W e read with interest your December 5 article en
led "Hayti: To Renew or Not to Renew." The ar
cle reflects a long-standing concern for the need to
omplete a project begun almost two decades ago
ind left unfinished for years. Your feature also ex
pressed a concern for what type of development
may ultimately occur and how it would serve the
needs of the community. -
We share that concern. However. I think h would
be most constructive to discuss the proposal from
the same factual basis. The article was. rather
misleading in several places, and we feel that your
readers may develop a better understanding of the
proposal if we are allowed to clarify a number of
points. I hope you will provide us that opportunity
by printing this letter.
The revised Redevelopment Plan for Hayti was
done, for 'several reasons. The most significant
reason for doing the revision is that little has been
accomplished in terms of actual redevelopment
beyond public improvements and a small amount of
private, non-residential construction. This indicates
that some aspects of the Plari were unworkable for
developers, that better marketing needed to take
place, or that actual incentives for development
were needed in order to combat what may have
been seen as a ''high risk" situation. Our opinion is
that all three problems had been a factor.
We felt that there were several factors which
needed to play a part in any possible revision to the
Hayti plan. These included:
1) The area needs to be developed, and the plan
as well as any other marketing techniques should
make development rftore feasible .
2) Development of housing is important,
especially on the largest block south of the ex
pressway. Due to the concentration of subsidized
housing, renters and low income residents already
in the surrounding area, the plan should encourage
more of a balance in homeownership and occupan
cy by moderate and middle income households
$) Trie continued growth of NCCU, the
revitalization of St. Theresa and downtown, and
the proximity of major facilities such as Lincoln
Community Health Center. Duke Medical Center,
North Carolina Mutual and Research Triangle Park
make development of housing in this area for work
ing families more attractive.' Since it is hard for
many families like this to get into the housing
market as homebuyers, the plan should encourage
innovative types of housing which will minimize
development costs, and therefore, prices to possible
. homeowners
4) Other development immediately south of the
expressway should provide a positive image for the
area, blend in well with the new housing, and be
sensitive to the development limitations imposed by
topography and te expressway
i) Commercial Services to the area should be en
couraged as much as market conditions will allow
6) No changes are needed in terms of proposed
development north of the expressway. The land ap
pears marketable for heavy commercial or light in
dustrial use.
Given these objectives, the staff went through a
lengthy process for developing the revisions. The
actual plan revisions were submitted to City Coun
cil in two parts. One is the narrative which includes
objectives, the nature of the land uses proposed for
Letter to tho Editor:
the area, and the procedure-for 'disposition and
redevelopment of the remaihing vacant land in the
project area, indndiax thai land north of the ex
pressway. The second part is a development concept
map for land south of the expressway. This concept
is only intended to serve as an example of develop
ment which would accomplish the above described
objectives. The development concept and the Plan
narrative are intended to be more flexible than the
original Plan. They provide for consideration of
other development concepts which may vary from
this one but which still reflect the basic objectives
described for the project. Also submitted to the Ci
ty Council is a marketing strategy and a timetable
for implementation of the strategy.
While the revised Plan allows for more flexibility
and use of innovative methods of development, the
basic desired land uses recommended have changed
little from the original plan. There was originally
strong sentiment for housing on the large block
south of the expressway, and the revised plan
recommends housing ranging from low to medium
density. Housing was removed from the recommen
dations on the block immediately south of the ex
pressway, due to noise setbacks from the ex
pressway. Otherwise, basic land uses recommended
remain the same. There is still an area recommend
ed east of Fayetteville Street for continued develop
ment of communty oriented commercial services.
The Plan docs not dictate a projected price for
the housing; and in fact, we have attempted to sug
gest housing styles, development techniques and in
centives which would keep the price as moderate as
possible. The "cluster" housing arrangement, em
phasis on cul-de-sacs rather than through streets.
City-funded site improvements for streets and
utilities and the City's efforts to secure low interest
mortgage bond authority from the State all are
designed to put housing within the reach of families
desiring ownership or rental of good quality hous
ing at reasonable costs. Although it might be a shot
in the arm for the community to see some $70,000
housing built in the area (as it has been in a similar
area of Charlotte), the reality of the housing market
may result in housing in the 40's and 50's range.
This moderate price range is the one we have men
tioned as being possible.
We have no idea of who will develop the land im
mediately north of the expressway. A few inquiries
have been made recently, including the Hayti
Development Corporation. The process for selling
the property and determining who the redeveloper
will be is prescribed by State law; that is, the highest
responsible bidder would be the redeveloper. Before
the bid process begins, we will notify all interested
parties and provide general notice to the public that
the property is up for bid and what requirements
must be met in terms of submitting a bid. Although
the Plan suggests light industrial zoning, the Plan
revisions have made it flexible enough that a general
or heavy commercial use would be possible without
. requiring further revision in the Plan itself, '
Finally, 1 wish to point out that a number of local
business, community and institutional groups w in
dividuals were consulted during preparation of the
Plan. A number of discussions setting the stage for
this planning effort originated in a special subcom
mittee of City Council which met earlier this year.
