Aventon Harris Farm Project Gets City Council Greenlight

Nearly 40 acres of land at 8250 Fayetteville Road near Hills of Southpoint and Chancellors Ridge are now rezoned to allow Kelley Development Company to build up to 490 apartment units, at least 50 of which are slated to be affordable housing, and 5,000 square feet of office space.

Durham City Council members approved rezoning the Aventon Harris Farm parcel from rural residential by a vote of 4-3 during a meeting on Oct. 16, despite concerns raised by residents in the area about potential traffic impacts, school crowding, aesthetics, and emergency service response times.

The development plan calls for three-story buildings that are 42 feet high, with a woodland buffer of about 60 feet between the apartment complex and neighboring Chancellors Ridge. As proposed, it wouldn’t require gap financing for construction of affordable housing units from the city or county, a bonus welcomed by the project’s proponents.

Amy Bradfield, who lives in Hills of Southpoint, told council members she was excited about growth in Durham and that she wants to see more affordable housing. However, Bradfield noted two more projects in the pipeline would, if approved, mean up to 800 new units in the vicinity – not just 490.

“Our community would support lower-density townhomes or single-family homes,” Bradfield said. In particular, she wanted to see opportunities for entry-level home buying rather than rentals.

“I’m against this as it is laid out,” she said.

Mark-Anthony Middleton, mayor pro tem and Ward 2 council member, thanked residents for sharing their concerns about the potential impacts of the new development. However, he said that south Durham residents between 1998 and 2005 made similar arguments against the development of Chancellors Ridge when it was built. He also said his own neighborhood has seen changes due to nearby development.

“Is my neighborhood any more exempt than any other in the city?” Middleton asked. “I think the answer is no. The planning commission got this right.”

Leonardo Williams, council member for Ward 3, determined that emergency services could meet the needs of surrounding neighborhoods, thus they should be able to handle the new development. He asked for “honest conversation” about whether current zoning, which would allow about 80 single-family homes, would really result in any affordable housing in a region where houses are selling for at least $500,000.

“Two things I know for sure besides death and taxes: people are going to come and we cannot control who moves here,” Williams said. “This is a democracy; it’s not a dictatorship. If we say no, housing will go there, but it will be out of reach for a lot of folks.”

Jillian Johnson, an at-large member of the council, said she was “excited about this project” and the fact that it’s slated to include about 10 percent affordable housing. She agreed that traffic can be frustrating at various times of the day on Fayetteville Road, “but we have a traffic study that shows very little change” from this development, she said.

“While the subjective experience for folks may be different, we have some objective data that shows traffic won’t be a big problem,” Johnson said.

Monique Holsey-Hyman, an at-large council member who lives in the south Durham area, described traffic as “horrendous.”

“A lot of people want to move there, but traffic is ridiculous,” she said.

Holsey-Hyman also expressed concerns about affordable housing units in the new project designed for containment in a separate building from the market-rate apartments, saying “it reeks of discrimination.”

DeDreana Freeman, representing Ward 1 on the City Council, said that while she appreciates 50 affordable housing units, she didn’t care for the attitude that suggests residents should “just suck it up” when a new development might affect their quality of life and the character of the area.

“It seems lazy,” she said. “I’m appalled by it every time someone says it.” Freeman urged the council to find a more neighborly way to approach these projects.

Javiera Caballero, another at-large council member, supported the project, noting that concerns about traffic “are beyond the developer’s control.” She also suggested that the new Murray-Massenburg Elementary School at Roxboro Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard would help alleviate any crowding at Lyons Farm.

“This project helps hit a lot of our goals,” Caballero said.

Mayor Elaine O’Neal voted with Freeman and Holsey-Hyman in opposition to the rezoning.

Construction is expected to start on the new development in 2025.