20210224 Ver 1_Public Notice Comments_20211023 (2)

Public Notice Comment Form
ID#*
20210224
Project Name*
Westpoint
First Name
Chris
Affiliation (if applicable)
Durham Citizen
Phone Number
9196983680
Version *
1
Number only.
Last Name
Dreps
Email *
[e-mail]
*** The intent for collecting an email address is to allow us send you a receipt for submittal of this comment.
Please pick the response below that represents your stance on the above mentioned project?*
Yes - I agree with the project. No - I do not agree with the project.
Comment
I believe a Public Hearing should be required for this development proposal. The project is planned directly
adjacent and uphill of the City of Durham's West Point on the Eno public park and within the Critical Area of an
emergency water supply. The project will have several negative impacts affecting the public, and despite that, it
has never been held to any public scrutiny at the local level, the state level, or by any federal agency.
First, the application omits negative water quality impacts to a Durham water supply. In 2007-08, Teer Quarry
was used as an emergency water supply, and it almost certainly will be a needed supply in the future. For that
reason, the City has planned for Teer Quarry to be used as a long term water supply and as I understand it, is
scheduled to designated in 2022. This property lies within the Critical Protection Area of the quarry. Protecting
the Teer Quarry water supply from a grandfathered development with 70% impervious cover represents a major
Public Interest.
Secondly, the proposed development will have several different types of impacts on a public park. West Point on
the Eno park was originally purchased in the 1970's using federal funds. The proposed development site and the
park are designated Natural Heritage Area. The park and the designation occurred due to a well -organized,
public effort by the Eno River Association. This park is one of Durham's most popular, and it is host to the annual
Festival for the Eno River. The public paid for, managed, and loves this park, so it is clear that any impacts to this
park are in the public interest and should not be decided upon on by a handful of planners or permit reviewers.
I detail below some of the impacts, but first it is important to discuss how this project has even managed to get
this far. In the period of 2006-10, the planned Eno Drive was defeated by a massive local, public effort to protect
the Eno River, this park, and the adjacent Eno River State Park. The properties around the planned road were
down -zoned from higher to lower densities, and Durham's Comprehensive Plan was changed to reflect lower
density development along this entire area. During that time, the NC State Parks system was considering
purchasing the property, and for some reason that I cannot completely understand, this property was never
down -zoned, though it reportedly should have been. This incorrect zoning was caused by public agencies and
Durham City and County, and the public has an interest in, and should be made aware of everything that
transpired. We deserve to know why this plan to created the highest density subdivision in the entire area, right
on top of the City's premier nature park, yet there is no public process.

The are many concerning potential impacts of this proposed development that warrant a public hearing. Here are
some.
1) The application ignores public safety concerns about direct human contact with water/runoff from the
development. Stormwater runoff from the development will flow into two tributaries of the Eno River, Warren
Creek and Black Meadow Branch (which the developer calls "unnamed tributary"). These two creeks are the only
small creeks in the City where you regularly find people fishing and playing in the water on a regular basis.
2) The application contains incomplete, conflicting, and/or incorrect information. The application states that the
proposed development meets Neuse River Basin Riparian Buffer Rules; however, the Roxboro entrance road
(Access #1) does not have any planned stormwater control measures shown on the August 2021 site plan
version 5. This error is a violation of the stormwater requirement of the Riparian Buffer rules (15A NCAC .02B
.0714 (9)). The planning department reports in meetings that this is being corrected, and yet we, the public again
have no knowledge of that. It is time to allow some light to shine upon this process.
3) The application omits how the development negatively impacts threatened and endangered species and their
habitat. The Durham County Inventory of Important Lands, Plants, and Wildlife (Hall and Sutter) states that the
Neuse River Waterdog salamander is present from Eno River State Park continuously to West Point on the Eno.
(pg 258- Description of Fauna). The survey and notes of West Point in this literature include the land being
proposed for the Westpoint development, which also includes the area of the USACE Jurisdictional
Determinations. (Survey Map on pg 262). The report also states that the mouth of the Black Meadow Branch at
the West Point Mill is a prime habitat for Mollusks. The Atlantic Pigtoe is documented many times at Eno River
State Park within 1 mile of this location, and according to the Sutter and Hall report, species surveyed and
reported at Eno River State Park "should be considered" to be at West Point on the Eno. Also, in June of 2021,
US Fish and Wildlife recognized the Carolina Madtom as Endangered and outlined the Eno River, including West
Point on the Eno's section of the river as a Critical Habitat. The "no effect" assessment by US Fish and Wildlife,
and small surveys by S&CE conducted on the development site do not look at impacts just a few hundred feet
downstream in the West Point on the Eno Park. This is an issue of public concern.
4) The project will impact a federally -recognized historic site. The application states that the development site is
not located in or "near" a State Historical site; however the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
State Historic Preservation Office references West Point on the Eno as a Historic site. The opinion that the NC
Department of Natural and Cultural Resources State Historic Preservation Office gave- that said "no historic
resources .... would be affected by the project" is also lacking context and inaccurate. This answer does not
address the following issues under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act that will adversely
impact the Westpoint on the Eno historic site by the following:
a. Change the character of the [historic] property's use or setting
b. Introduce incompatible visual, atmospheric, or audible elements, or
c. Cause physical destruction or damage
These are all likely outcomes of the development. In particular, the potential for physical damage or destruction
to the functioning historic mill is real. The City of Durham Parks and Recreation Department, and Friends of West
Point on the Eno, a nonprofit friends of the park group, have spent untold thousands of dollars over many years,
maintaining and repairing the dam and water wheel of the mill, which is open to the public and is functional. The
problem is that this historic mill is regularly damaged by stormflows, and so it needs repair, and the City barely
has enough money to maintain it. The increase in stormwater runoff through Black Meadow Branch caused by
the proposed development would, by design, send excess stormwater runoff directly to this delicate structure,
potentially ruining the mill to the point that the City cannot afford to repair it. This is a matter of public concern,
and yet again, the public has no voice except through this state water quality permitting process. Crazy.
5) Wrong Permit type - based on impacts, public Interest, and appreciable opposition. Before the 404/401
application was turned in - a public petition and funding campaign to halt the Westpoint development for
environmental and public interest concerns had already registered over 5,000 signatures against the
development. These already known opposition actions should showcase that a Nationwide Permit is not the
correct permit type; and yet we are denied the opportunity to fully understand the impacts to our City park.
In summary, I'm not against a developer being allowed to build housing at this site. I am asking that the
government do its job of protecting West Point Park, a publicly -funded, publicly -used park, and Teer Quarry, a
emergency public water supply and soon -to -be public water supply. For these reasons and for protection of the
historic sites and federally -listed Threatened and Endangered species, the public should be allowed a public
hearing.

Yours,
Chris Dreps
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