The City's Citizens Advisory Committee, which in- -eludes
people from the Southeast Durham Com
munity, was given a presentation on the upcoming
revisions in March. The Durham Morning Herald
ran oh April 16 a headlined story on the revisions.
Once the preliminary conceptual plan and a detailed
draft of the actual Plan revisions had been put
together, over 23 contacts were made during the
summer with real estate firms, developers and local
community and business groups with an interest in
the Hayti area. These groups included North
Carolina Central University, UDI Community
. Development Corporation, the Lincoln Community
Health Center, Mechanics and Farmers Bank, and
North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company.
The primary purpose of these contacts was to deter
mine whether the concept was feasible, given
today's economic climate, and whether it was
desirable from the standpoint of community objec
tives. Details of the Plan were not given any larger
distribution at that point because we did not want
to create any expectations about a proposal until wc
felt it appeared to be feasible in the marketplace.
We received a number of helpful, positive sugges
tions which were incorporated into the Plan revi
sions. Once the Plan was determined to be feasible, per
sonal contact was made with those who would be
directly affected, such as property owners within
N.C.R.-54, leaders of the St. Theresa neighborhood
and the Fayetteville Street Public Housing Project,
the businesses with unresolved relocations, and St.
Joseph's Historic Society. This process of contact
began in October and continued through the early
part of November. Of the eight remaining business
relocatees contacted, only one expressed a negative
response to the plan revisions during the
discussion. 1 In all, almost 40 groups, businesses
and organizations were contacted, of which 26 were
minority based or otherwise involved in the
Southeast Durham Community. Additionally, state
redevelopment law requires publication of the plan
revision and an advertised public hearing before
final action can take place, so there is ample oppor
tunity for additional input, if desired.
To summarize, the revised Plan has as a primary
SAL. CLCtiwwU! IS, 1331 1K CJULKATiLJ 15 .
goal the development of vacant property so that
aowncasi uurnam may grow ana prosper iwni
' with other-areas of the community at large. The
Plan does not aim for an upper income enclave, but
rather encourages a stronger middle range which,
reinforces Southeast Durham. A positive response5
to date from developers, financiers, and other'
groups or individuals, many of whom are minority,
indicates that the proposal has good potential. It h
quite possible that groups such a the Hayti i
Development Corporation could pursue; their ef-
forts within the scope of the Plan and still ac
Comnlish what thev set out to do. We are willinc
and anxious to work with such groups in future ef
forts to achieve these goals.
Paul Norby
Director of Planning and Community Development
Because this letter is rather misleading in several
places we believe We must let our readers know, on
at least this one point, thai Hie Carolina Times is
one of the eight businesses reerred to as being
directly affected and having given a response to the
Plan. We have been neither officially contacted nor
seen thejflun so we could not have rescinded.
A View From Capitol Hill:
Reagan is Master of
Old Ploy
Using Blacks Against!
Blacks
By Gus Savage "
Manlier ofCongre
The Reagan Administration's negative position
on affirmative action, voting rights, and civil riahts
in general is widely known. What has not surfaced
until recently is his use of conservative blacks to
play the role of hatchet men in watering down or
doing away with agencies and programs thai have
the welfare of minorities as their primary objective.
One of the earliest instances of using a black in
such a role occurred at the U.S. Department of
Transportation where a plan to reorganize the civil
rights offices within agencies would have diluted
their effectiveness. The reorganization would have
placed civil rights offices under the office of person
nel in each agency of DOT.
We learned of this plan last August and sent
Transportation Secretary Drew Lewis a letter infor
ming him of our concern. I told Secretary Ixwis
that the reorganization, if implemented, would ob
viously subordinate activities of the civil rights of
fices to personnel offices, and adversely affect their
functions.
Lewis responded in a letter telling mc that the
Transportation Department would continue the ar
rangment under which the heads of civil rights of
fices report directly to the heads of departmental
organizations. "We have no plans to locate our civil
rights functions under our personnel offices."
Lewis told me in writing.
Now, in November, comes the firing of Arthur
(Continued on Page 16)
Uganda
Bleeding?
(Continued. from, page 13)
in, Octdber the second
raise this year ' as a
proaucuun iiilcuuvc ex
pected to boost exports,
of these key com
modities. There has also been an
effort to entice back to
Uganda some of the
Asian businessmen who
were expelled and had
their properties ex
propriated in 1972 under
Idi Amin, and this cam
paign recently received a
boost. The Uganda High
Court ruled in November
that Amin's allocations
of seized properties
without the required
14-day advance notice
were unlawful. It
ordered Loko Construc
tion of Switzerland to
vacate premises they had
been given in 1976, in
cluding a quarry, crusher
and buildings. The firm
must also pay court costs
and the cost of some
machinery. k
The decision sets a
precedent for other
Asian businesses to
reclaim property, as very
few were given the re
quired notice in 1972.
Various development
. and reconstruction pro
jects affecting all the ma
jor sectors have begun or
are in the final stages of
planning. But in Uganda
recovery poses a very
real 4chicken-and-egg'
puzzle, for there appears
'little chance of attaining
economic progress
. without better security,
and equally poor pro
spects for law and order
stability,
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