolk southern had a Death grip on this land and We worked try to work through their board of directors We had dueling appraisals and finally With the help of the conservation fund and I see david propper here in the back and david I just want to thank you For the work you did it would not have been possible to acquire the land Without your help Your ability to move quickly and provide capital And to make this possible and to acquire the site Which we will be Now purchasing back from you. So just want to thank you and the conservation fund and I want to thank our staff Dale I know that for you this green infrastructure as This these trails are a labor of love and they've made a tremendous difference in the life of our city Um, you know, what's the best thing in Durham, you know, it's probably the american tobacco trail And the work that our staff has done on these trails has been fabulous and uh very difficult In addition to which it's been really hard to get the funding together to make this purchase. So we're We've we've had to not only put up a lot of our own local funds, but we've had to do a lot of prioritizing So let me just explain it like this The state transportation system heavily favors roads heavily And enabled to get anything else done Through the state transportation money, which is where much the money is it's federal money comes to the state We have to Durham and our Chapel Hill and our metropolitan planning organization Our goal is for 50 of the money that we spend through that system To be for things other than roads sidewalks trails bicycle infrastructure And for those of us now brunetta and charlie are on the mpo. I served on the mpo for quite a while and We try to keep those priorities foremost in our mind This is the kind of infrastructure that we want because we believe it creates a healthier community And we actually and we believe it is the only path to a livable future For our city and our planet, but particularly for our city And so this is a I believe an absolutely key project and I believe for all the reasons That they have been cited in the in the master plan and by many many people over many years This can be like the american tobacco trail a crown jewel for Durham I have a very personal connection to the trail my My great-grandfather Elias shul Came over from the old country fleeing the czar and got off the boat in baltimore And we was met by the representatives of the hebrew immigrant aid society and They sent him with a pack of dry goods down to a little town of virginia lynchburg where They said he could sell his dry goods and he could also cut meat. He was a kosher butcher or the jewish community in lynchburg You can imagine it was a very small jewish community in 1896 But every week once a week he rode down on the train from lynchburg came down Through roxburgh and on into Durham on what is now the belt line To cut meat for the cigar rollers The james b. Duke had brought down from new york the jewish cigar rollers so i've always been interested in this line and Felt a kind of personal connection to it that i haven't felt to all the other trails or potential trails so i've been engaged with it for a really long time and but i was when i sat down this weekend and Read the entire master plan in a lot of detail and i think i engaged with it at a level that i hadn't before i know i did and i want to say to the Consultants and to staff that i think it's a very impressive In comprehensive piece of work. I think you guys did a great job on it I have a few questions That i want to ask and And then i have a little bit more of a statement to make about where i think what i think we ought to do in terms of The timing and the equity and so forth so I'll ask these questions first The description of the funding and this may be for terry Or for someone in the administration as much as a consultant How how much of the funding do we have now in hand or we'll be voting on tonight actually later For the right-of-way purchase Building the trail and providing the basic necessities Bill judge transportation through federal funds through the state and as well as Through the cip that city council has allocated. We have basically the funds necessary to Do the design to acquire the right-of-way? and For a large portion of the construction We don't have all of the construction dollars yet We think we have some strategies for some additional federal money that we think we can That would be for the transportation component though of the trail basically just building The cross section that you saw in the master plan none of the linear park amenities all that would have to be future parks and rec funds private funds combination something else so the The cross section this would include the cross section that we saw in the Yes, okay, and but we don't have all the construction funds for that yet Not all of them, but we like I said we think through some other federal funds that we we have a strategy where we think we can Help close that gap and what would the timetable what would the what kind of timeframe would you See that operating under the judge We would anticipate the Starting the design of the trail component since that is fully funded in the next few months after master plans adopted in the supplemental municipal agreement Through our general services with the expectation that we would Have that construction funding component resolved by the time that the design would be