Durham Confronts Housing, Tenant Power, Campus Violence

The Durham City Council launches its largest housing sprint for residents experiencing homelessness, formally backs tenant unions amid stark testimony on unsafe senior housing, and hears emotional appeals over gun violence on and around North Carolina Central University’s campus while wrestling with contested annexations and rezonings for new neighborhoods. 65mins

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Original Meeting

Tuesday, September 8th, 2026
19052.299933
Durham City Council September 8, 2026
Full Meeting on YouTube
Video Notes

Welcome to the City Council Meeting for September 8, 2026.

Agenda: https://www.durhamnc.gov/AgendaCenter/City-Council-4

How to participate: https://www.durhamnc.gov/1345

Contact the City Council: https://www.durhamnc.gov/1323

NOTE: Comments left on this livestream will not be read or entered into the meeting record.

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In This Video
  • Mayor Leonardo Williams described the city’s largest Housing Sprint initiative, outlining goals to rapidly move hundreds of people experiencing homelessness into housing and to reach every encampment in Durham within three years.
  • A speaker representing the Coalition for Affordable Housing and Transit supported the Boulevard option in the Reimagining Durham Freeway project as a way to reclaim land, reduce environmental impacts, and help repair harm to communities like Hayti, and the related motion passed unanimously.
  • Yolanda Mitchell shared frustration and exhaustion over repeated gun violence affecting a student and criticized city leadership for failing to act on a lengthy council-funded research report while continuing to invest heavily in the same demographics.
  • The council heard concerns from a North Carolina Central University student about repeated gun violence on campus, insufficient safety measures and communication with parents, and urged that college campuses like NCCU be included as high‑risk communities in the city’s violence reduction plan.
  • A North Carolina Central University student who survived being struck by a stray bullet on campus described ongoing health impacts, shared anguish over repeated shootings among peers, and urged the community to reject the normalization of violence around the university.
  • The council adopted a resolution endorsing and supporting the recommendations of the Durham Violence Reduction Working Group, with the motion passing unanimously.
  • Renee Valentine described unsafe and deteriorating conditions at a senior property, including malfunctioning doors and elevators, ignored maintenance requests, and a lack of promised improvements for residents.
  • Yolanda Mitchell, speaking as part of the Triangle Tenant Union Association, described unsafe and unsanitary conditions in local apartments, condemned retaliatory behavior by some landlords, and urged council to support a tenants’ rights resolution.
  • A resident of a senior affordable housing community described serious management and safety problems—including a death linked to malfunctioning doors—and urged council to vote for a resolution affirming tenants’ unions and safe, high-quality housing standards in Durham.
  • A speaker representing the Coalition for Affordable Housing and Transit expressed full support for tenant unions, including the Ashton Place Seniors Tenant Union, and urged landlords to view organized tenant groups as collaborative partners in improving housing conditions and communication.
  • Acting City Attorney Hernandez read a resolution in which the Durham City Council formally recognized tenant unions, encouraged all housing providers to engage with organized resident groups, and directed the City Manager to seek protections for tenant organizing and tenant democracy from publicly funded housing providers.
  • The council unanimously adopted the tenant union resolution after Mayor Williams reflected on limited tenant protections in North Carolina, emphasized both good and bad actors among landlords and tenants, and urged organizers to advocate in good faith to preserve trust.
  • Planning staff member Javar Jones introduced a request for a utility extension agreement, voluntary annexation, and initial Residential Rural zoning for a 0.85‑acre parcel on Dock Nichols Road so it could connect to City water and sewer.
  • The council unanimously approved annexing 822 Doc Nichols Road with a related utility extension agreement, amended the Unified Development Ordinance to translate the parcel’s Residential Rural zoning into City jurisdiction, and adopted the required consistency statement.
  • Mayor Williams, speaking for the Planning and Development Department, outlined a request to annex 21.6 acres at 3132 Cheek Road with a utility extension agreement, keep its Residential Rural zoning through direct translational zoning to connect to City water and sewer, support development of up to 30 homes, and confirmed consistency with the mixed residential neighborhood place type.
  • A representative for the applicant described how the Cheek Road annexation proposal was consistent with multiple comprehensive plan policies, included commitments to upgrade and extend sewer service that neighbors had welcomed, and dedicated right-of-way for the Northern Durham Parkway connection to I-540.
