Durham City Council Meeting - August 19, 2024
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The Durham City Council met on August 19, 2024, at 7:00 PM in the Council Chambers, with Mayor Pro Tem Middleton presiding in the absence of Mayor Williams. The meeting included ceremonial proclamations, a consent agenda, general business items, and public hearings. Key actions included the selection of The Peebles Corporation as the preferred developer for 505 West Chapel Hill Street with a ground lease and affordability requirements, approval of the 2025 Council meeting schedule, adoption of the Omnibus 19 UDO text amendment, and continuation of the Duke Central Campus rezoning to October 7, 2024.
Consent Calendar
- Approved appointments to the Durham Cultural Advisory Board (Barbara Lau), Durham Sports Commission (Monica Brown), and Durham Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Commission (Philip L. Sophocleous).
- Received FY 2023-2024 attendance reports for boards and commissions, authorizing the City Clerk to begin removal of members with excessive absences.
- Adopted a resolution for multifamily housing revenue bonds not exceeding $29,000,000 for 500 East Main.
- Approved condemnation of a portion of 1505 Holloway Street for the Holloway Street Transit Corridor Improvements Project.
- Authorized engineering services agreements for solid waste management concrete repairs (A1 Consulting Group, Inc., up to $245,465) and yard waste site repairs (Smith Gardner, Inc., up to $323,200).
- Approved the first amendment to contract with Cranium Holding Inc. for BizLibrary learning content ($85,000, revised total $221,000).
- Accepted a $25,000 Build IT Forward grant from USTA Southern for tennis court repairs at Southern Boundaries Park.
- Authorized the tenth amendment to the Munis software support agreement with Tyler Technologies ($50,950.39, revised total $5,404,070.89).
- Approved a contract with Securance LLC for virtual Chief Information Security Officer managed services ($700,208).
- Approved the first amendment to contract with ESO Solutions, Inc. for a fire records management system ($132,954.15, revised total $196,541.20).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Stella Adams (Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People) expressed support for The Peebles Corporation as a black-owned firm but demanded the city retain land ownership for affordability in perpetuity and urged reducing commercial space by 100,000 sq ft to yield 80–100 more affordable units.
- Janetta Alston (virtual) voiced concern about building new housing at 500 East Main while seniors at JFK Towers live in squalor, asking the city to address conditions there.
- Nicole Thompson (Downtown Durham Inc.) urged the council to treat the redevelopment of 505 West Chapel Hill Street as catalytic and transformative, encouraging collaboration with adjacent property owners for downtown growth.
- Jane Williams (First Presbyterian Church walk-in ministry) highlighted the acute need for affordable housing, noting that employees of Duke and Durham Public Schools are struggling to pay rent. She urged a significant increase in affordable units, questioning the balance of 100 hotel rooms versus 92 affordable units.
- George Smart (NC Modernist) supported preserving the historic Milton Small building and endorsed The Peebles Corporation's proposal.
- Reverend James Blake (Fisher Memorial United Holy Church, Durham CAN) reminded the council of promises made on affordable housing and called for maximizing affordable units at 505 West Chapel Hill Street, with accountability from the developer.
- Sharon Fosbury (People's Alliance) urged the city to retain ownership of the land and create deeply affordable housing at 60% AMI or less, deed-restricted and in perpetuity, for families and public servants.
- Kathleen Turner (Preservation North Carolina) strongly supported the Peebles proposal, emphasizing the historic significance of the building and the benefits of historic tax credits.
- Julianne Patterson (Preservation Durham) expressed enthusiastic support for the adaptive reuse of the Milton Small Building into a hotel, noting the value of historic tax credits and the story of the building's architecture.
- Mimi Kessler (Durham resident) urged the council not to settle for less than what the community needs regarding affordable housing.
Discussion Items
- 505 West Chapel Hill Street Redevelopment (Item 7): After a work session on August 8, 2024, staff recommended The Peebles Corporation (TPC 505 WCH, LLC) as the preferred developer. Council debated the motion to authorize negotiation of a non-binding term sheet. Councilmember Rist offered a substitute motion requiring a ground lease and consideration of additional affordable units or an annual rent cap not exceeding 6%. After discussion, the substitute motion passed 5-1 (Mayor Pro Tem Middleton voting no). Councilmember Freeman then successfully amended the motion to add "substantial" before "additional affordable units," passing unanimously. The council also approved authorizing the city manager to negotiate a consulting contract with HR&A Advisors, Inc. (up to $250,000) and an ordinance amending the capital improvement project ordinance.
- 2025 City Council Meeting Schedule (Item 5): Approved unanimously. The schedule includes cancelling the work sessions on June 18 and July 10, 2025, and the meetings on July 7 and July 21, 2025.