complete Approximately yeah with the next year and a half two years to start construction Design would be complete the next year and a half two years and we would hopefully then have the funds for the Construction not of the amenities, although I guess fundraising on that would also be proceeding at a similar time But for the transportation structure alone Is that true correct for the transportation component, okay Okay, so thank you. So that those are my questions Let me just go on to talk just a little bit about the the the equity analysis the equity analysis And I appreciate you all involving the consultants involving kofi boon who is A real asset in this way and appreciated the the the recommendations that were included Concerning the great loop and and and other ones Um So I will say that we all know that in addition to getting the funding together for this project The equity issues are the ones that are going to be central to the trail success gentrification has already come to most of the neighborhoods That the trail will be passing through and I want to add a little something to what uh, what mayor pro tem johnson said which is She says if we build this there will be gentrification. What I want to say is whether or not we build this There is already gentrification I do believe that those neighborhoods That gentrification is has come and is coming to those neighborhoods Regardless of what we do in terms of this infrastructure That's true for our entire city And that's a reality that we need to face The question is what do we do in the face of that? Market forces are real people are moving to Durham and as many of the people described um from Our podium today a Durham is becoming less affordable And we have very ambitious affordable housing plans That are still not going to do the job and can we can never subsidize our way Out of the situation that we are in But we can make a difference We can make a difference and in this case one of the things that we can do Is target some of our affordable housing efforts around this trail And I think that's a very conscious decision that we can make We can't control what the landowners On avondale drive are going to do But there are things that we can do there are incentives that we can offer And there are things that we can do in terms of Of density bonuses and some of the things that we read in the report And that we also know are possible from our other other affordable housing work So while I believe that green infrastructure and any infrastructure Accelerates gentrification in this case The gentrification is accelerating at a rapid clip on its own And that's not going to change barring a major recession in this country So we can't stop the market forces, but let's do everything we can to make a difference in terms of stabilizing these neighborhoods Both for the long-term low-income homeowners that live there and for renters So i'm going to propose to my colleagues I'm going to propose this to my colleagues. I I think that this is a good time to adopt the master plan The master plan is just that it's a master plan and as I think people have said today Um, we We we have a long way to go even before the first Piece of asphalt is laid down. You heard mr. Judge saying we're talking a couple year a year and a half a couple of years before that happens We are going to be in a pause So i'm going to suggest to my colleagues the following that we adopt the master plan And that we ask our administration to come back to us. I'm going to suggest the time of 90 days with Not an equity plan because you can't do an equity plan in 90 days But to tell us how we are going to Create an equity plan and what the outlines of that will be and that will include How we're going to engage the community And when I talk about the community I am particularly talking about individuals that live along the corridor and I would say every individual that lives along the quarter Needs to be heard from And what are the other components? What are the other components of an equity plan that we want to create? now I think what we mostly want there is to know what the process and the timeline should be I said equity components, but I think that most of those components are actually going to have to come from the next phase We're going to be listening to the community for those components We know what a lot of them would will be affordable housing, for example will be but will be one But there will be others and we want to hear from the community what they are So again, I'm going to suggest that we adopt the master plan And that we ask our administration to come back to us in 90 days And I'm open to hearing from the administration about how much time that should be With what and what good equity planning for this trail will be like The best equity planning for this trail will be like To bring us back a process for that that will will will involve The level of community engagement that I think we all want and expect So those are my I'm sorry for my overlawing comments everybody But that's my that's my That's my that's my suggestion comments questions Any comments or questions? Thank you, mr. Mayor Um First I want to thank everybody who's stuck around with us this long tonight Um, you're part of the best of what our city is and wants to be I promise we didn't try to wait y'all out. That's not what happened Um It the other stuff earlier in the evening took a little longer than I