Triangulator

Durham County Commissioner Becky Heron said today that commissioners are scheduled to meet with the planning department and county attorney at 10 a.m. Thursday to hear a report on the status of the Jordan Lake rezoning protest petition.

Heron said the board will discuss the issue in closed session. The Acting Clerk to the Board of Commssioners wasn't available this afternoon to confirm the meeting, but her assistant did confirm a meeting has been scheduled. Heron said commissioners communicated over the weekend to schedule it.

It's unclear whether the planning department or county attorney have anything new to add to a Nov. 5 announcement by County Attorney Lowell Siler that the petition was invalid. The Indy has several calls out to public officials, and will update accordingly.

UPDATE, 3:15 p.m. - County Manager Mike Ruffin received a memo late Friday from planning Director Steve Medlin regarding the Jordan Lake protest petition, Ruffin said, but Siler has advised the county that the memo isn't public because it contains confidential information protected by state law. It's unclear whether this is relative to a pending lawsuit against the county.

Ruffin also said the County Attorney has advised members of the planning department not to speak about the protest petition, and that he knows of no plans on the part of any county department to publicly outline the county's findings on the protest petition, but that county commissioners have the power to order the county to make the protest petition findings public after consulting with Siler on any legal ramifications.

Ruffin also said he couldn't confirm why commissioners are meeting Thursday, just that they're meeting in a closed session.

Read more about the Jordan Lake protest petition >>

Durham Public Schools is holding a public forum next month to gather input on the selection of the district's new superintendent. The district's current head, Car l Harris, has accepted a job with the U.S. Department of Education and will be leaving at the end of the year.

The school board has already started the search for the new superintendent, but want to know what the public wants from school leadership, too.

The forum, part of the Kitchen Table Conversation series, will be held from 7 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. on Tues., Dec. 1, at the Durham Public Schools Staff Development Center at 2107 Hillandale Road. Space is limited to 150 people.

Register online or call DPS Public Affairs at 560-3652 by November 30 to reserve a spot.

Durham County Commissioner Becky Heron attempted to get some answers about a controversial petition aired at last night's commissioners meeting. But her attempt was unsuccessful. County Attorney Lowell Siler recommended that the board talk about the petition in closed session, in large part due to the fact that petitioners could sue the county over the results.

"I wanted us to have an open session and just be very transparent and open to the people," Heron said.

Through the county's channels, Siler announced last week that the petition was invalid, in part because of problems with signatures. The petition was filed last month by the Haw River Assembly, with the help of the Southern Environmental Law Center, to make it more difficult for commissioners to rezone the protected area around Jordan Lake. If the petition were valid, it would have required four commissioners to vote to rezone the area, instead of the simple majority of a 3-to-2 vote. That simple majority led to the rezoning on Oct. 12.

But the planning department said the petition didn't present enough signatures. Since then, the planning department and county have been in a back-and-forth disagreement regarding whether the petition was valid, arguing on points of the land that was counted and whether the signatures were valid.

Read more about the history of this issue >>

From a news release from the county, sent at 5:24 p.m. today:

Durham City-County Planning Director’s Protest Petition Ruling will be defended

County Attorney Lowell L. Siler stated today that upon receipt of an appeal, his office will defend the Durham City-County Planning Director’s determination that the Jordan Lake protest petition is invalid based on factors that include, but are not limited to the standing and authority of certain parties signing the petition submitted by the Haw River Assembly.

Siler informed the Board of County Commissioners that any legal challenge will be defended in Superior Court.

See previous post for more information.

The People's Alliance this morning released a letter it sent (pasted below) to Durham County Commissioners, Durham's county manager, planning director and county attorney supporting the validity of a protest petition filed earlier this year by two environmental groups looking to preserve development restrictions around Jordan Lake.

The petition, filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center and Haw River Assembly, was ruled invalid one business day before Durham's County Commissioners voted 3-2 to move the protected area around the water reservoir, which will allow commercial and residential development closer to the lake. Last week, petitioners challenged the Durham planning department and its director, Steve Medlin, to take another look at the petition.

The groups who filed the petition say the county missed two parcels of land that could have affected the outcome of the petition. Medlin said this week that the planning department hadn't yet ruled on whether those parcels were mistakenly left out, but did say there was a question about the validity of the signatures.