Durham County approves fee delay for 751 South developers
The Durham News, N.C.
May 10, 2016 Tuesday
Copyright 2016
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency

Section: STATE AND REGIONAL NEWS
Length: 614 words
Byline: Virginia Bridges, The Durham News, N.C.

Body
May 10--DURHAM -- Durham County commissioners voted 3-2 Monday to let Southern Durham Development
postpone paying nearly $1 million in state environmental fees.
The vote follows a request to help move the controversial and cash-strapped 751 South development forward.
Commissioners Michael Page, Brenda Howerton and Fred Foster voted in favor of the payment delay. Ellen
Reckhow and Wendy Jacobs voted against it
In general, all development within the Falls Lake and Jordan Lake watersheds must meet nutrient pollution
management rules. The rules mandate that the bulk of the nutrients, nitrogen and phosphorus, be managed on site
through stormwater devices, said landscape architect Dan Jewell, who represented Southern Durham
Development. Once a certain level of on-site thresholds are met, a mitigation payment has to be made to a state
fund, which pays for other water-quality enhancement projects within the same watershed basin.
Those mitigation payments are generally paid at the time of a development's site plan approval, before actual
construction begins.
Jewell successfully asked the commissioners to allow that payment to be made before the Certificate of Occupancy
is granted, which is later stage in the development process.
The request follows the state's increasing in late 2014 the rate of the offset payment for phosphorus by a factor of
three and for nitrogen by a factor of 12, Jewell said. That increased Southern Durham Development's payment for
phase one from about $100,000 to $800,000, he said.
It is not a law or a city or county ordinance that requires the payments be made before the site plan is approved,
Jewell said.
"It's not even a written policy; it is just simply the practice that has been followed," he said.
As initially proposed, 751 South was set to include as much as 600,000 square feet of office and commercial
space, and as many as 1,300 residences. The project has been the focus of multiple lawsuits since it was
announced in early 2008.
Opponents claim the project threatens water quality in the already-polluted Jordan Lake and objected to tactics the
developers' supporters have used to win government approvals for the project.

Akela Lacy

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Durham County approves fee delay for 751 South developers
In July 2013, the General Assembly approved legislation that overruled the Durham City Council's vote against a
utility extension and annexation for the 167-acre 751 South and the 87-acre adjoining Colvard Farms Tract near
Jordan Lake and the Chatham County line.
Supporters have touted the project's economic impact and the jobs it would bring to the county. The developers
say their stormwater controls will keep 751 South from harming the lake.
Reckhow said mitigation payments should be made before construction begins to mitigate any damage during the
process.
"The worst water-quality impacts can actually happen during construction," she said.
Jacobs expressed concern about the developer running out of money and not paying the fee.
Reckhow and Jacobs, who both asked for the vote to be delayed, also expressed concern about statements made
by staff indicating it would result in an increased work flow.
Page, however, expressed concern about the divisive project not moving forward after it has come so far. He
likened it to the opposition to The Streets at Southpoint -- place where he said he can never find a parking place.
Howerton, who said her life was threatened during the 751 South consideration process, pointed out that she had
been re-elected since she supported the project, which she said would provide benefits to the area.
Virginia Bridges: 919-829-8924, @virginiabridges
___ (c)2016 The Durham News, N.C. Visit The Durham News, N.C. at www.thedurhamnews.com Distributed by
Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Classification
Language: ENGLISH

Publication-Type: Newspaper

Journal Code: 1DR

Acc-No: 20160510-1DR-Durham-County-approves-fee-delay-for-751-South-developers-0510-20160510

Subject: LEGISLATIVE BODIES (90%); AQUIFERS & WATERSHEDS (90%); APPROVALS (89%); COUNTIES
(89%); WATER POLLUTION (89%); COUNTY GOVERNMENT (89%); LEGISLATION (78%); ORDINANCES
(78%); REGIONAL & LOCAL GOVERNMENTS (78%); AGRICULTURAL POLLUTION (77%); LAKES (77%);
POLLUTION & ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS (77%); SUITS & CLAIMS (70%); CITY GOVERNMENT (69%);
BUILDING & HOUSING CODES (67%); CITIES (64%); ECONOMICS (60%)

Industry: CONSTRUCTION (89%); NEW CONSTRUCTION (87%); PROPERTY ANNEXATIONS (78%);
AGRICULTURAL POLLUTION (77%); LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE SERVICES (77%); BUILDING & HOUSING
CODES (67%); COMMERCIAL PROPERTY (66%); OFFICE PROPERTY (62%)

Load-Date: May 10, 2016
Akela Lacy

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Durham County approves fee delay for 751 South developers

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Akela Lacy