- Unified Development Ordinance Text Amendment – Omnibus 19 (Item 17): Public hearing held. Staff presented the amendment as a technical cleanup, bringing the UDO into compliance with state legislation (SCAD) and correcting inconsistencies. Members of the public, including Sherry Zang Rosenthal and Mimi Kessler, raised concerns about ADU provisions, stormwater, and design standards. Council discussed and approved both motions (adopt the ordinance and adopt the consistency statement) unanimously.
- Zoning Map Change – Duke Central Campus Addition (Item 18): Public hearing opened. Attorney Neil Ghosh (Morningstar Law Group) represented Duke University, requesting rezoning of 10 parcels to University and College with a Graphic Development Plan (UCD) to add to an existing UCD district for 60 parcels total. Councilmembers expressed concern about the lack of a specific development plan, transportation commitments, and sustainability goals. Duke did not request a continuance but was open to one. The council voted to continue the public hearing to the October 7, 2024 meeting to allow for further discussion and clarity.
Key Outcomes
- Approved The Peebles Corporation as preferred developer for 505 West Chapel Hill Street, with direction to negotiate a non-binding term sheet that includes a ground lease and consideration of substantial additional affordable units or an annual rent cap not exceeding 6%. Also authorized a $250,000 consulting contract with HR&A Advisors and amended the capital improvement ordinance.
- Approved the 2025 City Council meeting schedule unanimously.
- Adopted the Omnibus 19 UDO text amendment and consistency statement unanimously.
- Continued the Duke Central Campus rezoning public hearing to October 7, 2024, to allow for additional information and community engagement.
Meeting Transcript
It is August 19th, 7 p.m. I'd like to call this meeting of the Durham City Council officially the order for the purposes of faithfully discharging the business of the people of Durham. Good evening to my honorable colleagues, to our staff, to our neighbors in chambers this evening, and to all of you watching on whatever platform you may be watching. His honor, the mayor, is with other fellow North Carolinians in Chicago serving as a delegate to the Durham National Convention this evening. We wish him well, and we'll try and get through it this evening in his absence. I'm going to ask you all, please to join me in a moment of silent meditation. Thank you. At this time, I'll call on Councilmember Freeman to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Thank you. It's our practice to stand and salute the flag as we say the pledge. I'd like to reply. Thank you so much. Madam Clerk, would you please call the roll? Good evening, Mayor Williams has an excused absence. Mayor Bertem Middleton. I'm here. Councilmember Baker. Here. Councilmember Caledo. Here. Councilmember Cook. Here. Councilmember Freeman present. And Councilmember Rist. Here. Thank you so much. Friends, tonight we have two uh really great and important ceremonial items. The first one will be breastfeeding family friendly community proclamation that will be delivered by Councilmember Freeman. And after that, we will have a very important proclamation for Women's Equality Day 2024, and that will be rendered by Councilmember Cook in that order. Thank you. And uh as a breastfeeding mom or former breastfeeding mom, this is a great opportunity to highlight just the difference and challenges that women face in the community. So I appreciate you being here. And so I have Love Anderson, Bernadette Green, Bernadette Green, and Frida Robin. Free home rondin here today to receive the proclamation, and I will start. So whereas the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life with continued breastfeeding while introducing complimentary foods for two years or as long as mutually desired by a parent and child. Families are a priority in Durham and part of helping families to thrive and ensuring that they receive community support to develop and sustain healthy lifestyles. And whereas there are long-standing policy gaps and underfunding of public health initiatives that address that needs, that the needs of lactating parents and health care providers that serve them, which unduly impact historically marginalized populations, resulting in reduced breastfeeding rates and an associated increase and risks for a variety of negative health negative health outcomes, and whereas a parent's decision to breastfeed their child and lactate should be unbiased and supported by their family, community, and health care providers, and by providing a supportive and welcoming environment. And whereas our community is proud to have attained board support and direct community actions, Duke Regional Hospital has attained a baby-friendly hospital initiative designation. The Durham County Department of Public Health and local businesses and organizations and child care programs in our community have been designated breastfeeding friendly. Now, therefore, I, Leonardo William, mayor of the City of Durham, North Carolina, do hereby proclaim August 2024 as breastfeeding family friendly community month in Durham and here and recommend its observance to all citizens. Witness my hand and the corporate seal of the city of Durham, North Carolina, this the 19th day of August, 2024. I want to thank you so much for this opportunity. We've been working for six years diligently because in putting in place some of these breastfeeding friendly practices like the baby friendly hospital initiative at Duke, our child care providers becoming baby friendly, and our hospitals and our health department becoming baby friendly have helped to reduce those infant mortality disparities. So now for every white baby that dies in Durham County, seven black babies die. We have more work to do, and you will see us again, but it's really important that every three years we come to the mayor's office and we remind the city council about this important work that you're doing. And you'll see that we're all wearing our t-shirts today because citizens of Durham, as you go to local parks, will see lots of images of different families lactating and feeding. And they're a little controversial because they represent the reasons why families are often asked to cover up or move. Um so I look forward to sharing those all with with all of you. Thank you so much. All right, if I could ask Dr.
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