think any of us wanted it to or thought it might Um, so here we are I think the mayor Has a perfectly reasonable A path forward I just wanted to make sure that folks understood from me And I know that my colleagues agree that If you didn't think we had received the message before tonight We have absolutely positively received the message tonight And I want to make sure folks understand exactly what I mean when I say that Um, I think I am going to be Focused on making sure that staff is accountable For delivering that plan that the mayor talked about that has the level of community engagement that we all deserve for a project like this Um, I think the mayor's laid out the right parameters for that And trying to reach every person that lives adjacent To this corridor and to engage them not only to give them information about what the project is Could be But also to ask them what they think the project ought to be and look like and I think That will at least be a start The other thing I want to make sure folks understand and I don't mean to put too fine a point on this but I think part of the reason I heard folks asking for a pause Was so that We could make sure to get this piece right before we started doing anything else with the project. Is that a fair assessment? I think The only way that I Can be comfortable voting for the master plan tonight I'm knowing that that's going to happen Is that I am accountable to each and every one of you You can hold me accountable If this thing starts to get built out and it's not what we wanted it to be Hold me accountable If we start to move toward a 90 day plan that you think is missing a b and c parts reach out to me talk to me I'll I'll be reaching out to you. But if we approve An equity plan that's the mayor laid out that doesn't have the right level of community engagement the right way to do it Encourage encompasses all the issues that we want Hold me accountable That's how I will make sure that I approach this with the right sense for urgency Plus I love our city just as much as you do and want to get it right Thank you, mr. Mayor Mr. Mayor go ahead mayor council council member cabillero and then council member milton. So, um, this is something that I Whereas earlier. I didn't had no conflict on how I was going to vote. Um When we were all having a lively discussion This is something I'm actually very torn about because I sat on dothed before I became a council member It was one of the commissions that was open and out of all the descriptions if I I love Uh The trail system I live right near the ellaby creek trail This trail in particular will be a huge asset to my family. It means we might be able to just go down to one car So on a personal note, I'm very much an advocate and I think that for me I will hear our community and I do actually believe that we should have a pause specifically because Of the dothed members who came out. It's we are Uh sworn in or we we are supposed to be advocating for trails when so many of you all came out And asked for that that that really resonated with me. So I just wanted to share how I'll be voting Thank you Thank you, mr. Mayor, um I know why you want us to pause Uh Because we've been hurt before And we've seen this movie before and we've had our hearts broken and many of us feel that our city The heart of our city this city Um is changing But and I want to echo that come in my colleagues for what I thought were brilliant comments And I appreciate all the comments from all of you your residents and citizens, but you elected us to make hard decisions Um And if we don't make them you're free to excuse us and find another group to make them Um You didn't really elect us to pause You elected us to walk and shoot them at the same time And to do things In my reckoning if we take the pause to its logical conclusion We should stop voting on everything Until we have an equity plan Um And I just don't I just don't think that's practical With respect to the staff the the staff has done an amazing job And I I would just respectfully put to my colleagues that The staff really can't answer the questions that we were elected to answer The staff cannot take the place of our political will what what we approve and what we don't approve the staff cannot Uh preempt us from deciding what we do with city on land that that that buck stops here Um, so I think uh mayor pro tem kind of echoed this earlier. I don't want to create false Um, uh hopes or expectations of the staff Um The buck stops here and the decisions will be made Here. I want to also make sure that what what we're tasking the staff was I want to draw a distinction between an equity plan And the communication plan We are as the city are about to impanel an actual racial equity task force That's going to have a year to do their work And um, you know, I don't want to ask the staff to do in 90 days what we're asking a task force to do in a year um So I just what you know if if we're coming up with a plan to to get more input From the community, uh, then perhaps we ought we ought to call it a communication or an engagement plan, but to call it an equity plan In 90 days, um I I just want to be clear make sure that we're clear with what we're tasking The staff to do this staff has listened to us add infinitum. They know our heart. They know we care about affordable housing They know we care about using uh publicly owned land city owned land to do affordable housing. They