How Trinity Heights Broke The Rules - And Got Built Anyway
Join us Tuesday August 26 to hear developer Bob Chapman share how a project once blocked by zoning laws became an award-winning Durham neighborhood, and what it took to get there.
It was against the rules to build the Trinity Heights neighborhood in Durham, despite the development for the 6.8 acres having been meticulously designed to complement, elevate, and blend in with the existing, beloved downtown neighborhood that surrounds the small parcel adjacent to Duke’s East Campus.
Prior to the completion of the development, the parcel was empty, owned by Duke University but not yet put to use. When they wanted to create housing for faculty and staff, Duke turned to local developer, Bob Chapman, of Traditional Neighborhood Development Partners, which has developed dense, mixed-use, infill, walkable neighborhoods across the county.
However, creating a similar environment to the existing neighborhood, which was built from around 1895 to 1905, had been effectively outlawed by zoning codes by the 1990s. In order to build a dense infill neighborhood consisting of 21 single homes and 15 townhouses, in the style of the surrounding area, Bob and his team were required to get variances and exceptions to zoning codes and planning regulations, including 7 separate ordinance text amendments.
The Trinity Heights project was accomplished despite city regulations, and went on to win the 2000 Historic Preservation Society of Durham's George and Mary Pyne Historic Preservation Award, as well as the 2003 Durham City-County Appearance Commission's Golden Leaf Award (as well as many other design awards). The homes are now commonly mis-perceived as having “always” been a part of the historic neighborhood.
The development required exceptions to rules about lot size, setbacks, auxiliary dwelling units, dwelling unit height, alley width, alley access, and many, many others.
One example of the many special permissions the development team had to obtain was, was “to allow the planting of street trees in the Street Tree Planter Strip between the curb and sidewalk,” in the manner of the existing neighborhood, according to Bob:
“The City Engineer had the authority to waive this, but she would not, stating that the City might be sued if someone drove into [a tree], or trash trucks might run into low limbs, or the roots might crack the sidewalk. So, we were required to ask for another Code text amendment. This required appearances before, and approval by, the Planning Commission, the Joint City County Planning Committee, the City Council, and the City’s Historic Commission.”
In the end, with plenty of time and effort spent by all parties, the trees were allowed to be planted in the Tree Planting Strip.
Join us, as we host Bob Chapman at the CITYBUILDER Carolina Policy Talk, Virtual Online Discussion, at 12PM on Tuesday August 26 for more stories, and solutions, from building Trinity Heights.
More information and RSVP on our calendar.
