The TLNA Blog

The Durham Tax Administration held an informational meeting with TLNA neighbors on 12/3/18 at Oak Church. People from several neighborhoods joined together to hear about the reappraisal process and ask questions of tax administrators. Homeowners and business owners can expect a reappraisal of the market value of their property as of January 1, 2019. Be on the look out for a mailer with your property value and next steps on or around January 30th. For general information as well as tax relief programs and the appeals process, see the slide deck the representatives from the tax admin office used at the meeting here or visit the Durham County Tax Administration site . The slide deck has information about the why's and how's of reappraisal along with some intriguing real-world examples. The tax administrator's office has the immense challenge of appraising around 116,000 properties at one time. They do this through industry-standard methods which may include photos of th...

A site plan for a subdivision has been submitted to City Planning entitled Bivins St Subdivision . The parcel in question is the rear part of the “Flower Shop” parcel currently fronting on Chapel Hill Rd. Some refer to this area as the Bamboo Forest. The development proposes building 10 single family homes, with an access road from Bivins St. This is the mostly wooded area behind James St. For questions or comments, contact tlnadurham@gmail.com Site Plan Cover Site Plan #1 Site Plan #2 Site Plan #3

This is the next step in a debate over billboards in the city and county of Durham. Fairway Outdoor Advertising, a Georgia-based billboard company that owns 44 of the 92 billboards in Durham, has filed to have the city and county consider a formal application for a change in zoning law to allow them to upgrade their signs to metal and digital. Previously, the Joint City-County Planning Committee voted not to change the law. After the Planning Commission, both the City Council and County Board will consider the changes. A copy of the requested law change is here: http://media.mgnetwork.com/ ncn/pdf/100304_development_ ordinance_amendment.pdf Opponents of change have a web site. http:// supportdurhambillboardban.com/ TLNA Board has voted to join other neighborhoods who oppose any change in the law. You can read our statement here: A Resolution from Tuscaloosa-Lakewood Neighborhood Association regarding a proposal by Fairway Outdoor Magic, LLC . to allow new billboards --...

For the second year, TNLA partnered with our neighbors in Long Meadow Neighborhood Association (LMNA) for the Chris "Disco" Chambers National Night Out Picnic. This year LMNA hosted in a nice shady picnic area in the 1700 block of High Street. We had about 125 participants, including several representatives from the Police Dept, plus Diane Catatti from City Council. Chuck Clifton (LMNA) and Myers Sugg (TLNA) welcomed everyone and spoke briefly about Neighborhood Watch and other neighborhood programs. Myers brought free low-energy light bulbs to distribute from QOL. Nearby neighbors rolled their grill down the street for hot dogs. Kim Hanauer (TLNA) went home with a few apples left from her own tree, plus home-grown figs from a neighbor and a low watt light bulb! See you next year, when TLNA hosts again in a new location.

On May 24th, fourteen teams competing in the first annual Doughman Competition raised about $2,000 for Seeds. The first leg of the race involved eating a breakfast special at Fosters. The first racer got away from the table in 1.5 minutes, grabbed his bike at the fence behind Guglehupf, and pedaled off down Frances St. The last racer pedaled off 15 minutes later. The second leg was the lunch wrap at Nosh and a run. Third leg was a chili dog at Luther's followed by a run and paddle across the Duke swimming pool. The fouth team member got tagged at the end of the pool, raced to Dain's on 9th street for bacon cheese fries, and ran downtown to Locopops on the CCB square. All for team members met up at Locopops, where everyone had to finish a pop and then raced together to the finish line at the farmer's market. Fastest time was 1.20. Racers had lots of fun and got to know Durham better. We had 6 volunteers from TLNA to help. some links: http://doughman.giving. offic...

