After some debate and questions of parliamentary procedure last night, the Durham City Council postponed action on a proposal for a 2,500-home development in East Durham.
At the meeting, several points of procedure were raised, and the council spent some time debating who would be allowed to speak. Mayor Nick Tennyson was in Minneapolis watching the NCAA championship, and Mayor Pro Tem Howard Clement ran last night's meeting in his stead-but not without a few moments of confusion along the way.
The development proposal, which the council will take up again May 7, would allow Triad Homes, Inc., to develop almost 700 acres between Sherron Road and U.S. Route 70 with about four homes-apartments and town houses-per acre.
Opponents of the project expressed concern that the development would damage the surrounding environment, overburden Durham's already crowded schools and cost taxpayers $11 million to educate the additional students.
"This would mean yet another school serving lunch at 10 a.m.," said Sara Terry of the People's Alliance.
The developers have been considering donating land for a new school to support the increased population, but Jack Markham, their attorney, said they have not yet reached an agreement with the school system, and therefore requested that the vote on the development be deferred for a month.
The major question last night was whether to reject the development outright or delay voting on it, since several residents wanted to speak against the proposal.
Though the majority of the council supported postponing the issue, council member Pamela Blyth moved that the council vote on whether to decide the matter, after listening to citizens' comments. But before hearing what the public had to say, the council voted 9-3 against the motion.
When Blyth objected, the council voted to reconsider her motion and take public comments. The council stopped short of debating the issue themselves, denying Blyth her request to speak, and moved to a final vote.
The reconsidered motion to reach a final decision on the issue last night failed 9-3, and the council voted 11-1, with Blyth the sole voice in opposition, to defer their decision until May 7.
Unsurprisingly, the meeting did not last more than an hour and a half, as some members of the council were eager to watch the NCAA championship game.
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