  • Council Member Nate Baker argued that the Cheek Road annexation did not align with mixed residential neighborhood goals due to large‑lot single‑family homes, while Mayor Williams clarified it would allow up to 30 homes, support a broader mix of housing nearby, and correct an oversight so the Northern Durham Parkway and utilities could extend through the parcel.
  • Council Member Cook asked whether the Cheek Road annexation was part of a larger phased development, and the applicant representative explained that this parcel would be a ninth phase of an existing project, where the Northern Durham Parkway was already under construction, and that annexation was needed to extend water and sewer after discovering the land had never been annexed due to a past oversight.
  • The council approved annexing Avalon Place Phase 9 into the City of Durham with a related utility extension agreement and amended the Unified Development Ordinance to bring the parcel under city residential rural zoning, with both motions passing 5–2 and Council Members Baker and Cook voting no.
  • Planning staff member Javar Jones introduced a request to annex 4.01 acres at 4213 Page Road with a utility extension agreement and to rezone it from Residential Rural to Planned Development Residential 8.728 to allow up to 35 mixed‑type housing units consistent with the Mixed Residential Neighborhood place type.
  • Marie Farmer, speaking on behalf of the applicant’s team, described a small-scale infill proposal to annex and rezone a Page Road parcel from Residential Rural to a Planned Development district for 35 housing units consistent with the mixed residential neighborhood place type and intended to fill in a “doughnut hole” within the urban growth boundary.
  • Marie Farmer, speaking for the applicant, highlighted transportation improvements, environmental and community benefit commitments, and overall consistency with the comprehensive plan in urging council to approve the Page Road annexation and rezoning.
  • Resident Pablo Friedmann commended the applicant’s $5,000 school funding proffer, then questioned the student impact math and unaccounted emergency services costs, arguing that taxpayers would subsidize the Page Road rezoning and urging council to demand stronger commitments to emergency responders.
  • Council Member Burris cited data on cost-burdened Durham residents to argue that the applicant’s housing and school donations were too low, prompting Marie Farmer, speaking for the applicant, to agree to raise the housing fund contribution to $45,000 to match a recent per‑unit standard.
  • Council Member Carl Rist raised questions about green building standards and EV charging for the Page Road project, Marie Farmer responded that such requirements could raise costs but wiring for EVs might be feasible, Director Young explained limits on enforcing proffers through inspections, and Rist suggested the City Manager explore better cross‑department coordination.
  • Council Member Chelsea Cook asked whether the project’s open space would be public, and Marie Farmer explained that the community amenities would remain private, managed by either an HOA or a rental company due to cost and liability concerns, while noting the site’s compliance with Policy 50 through nearby access to Briar Creek Park.
  • Council Member Cook argued that while the Page Road project added density and contributed to the housing fund, it did not provide the deeply needed affordable housing and therefore did not justify the significant benefit of annexation and rezoning.
  • Mayor Pro Tem Javiera Caballero explained support for the small Page Road project, arguing that added housing supply and residents were necessary to enable transit and commercial services and to gradually correct decades of poor development patterns.
  • Council Member Shanetta Burris reflected on community concerns that development and tax policies were displacing long-time residents, urged more inclusive decision-making, and called for rethinking approaches so no one in the city was left behind.
  • Planning staff member Javar Jones and applicant representative Farmer confirmed updated proffers for the Page Road project, including raising the housing fund contribution, capping impervious surface at 70%, and enhancing boundary buffering with additional plantings if council desired.
  • Mayor Williams reflected on the broader affordability crisis and multi‑generational households, noted limited local tools and tax relief for seniors, agreed that both housing supply and protections were needed, urged advocacy to the General Assembly for more flexibility, and stated support for the Page Road project under current constraints.
  • The council approved annexing the Page Road Townhomes with a utility extension agreement, rezoned the property to Planned Development Residential 8.728 by a 5–2 vote with Council Members Baker and Burris opposed, and then unanimously adopted the required consistency statement.
  • Staff outlined annexation and rezoning for the Oak Grove Landing project to allow up to 50 single‑family homes consistent with a mixed residential neighborhood, while a developer for M/I Homes highlighted planned contributions to housing, schools, EMS, a nearby water hookup, and a redesign from townhomes to detached houses to address neighbors’ density and traffic concerns.
