Bull City Rising

Morreene's revenge? CN zoning looks to take a more intensive review route

One of the more unfortunate legacies of Frank Duke's reign over the City/County Planning department was a moment that might best be described as "reign of error" -- the approval of a large warehouse for a wholesale business on the site of a former Morreene Rd. restaurant.

The presence of such a business (or its large industrial structure) wasn't exactly in keeping, neighbors argued, with the intent of the parcel's Commercial Neighborhood zoning, which supports allowing "limited commercial uses to satisfy the needs of the surrounding neighborhood." The Turnage Heights neighborhood appealed the city's approval of the warehouse development, losing before the Board of Adjustment in April.

Jim Wise's coverage of that hearing in the N&O raised the broader issue about Commercial Neighborhood (CN) zoning could lead to such a structure's erection, however:

"[The case] demonstrates some real problems and concerns that need to be addressed," said interim City Attorney Karen Sindelar....

"This case highlights the need for a more neighborhood-friendly commercial zone next to a residential area," [activist John[ Schelp said, "[and] clearly shows how important a neighborhood advocate, not a liaison, an advocate, can be....

"At the very least," [resident Will Robinson] wrote in an e-mail response to a reporter's question, "we may have played a large part in sparing other neighborhoods the same injustice we've experienced, and that is no small consolation."

Looks like the experience may indeed help out other neighborhoods struggling with this sort of conflict. City/County Planning staff have proposed another in the ongoing series of text amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance, this time focused on -- you guessed it -- CN zoning.

And the proposed changes, set for discussion at August 4's City Council meeting, give the sense that the Morreene Rd. debacle was front-and-center in staff's mind in proposing these changes.

Starbucks closures dodge Durham

Starbucks isn't everyone's favorite coffee shop, but hey, we serve all comers here at BCR, right? (Including Mrs. BCR, for whom the Starbucks on NC 55 down by the Park is, in fairness, just about the only caffeine option available on very early mornings in the office.)

To that end, it's worth noting that the Bull City has emerged unscathed from Starbucks' announcement it will be closing 600 underperforming stores in the US.

Although the corporate office mentioned that the vast majority of SBUX to close would be outlets open less than a couple of years -- a rubric that applies to the Indigo Commons, North Durham, NC 55 and Page Road locations, and possibly one of the two Southpoint outlets -- no Durham stores are slated for closing, according to this PDF from Starbucks corporate.

One Chapel Hill store at Chatham Downs is the only Triangle casualty expected. Five Charlotte and one Winston-Salem stores hit the casualty list, along with such locales as Hickory, Wilson, Hickory and Greenville.

Old Loehmann's Plaza looks confirmed for traffic light -- will the H-Teet follow?

As commenter Jeremy noted on an older story here on the blog, it looks like next Tuesday's NCDOT meeting on the widening of Hillandale Rd. between I-85 and Carver will cement everyone's least-favorite government agency's intent to add a traffic light at Bertland Ave., providing much-improved access to the aging Loehmann's Plaza shopping center:

When last we approached this story, the Herald-Sun had broken the news that shopping center owner Glenwood Development Co. felt they could hook Harris Teeter as a tenant as part of a remodeled shopping center, if NCDOT were to add a traffic light as opposed to adding an unbroken concrete median making access to or from the center from northbound Hillandale difficult.

Golden Belt: Pre-leasing going well, artist studios almost all reserved

Some good news from the folks over at Golden Belt, who report that pre-leasing of the nicely designed live/work loft apartments is going well ahead of schedule. As of this writing, a little less than half of these units are pre-leased, according to a representative of Scientific Properties.

Which is a very decent clip indeed, especially when you consider that the entire complex has yet to open, and represents a first foothold in an historically disinvested part of the Bull City.

Meanwhile, the artist studio spaces adjacent to the residential section are almost completely reserved at this point, with just a small number remaining.

The first artists residential units are slated to get their inaugural occupants on July 1, with nine loft residents able to move in then. Another round comes in mid-July, with the remaining units available August 1. The artist studios will begin to be occupied on July 17.

Scientific notes it's still working on more announcements to come in the next few weeks, including a likely announcement of Golden Belt's first artist-scholar studio in residence. Scientific is also gearing up for the Jacob Lawrence exhibition -- the first of its kind outside of NYC -- in the coming months, as announced on WUNC's The State of Things back in May.

No definitive word yet on restaurant or entertainment/live music tenants for the complex, though the hint of more announcements to come in the coming months holds promise for more news of interest from the east-of-downtown redevelopment.

(For more on Golden Belt, see the earlier BCR posts on their residential and office/work spaces.)

BCR Video Vignette: The suburban strip mall reflects on its younger days

What does the strip mall represent when it's been stripped away of all its essence, when every business except one hardy restaurant has left? How is the future of this strip mall, and its surroundings, so very different from what "forward-thinking Durhamites" expected back in those halcyon days in the late 1980s?

And just how can an empty parking lot, a small child, and a shopping cart combine to make the sweetest ad-hoc playplace?

Find out in this BCR video vignette, as we take a look at the tired South Square shopping plaza awaiting its transformation into a new mixed-use development:

Shooting the Bull: Podcast for June 22, 2008

In this week's edition of "Shooting the Bull," Barry Ragin and I chat with Colin Crossman of the Triangle Apartments Association to discuss proposals in both Durham and Raleigh to further regulate landlords in the name of targeting problem properties. Thanks as always to the folks at WXDU for the opportunity to host this weekly show.

