Duke is withdrawing its proposal to rezone certain parcels of land near Central Campus following years of pushback from Durham residents in the surrounding area.
In April, the University submitted plans to rezone 10 parcels of land located near East Campus from residential to the “University and College with a Development Plan” (UC(D)) designation to “allow for future college and institutional uses.”
However, Duke officials recently announced to residents of the Burch Avenue neighborhood that they would no longer be moving forward with rezoning three of the 10 parcels, including the Laundry Building at 400 Gattis Street.
Located next to the Arts Annex, the Laundry Building has been abandoned ever since asbestos, a fibrous construction material now considered a serious health hazard, was discovered in a number of Central Campus buildings. Though the property is owned by Duke, the building sits in Durham’s Burch Avenue neighborhood.
Duke officials first reached out to residents Monday morning to inform them that they had an update on the rezoning proposal. They then scheduled a virtual meeting with several residents for Monday afternoon where administrators delivered the news verbally, according to Burch Avenue neighborhood resident Russell Lacy, who was present at the meeting.
“We notified city staff of this change and want to be sure you received an update from our team,” Adem Gusa, director of planning and design, wrote in a Tuesday morning follow-up message to residents. “We appreciate the conversations we have had with you over the years about the Old Laundry site and when we have a proposal for the site’s future, we look forward to discussing it with you.”
University administration shared a statement with The Chronicle later Tuesday afternoon confirming the rezoning proposal’s withdrawal.
“Due to the unusual way East Campus is zoned, encompassing all of the golf course, this rezoning request caused some confusion,” Gusa wrote, also restating the administration’s appreciation for community feedback and willingness to communicate with residents about future plans for the property.
The announcement to the residents came two days after The Chronicle’s initial request for comment from University administration regarding the neighborhood’s long-running concerns. Residents noted that they had not been in recent communication with representatives from Duke prior to the Monday meeting.
Central to Durham residents’ initial concerns over the rezoning proposal was their belief that Duke failed to ensure the neighborhood’s safety and preserve the “character and quiet enjoyment” of the community in its rezoning efforts.
“Unlike all the other parcels that are in the rezoning, [which] all have access from Duke property, this one has to come through our neighborhood,” said longtime resident Robert Cushman. “… I think it’s really not fair to get permission [from the city] to do this.”
Residents explained that their primary concern is increased traffic that may result from a redeveloped property. The neighborhood roads that lead to the building are narrow, making it difficult for more than one car to fit on the road at a time. Additionally, children often play near the roads.
Residents requested that these issues be addressed in the rezoning plans, but prior to Monday, they found the University’s response to be inadequate.
“We have asked time and time again that they make us some sort of common sense commitment that either they are going to really limit the number of traffic, or if they can't limit the amount of traffic, that all vehicular access has to come from Campus Drive,” Lacy said.
Duke officials met with residents of the Burch Avenue neighborhood multiple times over the past three years as the rezoning proposal progressed. Though Jeannine Privat, president of the Burch Avenue Neighborhood Association Board, appreciated the University’s willingness to make concessions like creating a Community Advisory Board, she was dissatisfied with officials’ refusal to share concrete plans or make any promises in writing.
The Chronicle obtained an April 2 letter submitted to the Durham Planning Commission by the Burch Avenue Neighborhood Association Board, which noted that residents’ concerns are grounded in a historically tense relationship with the “uncompromising powerful entity” of Duke.
When the Laundry Building was still operating, residents complained of “laundry trucks that were loud, fast and frequent.” Now, they fear that changing the property’s designation from residential to UC(D) would lead to similar inconveniences.
Neighborhood representatives explained in the letter that although they offered compromises such as rerouting non-emergency traffic and providing access to parking garages via Campus Drive, such “good faith” efforts were not matched by the University. Instead of seeking alternatives to problems of vehicular access, residents claim the University said there were “too many unknowns” to make a definitive commitment.
“Duke should not be able to use these ‘unknowns’ as a shield from meaningful engagement when Duke controls the unknowns,” the board members wrote. “Furthermore, allowing Duke to rezone the property now will severely limit opportunity for community engagement when Duke finally does decide to develop the property.”
In a June 13 interview with The Chronicle, Privat conveyed her concern about the future of the neighborhood’s relationship with the University should the property be redeveloped. At the time, she was worried that rezoning the space without a formalized plan for its purpose would provide Duke with “a blank check for the future” without “any direction of what will go there, or when it’ll go there, or how it will get there.”
Before the withdrawal was announced, residents felt the University fell short of its commitment to act in the best interest of the community and take their grievances seriously.
“Given the opportunity to meaningfully engage with neighbors to turn an abandoned, asbestos-contaminated building into something new and wonderful for Duke, the community and Durham, Duke has pursued a tight-lipped stance to rezone its property only on its own terms,” the board members wrote in the April letter.
Some residents now feel optimistic about the neighborhood’s future. Lacy expressed his appreciation to the University for listening to the community’s concerns and withdrawing the rezoning application.
“We look forward to engaging again with Duke when they have a specific proposal for the site,” he wrote in a Tuesday afternoon statement to The Chronicle. “It’s a great property, and we are confident that Duke can thoughtfully develop 400 Gattis Street in a way that will serve Duke, the Burch Avenue neighborhood and all of Durham.”
Per Lacy, Durham City Council had tentatively scheduled the next discussion of Duke’s rezoning proposal for its August 19 meeting, which will now likely evaluate plans for the remaining seven parcels.
Editor's note: A previous version of the article mistakenly stated in the headline that Duke had withdrawn its applications to rezone land formerly part of Central Campus. The University's application to rezone Central Campus is still active; the rezoning proposals that have been withdrawn are for 3 parcels of land near East Campus. The Chronicle regrets the error.
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Olivia Schramkowski is a Trinity junior and was formerly a staff reporter for the news department.