Before construction can begin on a proposed senior housing development, the Durham Housing Authority must gain city approval to convert the former Medical Center laundry facility on Gattis Street.
A development team--which includes DHA, Burch Avenue Neighborhood Association and University representatives--will plead the case before the Durham Planning Commission and the Zoning Committee in two separate hearings. Although the first hearing is not until Wednesday, the development team met yesterday to discuss what the project will entail and to address possible objections to the proposal.
"No one's really concerned with what Duke does on its own campus, but once Duke turns to try to do something with the community, proper zoning becomes very important," said Jeff Potter, University director of real estate administration.
The hearing in front of the Zoning Committee-the second of the two hearings, tentatively scheduled for next month-will seek a zoning change for the area.
The proposed development provides for 48 new senior housing units, which would require the area's zoning code to change from R5 to R16 and thus allow for 16--rather than five--housing units per acre over the three-acre area. The new building would be one story taller than the abandoned laundry facility but would maintain the facility's ground area. "If the building had been originally zoned as industrial instead of R5--as it should have been--it never would have been an issue to reduce it to R16," Potter said. "It's just a quirk that most of Duke's campus is still zoned R5."
Director of Community Affairs Michael Palmer said the development team has no doubt the proposal will be approved because it addresses a substantial demand for affordable senior housing and has the support of surrounding residents. "We're at a point where if you build it, they will come," Palmer said.
The other hearing, at which the DHA will seek a small area plan amendment, will be before the planning commission next Wednesday.
Representatives from all interested parties said the proposal has been developed through cooperation, with minimal opposition.
"We have nothing to gain by pushing something down the community's throat that we know you don't want," said DHA Executive Director James Tabron. "This doesn't mean that there won't be any issues that will surface from people who weren't at any of the meetings, but we don't want to be in a contest of wills in front of those we're asking to approve the project."
Mark Eckert, a Burch Avenue neighborhood resident and president of the neighborhood association, agreed and added that he had not heard any neighborhood opposition to the project.
"What most people want to preserve is the single-family duplex atmosphere, so we didn't want slum lords coming in and creating a gentrified version of downtown," he said. "But we're okay with this proposal. It utilizes existing structures so it won't displace people and it addresses a needy senior population which most people think is a worthwhile cause."
Although some neighborhood residents initially held reservations about the project--most notably regarding decreased security and an influx of private-vehicle traffic--the DHA easily dispelled these concerns when it elucidated its plans, Eckert said. In fact, the issue of security now is viewed as one of the biggest benefits of the senior housing proposal. Residents initially feared that the senior housing project would decrease security by inviting criminals to an easy target--a large elderly population in a dim and relatively unpopulated area.
The University, however, has agreed to install lighting on the path connecting the facility to Campus Drive. In addition, the proposal includes overnight on-site security, which Eckert hopes will have a peripheral effect on the Burch Avenue neighborhood.
The development team saw the filling of the otherwise vacant building as the proposal's greatest benefit.
"If a building is vacant, it invites vagrancy and a whole host of activity that would be detrimental to a community," said Director of the Duke University Police Department Clarence Birkhead, who is also on the development team. "It's good for the neighborhood to pump life back into this facility."
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