Durham gives up right of way under 2 streets

By Ray Gronberg

gronberg@heraldsun.com; 419-6648

DURHAM -- City Council members voted 6-0 Monday to go along with Duke University's request that they surrender the public right of way under two streets near East Campus.

The decision came after Duke officials promised city officials and residents of the nearby Burch Avenue neighborhood that it would continue to allow the public to use Sumter Street and Maxwell Avenue 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The university's pledge came in a site plan, approved by city officials over the summer, that shows the streets will remain un-gated even after the school finishes the renovation of the adjoining Smith Warehouse complex.

Duke officials have the right to file a new site plan at any time that would scrap the access promise, but city/county planners say they'll warn the City Council if the school tries that.

Council members noted, however, that a site-plan change doesn't require their approval.

"This is not the best possible outcome," Councilman Mike Woodard said, indicating that he was going along only because the school cut a deal with Burch Avenue residents.

Councilman Howard Clement also voiced doubts about the outcome.

"There's nothing binding in this arrangement," he said. "Frankly, I'm disappointed."

Monday's vote capped a debate that had gone on for more than nine months.

Burch Avenue residents had objected to the right-of-way abandonments because they feared Duke would block public use of the streets, which the neighbors say provide an important safety valve for motorists when trains block passage along nearby Buchanan Boulevard.

Duke's case wasn't helped this spring when the school's executive vice president, Tallman Trask, met with council members behind closed doors and told them the roads would be gated.

A Duke representative had previously told the council, in public, that the school would continue to allow access.

Council members pushed for additional negotiations between the school and the neighborhood. The ultimately successful talks were led from Duke's side by Vice President for Durham and Regional Affairs Phail Wynn.

Neighborhood leaders stand behind the resulting deal even though several residents remain "adamantly opposed" to the surrender of legally guaranteed access rights, Burch Avenue activist Mark Eckert said.

Old West Durham Neighborhood Association President John Schelp urged council members to be wary. Trask, he said, remains in place and behind the scenes "is deliberately undermining genuine efforts by the university to improve town-gown relations."

Council members indicated that they'd hold Duke administrators accountable for any backtracking.

"Let the word go forth that if there's any attempt to break the spirit of the content of your letter [outlining the deal's terms], then you will certainly hear about it from this council and you will hear about it from the citizens of these neighborhoods," Councilman Eugene Brown told Wynn.

The vote was 6-0 because Councilwoman Diane Catotti sat out the debate on the grounds her husband is the Duke administrator in charge of parking.