A lawyer representing residents in South Durham in a petition against the controversial 751 South development has withdrawn an appeal (PDF) that was scheduled to be heard next week by the Durham Board of Adjustment, planning Director Steve Medlin confirmed Monday.

The attorney, Dhamian Blue, had appealed (PDF) to the board to overturn a ruling by Medlin last summer that a formal petition the residents filed in opposition to the development didn't contain enough signatures of property owners within a certain distance of the land to be developed. (The petition against 751 South did originally have enough signatures, but was invalidated on a technicality when the N.C. Department of transportation accepted a right-of-way along N.C. 751. More about that here.)

Blue had previously said that the Board of Adjustment would be the first avenue he would try for his clients, the Chancellor's Ridge Homeowners Association and residents Kristen Corbell and Kim Preslar. At the time, Durham's county attorney said the case actually needed to be heard in Durham Superior Court.

Now, Blue, the county attorney and an attorney for Southern Durham Development, the company proposing the project, all have agreed to deal with the dispute in Durham Superior Court, Medlin said.

Thus, the Dec. 6 appeal that was scheduled before the Board of Adjustment has been taken off that board's agenda.