Duke's neighbors could get a better idea of how new campus buildings fit into the community if a proposed city-county zoning plan is approved by the City Council next month.
After a large outcry of public opposition to the aesthetic implications of a North Carolina Central University rezoning request in November, the Durham City/County Planning Department proposed a university-college zoning district plan.
The committee expects the ordinance, if passed, to ease the burden of new development for both Durham's institutions of higher learning and their surrounding citizens.
The plan would regulate developments on the perimeter areas of three schools - Duke, NCCU and Durham Technical Community College - forcing them to comply with the building structure of their adjacent neighborhoods.
In order to preserve the city's appearance, such perimeter buildings would be limited to heights no taller than one and a half times that of the tallest non-campus building on the other side of the street.
Additionally, glass buildings at the edge of campus could not be erected amidst an all-brick neighborhood.
"We want to minimize the average impact on the surrounding areas," said Frank Duke, Durham city-county planning director. "If you are butting Trinity Heights, you are going to face height restrictions," he added, referring to a neighborhood off the perimeter of Duke's East Campus.
The ordinance would give all three schools jurisdiction over construction in the more centralized parts of their campuses, making each campus an individual zoning district.
The City Council would still require traffic, stormwater and parking studies, but planning officials estimate the proposed ordinance could reduce the development process by six weeks.
"We're moving the threshold of approval," Duke said. "In the interior areas [of the schools], instead of site plans having to go before City Council they could be approved administratively."
The timeframe of the development process for new buildings around the perimeter areas would remain the same, in that approval will still be subject to council opinion.
Duke said his committee anticipates implementation of the zoning districts to be a rather lengthy process.
With the zoning committee's unanimous approval, the plan awaits a City Council response, scheduled for the Feb. 17 meeting.
Mayor pro tempore Lewis Cheek said the Council has not begun to consider the plan.
"It has not gotten to our level yet," Cheek said.
If the plan makes it through the City Council, the committee will then rezone the three educational institutions, one at a time.
Duke said the rezoning of Duke's campus should begin in March and return to the Council for approval of the new district by May, assuming there are no delays.
Duke said the Duke University zone could include perimeter areas such as Erwin Road, or the University could choose to leave these areas in city-controlled zones. Either way, the land falling in the perimeter area will have to comply with the character of the surrounding city.
"Most of the projects we have planned are not around the periphery so [zoning these areas] won't affect us too much," said Duke Executive Vice President Tallman Trask.
Trask said the new plan will not have immediate benefits, but will have a positive impact on tentative future plans.
"[The plan] actually solves a series of problems," Trask said. "It tells the neighbors what they can expect over time, and it gives us more flexibility. When it comes to these multi-million dollar projects, time is money."
Trask said most of Duke's current construction plans have already received the City Council's approval, but proposals for new science and public policy buildings could be approved in less time if the new ordinance passes.
"Everything will get done more quickly in the future," he added.
University Architect John Pearce said he has not encountered many problems with city officials in the past and expects future projects to be "business as usual."
"It would be difficult for me to say it would make it easier with the city," he said. "I look forward to continuing the working relationship we have, and if it makes it easier, great."
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