Local government officials and community groups hoping to stymie a developer’s plan to build a housing subdivision adjacent to Duke Forest are catching a break.
If Durham County commits to paying for the 42.8-acre tract—currently owned by the University—by April 8, Duke will accept payments over three years, rather than in a lump sum. As several local governments scramble to come up with the necessary funds to purchase the tract, this extension could make the acquisition possible.
The University currently has a contract allowing it to sell the entirety of the land to Crosland Properties Inc., which plans to build 49 “executive-style” houses on the land, which stretches from Durham into Orange County across New Hope Creek. Community groups and some local government officials are working to thwart the developer’s plan.
Controversy initially erupted when Duke announced that it had a contract to sell the land to Crosland; many local officials and community groups were unaware that the land, which many assumed was part of the Duke Forrest, was for sale. “Duke is the biggest land owner [in the Triangle], and Duke needs to work with the local governments,” Jacobs said. “It needs to be very transparent.” After it became known that Duke was looking to sell the land, a grassroots campaign sprouted up to buy the land to make a park.
Since the land straddles the Durham and Orange county line, four local governments—Durham County, the city of Durham, Orange County and the city of Chapel Hill—must all be involved in purchasing the land. Chapel Hill has been the only one to offer any specific amount, tentatively announcing a $100,000 donation. The multijurisdictional effort must come to a consensus about appropriate actions and monetary contributions within a month.
“What Duke has said is that we need to commit to buy the land by April 8th, but they would allow us to pay for the land over a three-year period,” said Ellen Reckhow, chair of the Durham County Commissioners. “It was in a letter that we received in December from [Duke Executive Vice President] Tallman Trask.”
Although Trask said he could not recall sending the Durham County Commissioners a letter, he said the county would have three years to pay for the land purchase.
Trask said Duke would be willing to sell the land to the city or county “if they wanted to do that.” He also said Duke would reduce the price of the land by $50,000 for the county because Duke is “just trying to be helpful.” He noted that Duke “doesn’t really” have a preference for who eventually acquires the land.
Wendy Jacobs, Trinity ’83 and chair of the Erwin Area Neighborhood Group, fears the development of the land because it would eliminate a potential recreation area for local residents.
“When a Duke Forest property comes up for sale, it’s an amazing opportunity because we don’t have a lot of open spaces with developed hardwood trees on them,” she said. She also expressed concern over the possible loss of historic roads and Native American ruins that are on the land.
Wade and Carolyn Penny, whose property borders the contested plot, agreed with Jacobs. If local governments buy up the land, they also have promised to sell their 25 acres of their land to the governments at one-tenth the going rate. This raises the stakes for the local governments because if they succeed in acquiring Duke’s 42.8 acres, they could also acquire the Pennys’ land, making for a much bigger public park.
Crosland Properties executives see it differently. “There is not a big benefit for the county to buy that land,” Crosland Vice President Jim Anderson said. “If I develop it, half of it [will be] open space with a trail. They are also giving up almost $90,000 a year [of potential tax revenue].”
He said Crosland will drop the project if it receives $500,000 to cover “direct cost, overhead and a fraction of our lost profit.”
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