know how we feel about Uh, uh Stuff they've listened to us. Um, I'm just I just want to be clear make sure that we don't We're not ambiguous Or we're we're we're not clear on what exactly the work product is 90 days from now While we've got another group of people working on the same issue universal same issue universally that they have a year to do um And what that looks like, I don't know but I I would just I I support moving forward with the master plan I'm gonna vote to move forward with the master plan. I'm confident that we have enough time to do these things at the same time Uh, but I also want to make sure that um What we're clear what we're expecting to have in in 90 days from the staff Thank you, mr. Mayor. That was a I really appreciate that. Uh, that's a great um Clarification I think yes, I think that what we would hear I will try to state what I think we'd like from our staff And then you guys can help me out. Okay um, I would I would state that what we would like from our staff in the next 90 days is um an engagement plan Uh, a plan for how we plan to engage the community uh, and the What we plan to do with that information How we plan to engage the community what we plan to do for that with that information Anyone like to add anything or uh, or or modify that? Well since you ask yeah It would be great to have some, um More information on how to address not only The communication but also how the jobs planning going forward would look How the jobs planning what it would look like to have More engaged minority and Local businesses involved in the I mean at least lay it out that we're gonna do 25 something that says that we're gonna do this differently than it's been done in the past I have to say that being that I took two tours of the Atlanta Belt Line within the last month I am like on edge about how fearful I am similar to how it was about setting up a racial equity task force and setting up the participants Like these things happen Systematically and if we don't systematically address or at least intentionally point to what we want to happen out of it I just can't help but recognize like today. I just so happened to ride under the american tobacco trail by south roxborough in war two actually And seeing all that katsu Surrounding the trail. I don't see that at downtown It's not as it's not as covered and We have to be really intentional about how we address this Thank you. Yeah, so what I would say is I completely agree with you about the need for Jobs plan But what I would say is I would like to hear from the community about what that jobs plan would be And that would also be true of the affordable housing plan So I think what we should go for first is an engagement a plan for engagement how we're going to engage the community Then listen to the community and come up with those goals That would be my thought With the intention of setting up For the intention of having goals and and and implementing those exactly. Yeah So mr. Mayor sir with respect to nomenclature, you're amenable to Using engagement plan as opposed to race equity An engagement plan that will create communication an engagement plan with the aim of Using a race equity lens I would say that we want an engagement plan That's going to allow us to create with the community a racial equity plan for this for this And I'll accept a motion to that effect So move second and then we can discuss it more councilmember freeman. We have a motion on the floor I'm trying to move this towards midnight. Yeah Got two more items y'all. I'm missing my I'm missing my racial task force meeting this evening I want to be clear and also sharing with the community and those who I know someone mentioned They didn't understand why there would be a pause someone And a couple of folks kind of saying what would be the reason for the pause Recognizing that throughout history things have occurred like redlining like 147 through hay tie The same thing has been occurring with the green infrastructure across the country And rec and recognizing how race equity works in order to have impact On the very most the most vulnerable population of people who have been impacted by things like redlining and the 147 highway through hay tie It is it is really like looking at Who's been who's been the target? Of the benefit For a project through through the government and who's been the recipient of the hurt And understanding that if you can create a system or create a process that looks at how we Don't put that negative impact on people of color Then you'll create a system or a process that will actually level out a little bit better than it has in the past And I'll just leave it at that else member Freeman Thank you We now have a motion on the floor and that motion is that we accept the master plan and that we we approve the master plan and that we Create an engagement process with a purpose of giving us a roadmap for a racial equity plan For this belt line We have a motion and a second on the floor. I'm going to ask that the Clerk please open the vote I'm going to add one more thing and that the administration bring this to us in 90 days. I'm sorry. I forgot that Close the vote The motion passes six to one with Javier a caballero Voting no, thank you very much. Thank you for all those of you all who are here. I just want to say one more time you can We are totally committed to equity in this project and we will work very hard to make it real