This unique San Francisco style condo, is located in the Lakewood area of Durham.  The two story home was built in 1986 and boasts 1,400 square feet.  The house gets ample light and has beautiful window features throughout. To access this page directly, use http://www.hpw.com/SearchPages/Detail.aspx?MLS=Triangle&MlsNum=1605575 Listed at $142,900 - 2 bed, 2 bath, 1,400 Sq. Ft., MLS ID# 1605575

Single Family Property, Area: Durham - Duke University, Subdivision: Tuscaloosa Forest , County: Durham, Approximately 0.37 acre(s), Year Built: 1948, Two Story, Central air conditioning, Hardwood floors, Screened in Porch and large back yard! To access this page directly, use http://www.hpw.com/SearchPages/Detail.aspx?MLS=Triangle&MlsNum=1602890 Listed at $229,900 . 4 bed, 2 bath, 1,866 Sq. Ft., .37 Acres, MLS ID# 1602890

Single Family Property, Area: Durham - Duke University, Subdivision: Tuscaloosa-Lakewood , County: Durham, Approximately 0.37 acre(s), Year Built: 1940, 1.5 Stories, Central air conditioning, Hardwood floors, etc. To access this page directly, use http://www.hpw.com/SearchPages/Detail.aspx?MLS=Triangle&MlsNum=1002013 Listed at $129,900 . 3 bed, 3 bath, 1,485 Sq. Ft., .226 Acres, MLS ID# 1002013

Updated Bungalow in popular Lakewood area. Renovation in process. 3 bedroom, 1 bath, 1200 square feet sitting on a large .51 acre flat private lot. This home has both a front and back porch! Updates include New Heating and Air system and water heater. New interior and exterior paint. Refinished hardwoods through out home. New light and plumbing fixtures. New kitchen cabinets, counters, tile backsplash. All appliances included- side by side frig, range, dishwasher, microwave, stackable washer and dryer. This home will go quick! -$159900

2318 HURON is meticulously maintained with many updates already completed. The 3 bedroom, 1 bath all brick ranch has 1060 of HSF at your disposal. Enjoy easy access to Wrightwood Park, Rockwood Shopping District, Re-Developed South Square Area, The Nasher Museum of Art, Downtown Durham, and Duke University. Additional pictures at: www.2318huron.com . The neighborhood website is at: http://rtpnet.org/~tlna/ . MLS#979951. Listed by Maverick Partners Realty Services. Contact Derek Mangum at 919.682.0501 for additional information or email at dmangum@maverickpartners.com (Text from seller)

Single Family Property, Area: Durham - Duke University, Subdivision: Wa Wa Yada, County: Durham, Approximately 0.17 acre(s), Year Built: 1930, Story and a half, Central air conditioning, Basement, Hardwood floors To access this page directly, use http://www.realtor.com/realestate/durham-nc-27707-1098113381/ Listed at $130,000. 2 bed, 1 bath, 1,035 Sq. Ft., .17 Acres, MLS ID# 995759

On May 31st a portion of Huron Street was closed so that folks from around the neighborhood could gather in the street to celebrate our recent neighborhood accomplishments, our nice and rainy spring, new neighbors and each others company. Good food and great cheer was had by all. Our new Aussie neighbor treated us to a song on the didgeridoo too!

Mark your calendars. The final public hearing for our Neighborhood Protection Overlay has been placed on the City Council’s agenda for: Monday, April 21, 7:00 p.m. at City Hall (101 City Hall Plaza) This is the night the Council will vote on whether to approve our NPO. If it passes, the NPO will be added to Durham ’s zoning ordinance. After our 10-minute presentation, we will ask everyone who supports the NPO to please stand. Please plan to come to the hearing and support an NPO for Tuscaloosa-Lakewood. If you need a ride, contact Frances Kerr ( frances@duke.edu ; 490-6942). The final draft of the Tuscaloosa Lakewood NPO text is now available for download: Download text as Word Document: 2008.03.19_TL_NPO_Final_Draft.doc Download text as PDF: 2008.03.19_TL_NPO_Final_Draft.pdf Download map boundaries as PDF: tl_npo_proposed_map.pdf For the Planning Department's description of the NPO process, scroll to “Neighborhood Protection Overlay” at...

The final draft of the Tuscaloosa Lakewood NPO text is now available for download: Download text as Word Document: 2008.03.19_TL_NPO_Final_Draft.doc Download text as PDF: 2008.03.19_TL_NPO_Final_Draft.pdf Download map boundaries as PDF: tl_npo_proposed_map.pdf For the Planning Department's description of the NPO process, scroll to “Neighborhood Protection Overlay” at the following link: http://www.durhamnc.gov/departments/planning/applications.cfm#NPO History: The neighborhood first started working on an NPO in the fall of 2006. The document has gone through many drafts, with input from neighbors and staff members in the City-County Planning Department. The Joint City-County Planning Committee voted to support the adoption of the NPO at its meeting in January 2008. The Planning Commission recommended adoption in February 2008. Next Steps: This final draft will go to the City Council for a vote at their next available meeting (probably in April). If the City Council approves it, the...

