By Matthew E. Milliken

mmilliken@heraldsun.com; 419-6684

DURHAM — An audience of about 200 people who turned out Tuesday evening to hear about controversial school construction plans applauded speaker after speaker who endorsed the plans.

The meeting was organized by Durham Public Schools officials to promote the project known as Middle School B. It is slated to be built on the north side of Snow Hill Road.

The location provokes consternation among its immediate neighbors — many say they welcome the school but just don’t want the traffic it will bring — and jubilation among residents of the Treyburn community. The latter group would not be directly affected by the traffic but are eager for an alternative to Chewning Middle School.

“We’ve been waiting for this school for a long time,” said Sally Burke, an 18-year Treyburn resident. “We support it. We think it’ll add to our property values. And the parks are a nice addition to north Durham.”

Burke was referring to athletic fields that will flank the school and either be shared with or run solely by the municipal park department.

Of the 24 speakers Tuesday, two expressed no clear opinion about plans for the school, three opposed it, and the rest endorsed it. Opposition speakers — they were clustered at the beginning of the public comment period — were applauded politely, but those who backed the school seemed to get a much warmer reception.

During his comments, Christian Ferrell pointedly asked Hugh Osteen, the assistant superintendent in charge of construction, about money allocated for a new middle school site in southern Durham, where growth and consequently the need for a new facility appear to be greater. Osteen said the district would explain on its Web site today or Thursday why land for the so-called Middle School A has yet to be acquired. Answers to other questions posed Tuesday night will also be posted at www.dpsnc.net.

William Vaughan, who like Ferrell lives beside the proposed school site, said he was concerned about how the new development’s parking and athletic field lighting and additional traffic would affect his home. He criticized a traffic study predicting that a modest amount of car trips will be generated by the school.

Vaughan and Jim Slaughter, the main spokesman for the Snow Hill Road neighbors who have expressed wariness about the new school, both said that the group is not opposed to the school, only to the traffic it will generate.

But Treyburn Forest resident Jeff Doucette questioned exactly what the group is fighting. “I didn’t see any signs that said ‘no traffic,’ I saw signs that said ‘no school,’ ” Doucette said, referring to signs that have been posted on private property alongside Snow Hill Road.

Other speakers endorsing the school construction plans argued that the land for the school had been donated and that such a gift that should be taken advantage of during these hard economic times. And nearly everyone on the pro side thanked district administrators and their architectural, landscape and traffic experts for the presentation that preceded the public comments.

Durham County Commissioners will likely vote on rezoning, site plan, special use permit and transportation permit approvals for the project in December. Commissioners Becky Heron, Brenda Howerton and Ellen Reckhow attended the meeting.

“I love the plan that they have,” Heron said, noting that she was pleased that the new school’s gymnasium and auditorium are designed to be used by the public while school is out of session. She said she believed Snow Hill Road residents would be able to reach an accommodation with the school system.

City Council approval will also be needed because part of the school and park site lies within municipal boundaries.

The district hopes to begin construction in April and to open the new 850-student school by August 2012. Funding for the $31.3 million project comes from the 2007 bond.