And We know that you will be holding us accountable for that We know that's part of our job and we look forward to it. So thank you for being here tonight for all the passion That you've brought to it Thanks also to those people who are here tonight because you've worked for the last 20 years to try to create this trail We appreciate you as well. We're very grateful for you. Thanks everybody. We'll now move on to item item What are we moving on to item 33? Consolidated annexation plan Garrett road Thank you. Consolidated annexation plan for Garrett road and we will hear from staff Good evening Excuse me one second. I'm gonna Folks i'm going to ask those of you all who are Not going to be staying for this to Please take the conversations outside so we're able to hear our staff. Thank you very much Good evening. Jamie Sonjak with the planning department request for utility extension agreement voluntary annexation zoning map change Received from Dale Dan jewel for two properties totaling approximately 6.047 acres located at 3736 and 3738 Garrett road The annexation petition case bdg 17 0005 Brings one of the parcels into the existing city limits The subject site is presently zoned residential suburban 20 the applicant is requesting a zoning designation of plan development residential 3.969 Which is consistent with the future land use map designation of low density residential Or four dwelling units per acre or less Approval of the annexation petition and zoning would become effective on september 30th 2018 key commitments on the development plan associated with this request a maximum of 24 single family residential units northbound left turn lane on Garrett road at site at the site access An additional asphalt for a bike lane Staff has received two additional proffers which have been reviewed and found to be acceptable these include Prior to the issuance of the first certificate of occupancy the developer will provide a one-time $18 000 donation to the city of Durham dedicated affordable housing fund And prior to the approval of the final plat The applicant will make a contribution to the Durham public schools in the amount of $2,500 The public works and water management departments have determined that the existing water and sewer mains have the capacity for the proposed development The budget and management services the department determined that they Proposed annexation will become revenue positive immediately following annexation additional information can be found in the staff report The Durham planning commission at their may 8th 2018 meeting recommended approval of the proposed by a vote of 11 to 0 Staff determines that these requests are consistent with the comprehensive plan policies and ordinances Three motions would be required for this application The first is required by law to approve the utility extension agreement And voluntary annexation petition the second is to adopt the consistency statement And the third would be for the zoning ordinance I will be happy to answer any questions that you have Thank you very much You have heard the report of staff and i'm going to clear this public hearing open And first i'm going to ask if there are any questions or comments from the council Questions or comments councilmember freeman Just for clarity sake. This is filling in the donut hole so to speak Absolutely. Thank you Ms. Sunyak, could you repeat the there there's a proffer I heard the proffer for the affordable housing $18,000 the public school's $2,500 which I guess is $500 per student added And is there a proffer concerning the sidewalk off-site? No, thank you Okay I don't see anyone signed up to Speak on this item, but I assume that's wrong. Mr. Joule. Are you planning to speak on this item? Maybe I missed your card I did fill one out. Okay. Many many hours ago though. I'm sure Oh, I'm sorry. Here it is. It's hiding. Thank you. Thank you, Tom Yes, Dan Joule And robert harrick you have two people Mr. Harrick, are you here great? So I'm going to Give each side three minutes to begin with will that be enough for you mr. Harrick Was that yes Okay, I'm going to be each side three minutes to begin with mr. Joule will that be enough And the council may have other questions for for either of you all. Okay, uh, mr. Joule Go ahead Just mr. Mayor members of council. I'm Dan Joule with culture Joule Thames here representing Mr. Walker Harris a lifelong resident of Durham and the proposed developer of this property Just to reiterate this is a proposal for a single family zoning We uh, even though we were not required to have neighborhood meetings. We had two neighborhood meetings The first was organized by the garret farms community association They asked some questions asked us to do a few things. We came back to them a few months later About 25 people attended and they were all happy with the changes that we made to the plan As you've seen the staff is recommending approval the planning commission is unanimously recommended approval and as miss sunyak stated we Have put two proffers forward for an affordable housing contribution which works out to $750 per unit If all of the 24 units that is approved for are built and also the normal $500 per student for the uh toward the school fund And uh, I will we'll close it at that but uh, that concludes our comments And I hope you will concur with the staff and the planning commission and uh, move approval of our request. Thank you Thank you