mmilliken@heraldsun.com; 419-6684
DURHAM -- Durham planners are reviewing their decision to invalidate a protest petition involving the recent Jordan Lake watershed boundary change, officials said Thursday. The review was ordered this week after petition organizers submitted evidence that the petition's status was affected by erroneous government calculations.
But regardless of what the review turns up, county officials said, the only way the petition status or the county commission vote to alter the boundary might be affected would be by court order.
"It's not going to go back to the board," County Manager Mike Ruffin said. "The board has taken action. And unless the court remands it to the board, that's where [in court] it needs to get settled."
The protest petition was submitted earlier this month by a group of activists that includes the Haw River Assembly and the Southern Environmental Law Center. The intent was to require a supermajority vote of county commissioners in order to change watershed protections around Jordan Lake.
Because the protest was deemed invalid, the watershed boundary was altered on a 3-2 county commission vote on Oct. 12. Had the petition stood, at least four votes would have been needed to take action.
Developers need officials to approve watershed and zoning changes in order to proceed with a 165-acre mixed-use project known as the 751 assemblage.
Project opponents, who fear that runoff from the development will pollute the lake, maintain that they got signatures from the owners of 20 percent of the property adjoining the land affected by the watershed change. They assert that parcels on the east and west sides of Jordan Lake were overlooked by planners when they invalidated the protest petition.
"We believe that there's a very clear-cut mistake that was made and that Durham needs to acknowledge the mistake," said Elaine Chiosso, riverkeeper for the Haw River Assembly. "And if they acknowledge the mistake, the vote that was held by the commissioners would not have had enough votes to change the boundary."
Planners originally asserted that the petition was signed by individuals owning less than 18 percent of the requisite land -- short of the threshold for a valid protest. A new review was launched after the Haw River Assembly and the Southern Environmental Law Center contacted county officials on Tuesday. Planners will reassess the percentage of property represented by signers and seek to verify that petition signatures are authentic.
But no matter what the review shows, neither the petition status nor the Oct. 12 vote will be affected, county leaders asserted.
"At this point, their route of appeal is through the courts," said Steve Medlin, the head of the Durham City-County Planning Department.
Chiosso's side has a different view. "We believe that we have a valid protest petition and our understanding is that under the law, that would mean that the vote that was taken did not have enough votes," Chiosso said. "But we're waiting -- we're waiting for their reply."
Medlin said he was not sure when his department's review of the matter would be completed.
