Durham Council Denies Moriah Ridge

Many Mt. Moriah Road residents may be feeling some relief today after the Durham City Council voted unanimously Monday night to oppose the Moriah Ridge development that would straddle Durham and Orange county lines.

The project, proposed by M/I Homes of Raleigh, would’ve brought 1,000 apartments, townhouses, and single-family homes to 168 mostly rural acres not far from the New Hope Commons shopping center. It had been opposed 6-2 by the Planning Commission in December.

But this reprieve may only be temporary. Some kind of development in that area is likely inevitable, warned Mark-Anthony Middleton, the city’s mayor pro tempore.

“Don’t think this is over,” he said. “Make the victory lap muted.”

Denial on this project, at this time, “doesn’t mean nothing’s coming,” Middleton said. “There are forces bigger than this council at work.”

Mayor Leonardo Williams, although acknowledging that he’s usually pro-development, agreed that the area along Mt. Moriah Road is destined for growth, but not for a project this large and with “too many unknowns.” He could vote yes on something else in the future, because expanding Durham’s tax base provides revenue.

“We’re not selling lemonade or chicken to make money,” Williams said. “We collect taxes to make revenue and we use those taxes to do stuff that cities do.”

Council Member Javiera Caballero, another who’s usually on the side of new developments because she considers housing vital to the city, said “it has to be in a way that moves the goals forward in the comprehensive plan. This project as it stands today doesn’t do that.”

Still, she expects development is on the way, particularly with that roundabout at the intersection of Mt. Moriah and Erwin roads.

“You can see what it’s going to be. You can see what’s coming,” she said. “I don’t think that day is today.”

Another project, Pickett Apartments, drew opposition from speakers at Monday’s meeting who worried about 140 new apartments affecting Sandy Creek Park and choking Pickett Road with traffic near Durham Academy. The developer and council members agreed to delay further discussion about that project until March 17.

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