very much Mr. Joule, mr. Harrick Mr. Harrick if you could state your name and address I'm robert harrick. I live at 32 18 windfield drive, which is opposite of where his development is My biggest concern is traffic When this we have so many schools going down that road eight o'clock in the morning I cannot get on my street to make a right hand turn let a little left hand turn And it's gotten to the point that Uh, certain times of the day if you're gonna add this you got two exits from the church across the street You're gonna have a whole the entire development down the road And now you want to squeeze even more houses in there Uh, mr. Reach you spoke about how Uh, you don't have any decisions to make when these people buy these properties It has an r20 designation and then they want to come in and change everything They bought it at the r20 Not another one when he first proposed this the only proposed so many houses when he was buying it. That's what the Thing was said he's gonna put so many houses in there and then all of a sudden he comes back He's putting all these more houses in I just don't understand how you say you don't have any decision power But the biggest problem is the The traffic within our development down there and then they're gonna change the intersection Which is gonna make a free flowing Garrett road for a good portion of time because they're gonna put the bridge over I don't understand and the other we shall have is just roads in general The area is growing so much And you've got these tiny roads the white line on the side of the road is at the side of the road There's no room for error when people are going and people are constantly jogging down the road There's sandy creek park. There's an entrance behind that church And there's people there all the time We're some road improvements has to be made so that we can be able to get it out of there I don't know if they can just take the light that it that that uh Is it what it is mountain road, whatever it is and just create it so it works For two hours in the morning every five minutes so that we can get a break and get out of the street It's It's just kind of ridiculous I said I literally cannot make a right hand turn on my own street in the morning because the people are So many people are going to that school which brings up the charter schools because there's no busing They're going to the charter school. There's hundreds and hundreds of cars driving down to those two charter schools and You're gonna end up with a point I don't know what's happening at at the end because I don't really have any information about what's going to happen at Pickett and Garrett Because with all that new construction the entrances there's got to be a light. There's got to be something done there because It's impossible now the buses can't turn on there You got buses I sit behind a bus that cannot make a left hand turn for 10 minutes Because traffic's just that way So something adding more houses does not solve our problem density wise I mean, I understand it's Fine, you gotta have to do stuff. I'm not talking about I say ahead Sad to see the woods go, but I know they're gonna go but It seems to me that when you start out a plan and it changes and all we do is end up with more Little mess it's just Thank you, mr. Herrick too much. Thank you, mr. Herrick and mr. Herrick. Thank you for sticking out this long meeting We appreciate your patience and I hope you take some solace that we had to do it as well. So but we're We're grateful for you being here um So, uh, mr. Julie have any comments to make a little traffic? Yes, sir. I'll just refer to the staff report I know peak hour traffic is always of concerned folks traffic is Is bad almost everywhere in Durham But the staff report did point out that the current roadway capacity of garret road is 12,800 cars a day and the latest traffic volume is 4,600 cars a day So roughly a third And our proposal is only adding 157 cars over the course of a day on top of the existing zoning designation I think the problem is to herrick is is is rush hour and I understand that And I'm very appreciative of your of your concerns about that and and I freely acknowledge That we have road needs in Durham that are that go unmet Uh, and it's just a matter of of of taxes And we can be doing a lot more if we want to Have a lot of our taxes and so Sidewalk would help we are spending a lot on sidewalks our our capital improvement plan in the next Five years has a spending something like 20 or 25 million dollars on sidewalks. Um, they're very expensive about a million dollars a mile But uh, but I hear you and agree with you. I completely agree with what you're saying about the need I'm not sure where that road is on the Durham walks plan. Uh, but if you send me an email I'll find out if it's been prioritized for sidewalk Mr. Mayor, uh, mr. Reese. Thank you, mr. Mayor I just wanted to say I definitely agree with one thing you said, uh, which is that uh intersection of garret and picket desperately needs a traffic light I spent four years of my life Every morning trying to make a left on to picket from garret. So I know exactly what you're talking about Um, one thing I will disagree with you about those. I don't think I've ever said we have no decisions to make up here I think what I was trying to explain to those folks was The decision isn't what they want it to be It's not that they're just the decision in that