News

The Durham Planning Commission will consider another Lick Creek development at its next meeting on Feb. 11.

The Howard’s Place proposal seeks to build up to 499 single-family homes on 85 acres that include five state-regulated streams that flow into Lick Creek and a portion of the Lick Creek bottomlands — a mapped Natural Heritage area.

Neuse Riverkeeper Samantha Krop says there are major concerns about the development, not the least of which is increased sediment pollution of Lick Creek and the presence of rare and endangered species within a mile of the proposed site.

“The developer has not committed to buffering out the Natural Heritage area, or doing aquatic surveys for these sensitive species in the project site,” Samantha said. “The site also abuts the Falls Lake Critical Watershed area, which is an environmental overlay zoned for greater environmental protections due to its proximity to the Falls Lake drinking water supply, and the developer is not currently committing to any enhanced environmental buffers or greenspace protections. Finally, the project area includes part of the planned Cheek Road N.C. Highway 98 Greenway Trail, but the developer is not committing to financially investing in this public asset.”

The site is located directly across Lick Creek from Perry Farms, a 280-acre parcel slated for 655 townhomes that was approved in late 2023, and adjacent to the Durham Charter School, another 52 acres approved for development in 2024.

According to the last Lick Creek Watershed Analysis, “A key management strategy in preventing impacts to this largely undeveloped watershed is the protection of those lands that are most critical to water quality and aquatic habitat.” 

That analysis was written in 2006 and Durham City Council has not taken the long- and short-term environmental impacts of massive development into account, according to Samantha.

“This is a bad place for more residential sprawl,” she said. “The Lick Creek watershed has suffered enough impacts from this type of development. We need watershed-wise planning in our sensitive watersheds, which commit to greater protections for our waterways and downstream communities who rely on them.”

Samantha encourages all stakeholders to submit comments about the Howard’s Place proposal for the Durham Planning Commission meeting and attend the meeting if able. The meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 11, at Durham City Hall Council Chambers (first floor), 101 City Hall Plaza, Durham.

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