  • A land planner for the Oak Grove Landing project described how the proposal for 50 smaller single‑family homes aligned with the mixed residential neighborhood place type and highlighted a $96,000 affordable housing fund contribution as a strong per‑unit proffer.
  • A speaker for the Oak Grove Landing project outlined planned traffic mitigations on Sherron Road, a $15,000 proffer to Durham Public Safety EMS, and a commitment to install EV‑ready charging in each home’s garage.
  • A planner for the Oak Grove Landing project explained why the site could not meet a 300‑foot stream buffer or certain green infrastructure and public park commitments, while arguing the proposal still offered valuable infill housing through smaller single‑family homes on a constrained parcel.
  • Resident Katie Ross opposed the Oak Grove Landing proposal for 50 market‑rate single‑family homes, arguing it lacked affordable housing, that regional housing needs may already be met given changing population and job trends, and that the project would unnecessarily clear 11 acres of woodland.
  • Resident Jamison Boone, a registered forester living adjacent to the Oak Grove Landing site, raised environmental concerns by arguing a nearby stream should be treated as perennial with a larger buffer to protect salamander habitat and water quality.
  • Neighborhood Association leader Eric Hester, a longtime Sherron Acres resident, opposed the Oak Grove Landing annexation by citing the cumulative impact of more than a thousand planned units on a narrow two‑lane road, signs of longtime neighbors leaving, and urged council to deny the request until the city better protected existing communities.
  • A representative of the Home Builders Association of Durham, Orange and Chatham Counties supported the Oak Grove Landing project, citing a Bowen National Research study showing a large housing shortfall statewide and in Durham County and arguing that increased supply was needed to ease price pressures for future homebuyers.
  • Pamela Andrews honored first responders lost on Sept. 11, 2001, and used recent fire and EMS response data to argue that Southeast Durham needed more ladder trucks, ambulances, and safety planning before additional housing developments were approved.
  • A council member criticized growth patterns as a ‘Ponzi scheme’ that left residents footing infrastructure costs without clear benefits, rejected the project for lacking community value, and argued that the proposed EMS contribution was far too low compared with anticipated developer profits.
  • Mayor Pro Tem Caballero explained that Durham can only provide amenities like sidewalks within city limits, outlined legal and practical challenges to building infrastructure in county areas—even near schools—and then yielded back to Mayor Williams after the public hearing had been closed.
  • Council Member Matt Kopac discussed upcoming updates to Durham’s housing need projections, linked current sprawl concerns to the existing Unified Development Ordinance and the importance of a new land development code, and an applicant detailed planned 10‑foot buffers separating new homes from adjacent single‑family properties and a central “doughnut hole” parcel.
  • Council Member Kopac expressed interest in more pocket parks from private developments while an applicant representative described donating land and building a $1.8 million park for the city and explained that site streams were classified as intermittent with state and federal concurrence, warranting 100‑foot buffers under the project’s impervious surface cap.
  • Council Member Rist described how hundreds of new residents were moving to Durham each month, highlighted federal efforts like the Road to Housing Act to incentivize more housing, and argued that the city’s increased housing supply had helped keep average rents relatively stable.
  • Council Member Cook challenged housing need and rent stability claims, arguing that projects like Oak Grove Landing would lock 10 acres into 50 market‑rate single‑family homes with no affordable units while vacancy remained high and local infrastructure was already overwhelmed.
  • Mayor Williams reflected on residents’ struggles with rising housing costs amid rapid population growth and multi‑generational, fixed‑income households, and stated support for the project based on perceived needs of those not present in the room.
  • The council approved annexing Oak Grove Landing into the City of Durham and authorized a utility extension agreement with M/I Homes Raleigh, LLC, with the motion passing 4–3 and Council Members Baker, Burris, and Cook voting no.
  • The council approved amending the Unified Development Ordinance to rezone the Oak Grove Landing property from county Residential Rural and Residential Suburban 20 to City Planned Development Residential 4.583 with watershed protection overlay, with the motion passing 4–3 and Council Members Baker, Burris, and Cook voting no.
  • The council unanimously authorized the City Manager to negotiate and execute an updated transportation improvement agreement with the North Carolina Department of Transportation for right-of-way acquisition for the Durham to Roxboro Trail in the amount of $1,000,383.70.
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