case wasn't The existing pristine nature of the property versus what the developer wanted It's what the developer could do all on their own without us agreeing to a thing Versus what the developer wanted to do. That's what I was saying Okay, not that we don't Thank you. Mr. Herron. Thank you, mr. Reese. Uh, I have a question for the developer Has the developer offered to give away the garret family homestead if somebody wants to move it I saw that mention and I believe the planning commission comments Uh, yes, sir. We made that comment to the planning commission. So yes, the uh, the offer is out there to all takers to either Take the house or if somebody wanted to do a selective deconstruction and recycle the material particularly the Distinctive architectural features you find in a 1920s farm house These folks would be happy to do that But not knowing what the timing of that might be How long of a timetable are you talking about for for keeping that offer open to someone? Five five months. Yeah, I'm gonna ask you, uh, mr. Joule if you would Be in touch with uh, the historical present historic preservation Absolutely, if folks and let them know about that If you wouldn't mind doing that in the next few days and We hear you about the five months. That seems very reasonable But I think that that would maybe give us give them a chance to find someone who would like to preserve that historic property So if you all would do that, absolutely I happen to know their know their new executive director who they just hired. That'd be great. Thank you Any other comments or questions? I just wanted to Second the comment about the sidewalks and to figure out if there are any plans around garrot road Where it lies on this? In the timeline Just making sure Thank you Any other questions or comments? If not I'm going to declare this public hearing closed and the matter is back before the council Is there a motion to adopt an ordinance annex and garrot road into the city of Durham effective to september 30th 2018 so It's been moved and seconded Madam clerk, we please open the vote Close the vote motion passes six No, i'm sorry the motion passes seven zero. Thank you A motion to adopt a consistency statement moved to adopt consistency statement It's been moved and seconded madam clerk. Will you please open the vote? Close the vote Motion passes seven zero. Thank you. Motion to adopt an ordinance of many of the udo So moved second been moved and seconded madam clerk. Please open the vote Close the vote Thank you very much Motion passes seven zero. Thank you. We'll now move on to item 10 Which was pulled from the consent agenda and that item I can just find it here Contract for neighborhood bicycle routes design t.i.p. Number c 56051 and this was Hold by our ideal Ortiz and This Ortiz nice to see you. You have three minutes I won't take long. Can you believe this is longer than the last People's alliance meeting I went to So on the matter of item 10, I just wanted to say to avoid some of the disgruntled community Folks feeling like they weren't able to be connected to the process I just wanted to offer to the transportation department as they engage Alta planning and design that We would love for them to try to connect directly with BPAC and DOS members to help them get more connected to permeating into community as they pursue that planning process with that particular agency so starting Early so that we don't feel left out and compressed into very tight timelines Ms. Ortiz are you saying that you you want the Alt of the consultant to be in contact with the with the BPAC and the DOS members Soon sooner rather than later so that they can start getting contacts in community to do the relevant community engagement work That we've been struggling to feel like Didn't happen in other places and as we've been talking about tonight. Yes. Thank you very much And I think staff heard that I'm sure brian and terry. Yeah, thank you. I know they will and appreciate it very much Uh council members, uh, unless there's any other discussion kind of hear a motion on item 10 So move second been moved in second that we approve this contract madam clerk. We please open the vote Close the vote Motion passes seven zero. Thank you very much next item is item 12 durham bite line Durham belt line supplemental municipal agreement mr. Mayor If I could just thank mr. Ortiz for asking my question. I appreciate it Okay, thank you And we have two speakers on this item. Ms. Ortiz and uh, justin robinson Justin's still here. Yeah, justin You each have three minutes Adele do you want to go ahead go ahead? Um, so this this Y'all this is like over 10 million dollars. We're talking about right and so What this belt line will lead to as we've been discussing all night long is really in our hands And when you're spending this kind of money, you do want to get it right? And so I appreciate what the mayor has already said about the 90 day Window to try to get some pieces Worked out What I do want to say is I studied very deeply what the community engagement was for the existing master plan And for the money that was spent that was supposed to be spent on that kind of community engagement as an organizer I know what I'm expected to do by the philanthropic organizations of this world When I'm given a certain amount of money and I cried thinking about What was done for the price that was paid so um What I do want to say as we think about the money