Planning Department Phase
The first step in rezoning is submitting an application to the City/County Planning Department. Plans are studied by various City & County departments, and results are compiled in a Staff Report. The application then goes on to the public hearing process.
Visit the Durham Planning Department's website.
Developer's Tasks
Pre-Submittal Conference
Before accepting an application for rezoning, Planning Staff meets with the applicant to go over the change process, the deadlines, and other info. They also make sure that the requested change will achieve the applicant's intent.
Inform Neighbors
The City requires applicants to notify specific neighborhood associations and groups before submitting the application, but a very vague form letter can pass for that. The City RECOMMENDS, but does not require, that the applicant inform neighboring property owners. This will change when the Unified Development Ordinance is approved (probably late 2005.)
Independent of the developer, the City notifies specific neighbors and neighborhood organizations the week before the public hearings. See "What Is Notification?" below.
Submit Plans
Rezoning application deadlines are noon on the second Monday of each month. As soon as a rezoning application is submitted, it's public information. In particularly interesting cases, the media might be contacting residents that same day. Most cases, though, pass without note.
One staff person is assigned to shepherd the application through the process and make a presentation at the Planning Commission hearing.
The Staff Report
The application is then reviewed by Planning Staff and other City/County departments. They prepare a Staff Report — sort of a checklist to make sure the plan meets relevant ordinances and doesn't have undue impact on traffic, schools, and other infrastructure. It's rare for the staff report to recommend denial of rezoning.
The Staff Report is available online the week before the Planning Commission hearing. It's linked from the meeting agenda on the City's website. See our page on the Planning Commission Hearing
Neighbors' Concerns
Ask and Ask Again
The Planning Staff are helpful with providing information. But sometimes neighbors don't get the complete answer to a question. Incomplete information, coupled with inexperience and misunderstandings, can hobble a neighborhood's case. Research several angles and ask again if answers don't add up.
What is Notification?
The big yellow Z-for-Zoning sign only goes up a week before the Planning Commission hearing... not much time to learn about the proposal, much less assemble a case.
Neighbors within 300 feet of the parcel receive a letter from the city, also a week before the hearing. It's surprising how short a distance 300 feet is. A legal notice buried in the newspaper Classified Ads is all that's required to inform the larger community.
Proactive developers might contact nearby homeowners' associations and/or adjacent property owners and invite neighbors to a presentation. Developers with less palatable plans might stick to the minimums and hope to slip under the radar. Often it works.
The Neighborhood Organization Directory is a list of citizens' groups, neighborhood associations, and environmental groups that must be notified of development plans in their vicinity. Individual citizens can also ask to be notified. Along with the Neighborhood Organization Directory there is also a Neighborhood Organization Map (big PDF, 5.5MB) showing the groups' areas of influence.
Sunshine's Coming
We think that the City's minimal notification requirements stack the odds in favor of developers and against Durham citizens. But change is coming.
Plan details to be available online. The Planning Department is working on software to have rezoning case details listed online. We applaud their efforts and look forward to seeing the new system, hopefully online by late 2005.
Stricter notification requirements in UDO The new Unified Development Ordinance, expected to be approved by late 2005, has stricter notification requirements than what's currently in place.