Durham approves new apartments near Duke Forest over neighbors’ objections
New apartments are on the way to Cornwallis Road across from Duke Forest, despite objections of homeowners concerned about traffic and flooding.
“This is infill development, which usually folks get excited about,” Mayor Pro Tem Mark-Anthony Middleton said at a meeting Monday night at which the City Council approved a rezoning for the development.
The City Council vote was split 4-3 along familiar lines on the rezoning, with council members DeDreana Freeman and Monique Holsey-Hyman joining Mayor Elaine O’Neal in voting no.
Developer Ernie Brown’s company is behind the project. It works in the Triangle and Pacific Northwest. and put together 7.5 acres for just under $1 million in late 2021, property records show.
The approved plans call for up to 90 units southwest of the intersection of Cornwallis Road and U.S. 15-501. Most will be studios and one-bedrooms.
Rent is projected to average $1,800 a month, Brown said. He promised Monday to pay $100,000 into the city’s affordable housing fund and price five units as affordable for 30 years to those making 60% of the area median income.
“A lot of homes in that area are also very expensive. That is pretty prime real estate in Durham. It always has been,” council member Javiera Caballero said. “Within the context of how I can make my choices, I think this is the better decision.”
The previous zoning would have allowed six single-family units and a drive-thru restaurant, according to planning staff.
“All of our Noes are Yeses to something else,” Middleton said.
The Planning Commission unanimously opposed the project in November, mostly due to traffic concerns.
Why are neighbors upset?
Neighbors in the single-family homes surrounding the planned apartments said the development was too dense for the area. They said building so close to the highway intersection would make Cornwallis Road even more dangerous.
Alan Dippy said he has long commuted on bike to Duke University from his house in Colony Park. He said a few years ago, he adopted a much more circuitous route to avoid pedaling on Cornwallis Road.
“Anyone who’s driven east in the morning or west in the afternoon on this stretch of road knows that the sun glare is blinding, making it very difficult to see cyclists during peak commuting hours,” Dippy said.
The developer proposed adding a left turn lane on Cornwallis Road. The plan is to have 134 parking spaces, plus a bike storage and repair facility.
A dozen people spoke against the project, with about two dozen more watching.
The audience laughed loudly when the developer’s traffic engineer displayed photos of a fairly empty intersection. They were taken last month during Duke University’s spring break, though a traffic impact analysis study had a wider scope.
“Our study was coordinated with and approved by the North Carolina Department of Transportation,” traffic analyst Jeremy Potter said.
The neighbors also said building in the floodplain was dangerous. Duke professor Brent Strawn’s property is next to the planned apartments.
“I’ve experienced firsthand the negative effects of oversaturated area with water that makes it very easy for trees to fall over, like the one that hit my house in September, “ Strawn said.
Half the property is on a mapped floodplain, but the developer’s engineer, Tim Summerville, said they’ll only build on 28% of the site and not in the floodplain.
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