that we may engage in this process I want to have council consider Not beginning design or construction until some of these essential steps can be Outlined and thinking about implementation and here is why A pause in what you do with the money somebody had said earlier something about Oh, you know, it'll be two or three years before you see something actually on the pavement But when you think about communities and businesses and people who have been super excluded You have to work really hard to super include them So being super excluded requires that you super serve those same populations to make sure that they are in the pipeline Um and able to participate economically Right and as residents So the pause is because you want to make sure underrepresented businesses can actually be present as part of the building of this So as not just a worker, but business owner We've already cited the dismal numbers around how many minority owned businesses can actually participate On projects that are city funded the other thing to um, and I'm sad that the conservation fund isn't here Because one of the things that they did mention on friday at some of the meetings within Nathaniel smith um in dwayne uh from partnership for southern equity Um a tool they have that we have been under utilizing is they don't just gather land for trails and greenways and parks They can also gather land for economic and social justice Which means if you want to enact Engage them to gather land for affordable housing or to secure land towards Minority owned businesses that is also possible. That is also part of their mission. It is not outside the scope of their work um, and so um one of the quotes i'll leave you with from one of the conservation fund staff On friday, they said oh god. Were we in were we involved in the atlanta belt line? I really hope not and they absolutely work So the last thing i'll say is that you know some of the things that people have mentioned in the design Are basic and then some things are amenities and the extra money which is supposed to come from private Philanthropy won't touch this if they don't trust that this was done right with community and minded at the center, especially marginalized voices Thank you very much. Ms. Ortiz Justin Robinson. Oh, you've heard me before you're gonna hear me again. I live in 1612 south rock squirrel um Part of what i want to address about thinking about pausing this particular thing. Yes, I said pausing in um is about not thinking about the speculation for these kinds of projects Um already there's speculation around the trails now that it is folks know that it is going to be built What we don't want to do is continue is to think about more displacement because of speculation around this trail What we do know from other precedent prior projects so far is that wild Durham is already gentrified Absolutely. Yes. We have not seen the level of gentrification that can happen in the high line housing properties of housing values went up by 400 percent 400 percent i'm going to say that again so in case you didn't hear it We have not seen The other end of what gentrification of like Durham is on its first wave These other precedent projects that have happened in other parts of the country have Have has have expedited what is already happening Uh, what is what has already happened in those cities and what is already happening in Durham? We have not seen its end yet The fear is that things like the belt lining other green infrastructure gray infrastructure Will continue to speed us up will add gasoline to the fire as opposed to being able to hold it back The other thing is that was brought up earlier this evening is about It's thinking about climate climate change and having non fossil fuel based Uh transportation that used to get around the city What we don't that is true. I think we're all concerned about that What we don't want to do is displace people now for people who might be displaced later for climate during climate change events that's I Think our our motto should be to do no harm And in this instance from what we have seen in other places And thinking about the as thinking about the Durham belt line as a part of a larger loop, which would be longer than the Atlanta belt line, by the way More miles more mileage than it left about line when it's fully realized Is that we don't want to dispute this place people now for an uncertain future That's all Thank you very much All right We are now We appreciate your comments and Agree with your comments. We understand the importance of this We take it very seriously And we're looking forward to the kind of equity plan As I think that miss collin said people have been super excluded need to be super in I'm sorry Formerly miss collins. I apologize miss Ortiz I knew you in another life Miss Ortiz, I apologize and and Wow I get a motion Ortiz What you said about people being super excluded needing to be super included is absolutely right And we need to be We need you you should be able to depend on us to make sure that is true. So thank you All right Do I hear a motion on item 12 the approval of the supplemental municipal agreement? Move to approve Madam clerk, we please open the vote Close the vote Motion passes seven zero. Thank you very much This meeting is adjourned at 1155 That was too long. I didn't expect this to go that I When I looked at the all the public hearings, I'm like, well, I know the couple of them