If you missed the Sunday night broadcast, you can download or listen to the show from the Internet Archive, or listen to it via this embedded player. You can also now subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, via WXDU's hosted podcast.

Weekend update: Books, fresh food and more on tap downtown

With weekend temperatures well below the 90+ mark we suffered through earlier this month, look for this to be a good two days to head to the heart of Durham to do some market browsing -- especially with Saturday lined up as the longest day of the year, and the first official day of summer.

First up: the Friends of the Durham Library's semi-annual book sale, a popular affair that brings large crowds regularly to the main library just off the Downtown Loop for everything from books (vintage and newer alike), audiobooks, CDs and DVDs. The Library accepts donations of these items throughout the year and the regular sale helps generate revenue that supplants the operations of this community linchpin.

Today from 4pm-7pm is a members-only sale for patrons of the Friends of the Library, with memberships sold at the door. On Saturday, the sale is open to the public from 10am-4pm, and again Sunday from 2pm-5pm. Sunday also features the $7 for a whole bag of books event, for items in the Library auditorium only.

Of course, Saturday morning (8am-noon) the Durham Farmer's Market will be in full swing down by the old DAP. Seasonal items new to the Market this week include blueberries, cantaloupes, eggplant, and tomatillos, joining a mix of items that ranges from arugula to zucchini. (Check in below the jump cut below for a full list.) The Yoga in the Park series continues Saturday morning at 9am just west of the market, near the corner of Hunt and Roney.

As a bonus, the Durham County Master Gardener Volunteers will be present at the Market to answer any questions you may have to make your green thumb a bit greener.

The Bulls will enjoy the longer daylight to boot, continuing a homestand with 7:05pm games against Norfolk tonight and Saturday night, followed by a 5:05pm game against the Tides on Sunday. Friday night's game will feature the typical post-game fireworks to boot.

Tonight, it's another edition in the Warehouse Blues series down at West Village, with Adolphus Bell and Dr. G.B. Burt bringing the electric blues to the old tobacco warehouses (6pm), while the Dune Dogs will bring a mix of country and southern rock described as evoking Billy Joe Shaver, Johnny Cash and the Bottle Rockets to Brightleaf Square (7-9pm). Meanwhile, Duke Parks & Rec is sponsoring a free blues concert down in Duke Park on Saturday night, with Bobby Hinton and "Cool" John Ferguson headlining a show at 6pm.

All of which makes it a good weekend to get out and enjoy the Bull City.

D.P.D. District 2 substation to exit Northgate, move to N. Roxboro Rd.

We've talked here from time to time about the challenges Northgate Mall has had in holding on to its leases with retail tenants. Looks like they're about to lose a public-sector tenant, too.

Since the late 1980s, the Durham Police Department has maintained its District 2 substation in Northgate Mall, most recently in office space in the mall's lower level on its north side.

Not for much longer, though: Chief Lopez has presented to City Council a proposal to move the substation to North Durham, into a 6,500 sq. ft. building in the Food Lion shopping center at the corner of Infinity/Latta and Roxboro Rd.

It's a space twice as large as the current District 2 substation, and moves towards the more northern reaches of the large district. But a question Council would seemingly need to ask as the proposal moves through the public process is, will the new location be closer or further from the scenes of the crimes in the Bull City?

The N. Roxboro Rd. outparcel served most recently as a Keller Williams Realty office, though listing agent Anthony & Co. notes it's available for lease or sale as of December 2007. The City is proposing to pay $14.50 per sq. ft., or full asking price for the building; that rate will include maintenance, housekeeping, and upfit to the DPD's needs.

Report: Durham Food Co-op to sell W. Chapel Hill St. facility?

Details are sketchy at this point, but according to a report wending its way through local listservs, the Durham Food Co-op membership has voted to sell its 1101 W. Chapel Hill St. store and "return to the buying-club model, which will require much less space."

To date, there have been a small number of interested buyers, according to the report, and a special meeting of the Co-op membership is scheduled for June 29 to review sale offers and give feedback to the Co-op's board on which direction to take.

We're not sure what exactly a buying-club model would look like, though it certainly implies the end of the Co-op as a retail storefront operation. We'll continue digging into this to provide more details as we learn them.

Shop Ninth St. tomorrow, support Triangle Land Conservancy

Tomorrow and Sunday look to be scorchers, with temperatures topping the century mark in the Piedmont. Just think how much better a hot weekend like this one would feel sitting under a nice shade tree.

Well, on Saturday your shopping dollars on Ninth Street can help support a great non-profit that helps preserve shade trees and undeveloped land throughout the region. A number of local businesses on Ninth St. and beyond will be donating a percentage of their sales to the Triangle Land Conservancy on the fourteenth-annual Land Trust Day.

The TLC has preserved over 9,500 acres of sensitive natural and agricultural lands in the Triangle through conservation easements, donations, trusts, and partnerships with local governments.

Cozy, Vaguely Reminiscent, and The Play House Toy Store will all donate 15% of Saturday sales to the TLC; Barnes Supply and The Regulator will be donating 5% each.

Off Ninth, the Great Outdoor Provision Co. -- which began the event in 1992 -- will donate 10% of Saturday sales at their four stores, including Durham's Northgate Mall location. Plus, Bean Traders Coffee will donate 15% of June 7 sales from their Homestead Market store on NC 54 (the Ninth St. location is under different management.)

So make Saturday a great day to shop, and support a great cause to boot.