20210224 Ver 1_Public Notice Comments_20211028 (583)

Public Notice Comment Form
ID#*
20210224
Project Name*
Westpoint
First Name
Affiliation (if applicable)
Phone Number
9196270597
Version *
1
Number only.
Last Name
Priest
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
Avid outdoorsman and Arborist, IT Project Manager. Long time Durham resident. North Durham for 11+ and
South Durham for 10. Moved to North Durham in 2009 after seeing the large scale development of South
Durham following large state game land tracts being sold and developed at a rapid rate, far too rapid to keep
pace with the areas infrastructure. Quickly saw large increases in traffic, crime, and clear cutting of hundreds of
acres of property that I had previously hunted as public game land. We had to get away from that.
Associated home values made it a near impossibility for us to stay in South Durham.
We decided to move to North Durham, due to somewhat lower home values, but also due to the fact that there
was such a diverse landscape, with an abundant variety of wildlife, plants and trees. Much like South Durham
used to be.
Fast forward to 2020 - having already stopped the development at Latta and Guess for the Aldi and mixed
dwelling initiative (which, by the way, is back on the docket AGAIN), we are now seeing drastic, wholesale
development of a relatively small area between Hillandale, Rose of Sharon, Roxboro/Duke and Horton Road.
I have attached a map showing these areas, just to give an idea to the macro view and the collective areas being
developed.
Let me also say that it's abundantly clear to many people that the City Council has been easily swayed by
developers - with the recent storage facility approved on Guess road near Prison Camp road which, while it had
substantial pushback by residents, somehow still managed to get approved after some sleight of hand and some
'donations'. This has all the hallmarks of another cash grab scenario.
I want point out that the massive North Durham HS project, coupled with the Croasdaile encroachment onto
Hillandale north of Horton, combined with the storage units, large scale home building near Hebron, and the
proposed Westpoint project, are clear evidence that Durham's city government is essentially allowing developers
to have carte blanche to build at all costs, even openly contradicting talking points that they like to bolster such
as climate change, affordable housing and gentrification. There is no oversight to the overall impact to the

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is a disregard, or what I perceive as a view of misinformation or complacency, regarding the already obvious
flooding occurring in Argonne hills and the Eno at the EXACT place where this development is proposed. Which
is across the street from what looks like the biggest development I have ever seen with the new HS. And also,
that's before we even talk about the use permit debacle already overshadowing this proposal to begin with. It's
like it was never meant to be, and in any other city, perhaps it would be, but Durham just has to grow AT ALL
COST right?
As a homeowner, the impacts to me and my family have been DIRECT and immediate. For example, over the
last few months, JF Wilkerson has been doing some sort of water runoff project at the end the North side of
Stadium drive. I understand that this was not associated with the Westpoint project, but I can say this - the
volume of dump trucks, heavy equipment, blasting, and constant flow of construction vehicles, this is only going
to be magnified 100 fold if this development continues. And this is just me, giving my opinion. Let's not forget the
hundreds of surrounding houses who have already had to deal with their backyards being encroached upon,
increased traffic and general disruption. We are pretty much one voice that must be heard.
I can also say that as a direct impact of ALL of this development, but most importantly Westpoint, is that the quiet
Horton Hills and Argonne Hills neighborhoods may not be quiet much longer. Many years ago I worked
personally with the PAC 2 of Durham PD to implement measures on Stadium drive to reduce our rampant
speeding problem. Over 30 vehicles were pulled over in 1 day.
Since then (this was 2012 timeframe), things have been relatively quiet. But by adding all of this housing, and
providing two ways in - Roxboro and Stadium, this will cause untold volume of vehicles using already narrow
roads, already with congestion, already with higher accident rates (Horton/Stadium), and this just cannot be
allowed to happen. Parents are scared to let their kids play on these roads now. We start seeing 500% increases
in vehicle traffic, were going to see increased accidents, speeding, and my biggest concern is violence, or risk of
violence in an already violent city.
Looking at this from a wholistic perspective, taking out personal impacts to tax payers in this area, the ecological
impact is tremendous and must be considered above all else. You couple this with real life negative, disruptions
to the hundreds of people living adjacent to this proposal, then the answer is obvious. This is NOT what Durham
residents here want, this is NOT part of a being a responsible Steward for Durham and this development
CANNOT be allowed to proceed.
Upload Supplementary Files
Durham Development Aerial Since 2020.pdf
Pdf file type only
281.06KB
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