Inter-Neighborhood Council

Making Better Neighborhoods

Minutes of Meeting of February 25,2003

REPRESENTATIVES / GUESTS PRESENT

Cheryl Sweeney	Northgate Park NA	Sharon Henderson	Twin Lakes
Elizabeth Dondero	Burch Avenue	Don Stauffacher	Marquis-Pierre
Bill Anderson	Duke Park NA	Donna Monroe	Lassiter Street
Mike Shiflett	Northgate Park / WHHNA	Charles Tiffin	Durham Police
Pat Carstensen	Cross Country NA	Tom Miller	Watts Hosp-Hillandale
Gaye Weaver	Old West Durham NA	John Compton	Old North Durham
Lynwood D. Best	City of Durham	Carrie Mowry	Old North Durham
John Dagenhart	Trinity Park	Johnea Kelley	Duke Park
Dale Stouch	Placid Valley	Vicki Schneider	Woodlake
Michele Dubow	Lassiter Street	Ketan Mayer-Patel	Rockwood
Laura Lawton	Trinity Heights	Andy Hutchins	Parkside
Janice Stroud	Morehead Hills	Pete Schubert	Carpenter-Fletcher
Robert Larson	Grove Park	Bill Bren	Black Horse Run
Melvin Whitley	W. E. Smith

Administration and Announcements

President Melvin Whitley opened the meeting and members introduced themselves.

Programs

Major Charles Tiffin gave an update on Project Safe Neighborhoods. Other cities in the Middle Federal Judicial District have been doing it for a while, but it builds on community policing efforts that have been going on in Durham for years. The federal government is providing funding and training on what has worked across the country. The goal is to cut violent crime drastically through partnerships (the school system is being slow at getting on board), strategic planning (identifying and analyzing patterns to focus resources better), training, accountability, and community outreach (for example, webpages using GIS showing crime mapping and a listserve at SafeDurham-subscribe@yahoogroups.com). They hope to have a coordinator on board in March. In general, the project is just starting, but they are already seeing progress.

Updates Business

The January minutes were approved with the proviso that the attendance list be completed. Robert Larson reported that we have $1187.

The new letterhead was passed around for comment.

Pat Carstensen reported on Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Committee. The Planning Department has started posting UDO drafts on their website. The committee will meet with Frank Duke in March on neighborhood concerns.

Mike Shiflett reported on the awards banquet to be held this fall. Awards would be made by neighborhoods so it wouldn’t be a contest. Some locations were suggested. Cost of $20 –25 / person may be too high. Tom Miller, John Dagenhart, Robert Larson volunteered to help.

Gaye Weaver asked for articles and ideas for the newsletter.

Ketan Mayer-Patel volunteered to help set up an INC list-serve.

Mike Shiflett reported that power companies have reasonable priorities for “hardening utilties” and neighborhoods are behind hospitals, prisons and so on. Getting underground utilities and improving streetscaping is clearly a multi-year task.

To help members link up into carpools, we will bring a map to the March meeting.

In an effort to get neighborhood-oriented people on important city and county boards, INC begin recruiting people for and making recommendations on the Planning Commission, the Board of Adjustment, Design Review Board, Housing Appeals and Transportation Advisory. (I may have misunderstood the Transportation one, as what I see on the city website is DATA board). Tom Miller and Carrie Mowrie will work on the planning-oriented bodies; members were asked to find volunteers to help cover this task by the next meeting.

Discussion Items

Gaye moved, Bill seconded, and the body passed the following motion on Lassiter Street:

Whereas all neighborhoods have an interest in having the widening of Archdale Drive set a good precedent for how road engineering interacts with neighborhoods, since the 2025 Transportation Plan has a significant number of widenings of 2-lane roads into 4-lane divided roads,

Whereas grids of streets support more efficient traffic patterns and better access by emergency vehicles, a connectedness ratio of 1.4 or higher indicates a good grid pattern (see Planning Department’s White Papers), and blocking left turns at Mossdale Avenue will decrease an already low connectedness ratio,

Whereas there are safety concerns related to access for public safety vehicles and the traffic patterns from cut-through traffic, and

Whereas the pedestrian and bicycle networks in the Lassiter Street neighborhood are inadequate, and will get worse with the proposed design.

We resolve that:

1. The median in Martin Luther King Jr, Parkway at Mossdale Avenue should be cut to allow traffic at that intersection to flow as it does now, or as close to its current pattern as possible.

2. The City of Durham should initiate a planning process, as proposed by the Durham Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission, to identify the neighborhoods’ needs and find cost-effective measures to make the area safer and more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly, particularly with respect to access to Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway (especially Dixon Road) and Hope Valley Elementary School.

3. The City of Durham should work with the neighborhoods to minimize disruption while construction is in progress.

4. INC should monitor the process to be ready to suggest improvements.

There was enthusiasm for understanding how neighborhoods could be more effective in dealings with the Department of Transportation. We will devote the March meeting to the subject.

Pat Carstensen asked members to think about what would make meetings most useful in terms of meeting format, content, and length.

The meeting was adjourned.