Planning Commission Recommends Approval of our Neighborhood Protection Overlay Vote: 9-1 The Joint City-County Planning Commission voted to recommend our proposed NPO for adoption by the City Council. By a 9-1 margin, planning commissioners supported the goals and the bulk of the language of the NPO. They lauded our efforts to protect our unique and extensive tree canopy against unstudied development, and agreed with most other provisions in the NPO. They also recommended that language in the NPO pertaining to commercial properties be clarified to better explain how the NPO affects commercial properties not converted from residential houses. We believe this clarification to the NPO language will help the few businesses who have not yet completely seen the benefits of the NPO come to understand its purpose. We will work with them and the Planning Department in the coming weeks, doing our best to extend the broad consensus we have worked to achieve throughout this process. We could n...

Those big red and yellow zoning signs that recently appeared throughout the neighborhood were placed by the City-County Planning Department to announce the public hearing for our proposed NPO. The hearing will be part of the City-County Planning Commission's February meeting: Tuesday, February 12 5:30 p.m. City Council Chambers, City Hall (first floor) We need your support at the public hearing to show the Planning Commission that the neighborhood supports adoption of the NPO. The NPO Committee will make a ten-minute presentation. At the end, we'll ask all the property owners present who support the NPO to stand up. The more people we have, the clearer the message will be to the Planning Commission that the neighborhood wants the adoption of this NPO. To see the latest draft of the proposed NPO, click on this link: http://tlnadurham.googlepages.com/2008.01.31_TC0608_TL_NPO_Attachment_.pdf To see a map of the boundaries for the NPO, click on this link: tl_npo_proposed_map.pdf Fo...

New Development for the old Kroger Shopping Center next to South Square Developers Need Your Input A proposal for a mixed-used development called University Marketplace was approved by the City Council on September 3. The developers want to have a "Fresh Market" or similar small specialty grocer as one of the anchor businesses. The problem is that Fresh Market is opening a new store on NC 54 at the intersection with the 15-501 by-pass around Chapel Hill (across from Glen Lennox), so they want to see if they can serve the Durham market from there. The University Marketplace developers think the south Durham community can support its own stores. They predict that a good specialty grocer as an anchor would attract other desirable tenants. They have prepared a short survey and are asking residents to fill it out, indicating their preferences. Besides Tuscaloosa-Lakewood, this survey is going to neighborhood associations in the surrounding area. Here's the link to the survey: ...

South West Central Durham CommUNITY Fest is a one day festival held the last Saturday in October, traditionally coinciding with "Make a Difference Day" hosted by DCLT. This free event features a day long line up of local musicians and dance, as well as local food vendors, children crafts activities, nonprofit booths, neighborhood history displays, and family fun activities. This event is produced Trustees, and all six neighborhoods of Southwest-Central Durham, representing the great strengths of Durham 's cultural, ethnic and socio-economic diversity. The goal of CommUNITY Fest is to celebrate the gifts, talents, and history of our community by bringing people together in a fun, festive atmosphere, thereby in collaboration with the South West Central Durham-Quality of Life, Durham Community Land building an even stronger community.

Article by Jonathan Nyberg Recently a group of Tuscaloosa-Lakewood gardeners went looking for a site for a community garden. Just to show you what a great neighborhood you live in, we found not one but two fabulous sites. Here is the up-to-date info on the two gardens. Lakewood Elementary School Community Garden Behind the Lakewood Elementary School on Vesson Ave. is a community garden looking for gardeners. Everyone is welcome to participate. Rebecca and I have signed up for three beds to grow the sun-loving vegetables and herbs we can't grow in our shady home garden. As a bonus, we get to help the children understand how they can grow a garden. If you would like to have a garden bed here or would like to volunteer in the garden (either to work in it or help teach the children), contact Elizabeth Newman at Lakewood Elementary School . TLNA Community Garden at Lakewood United Methodist Church We are partnering with Lakewood Methodist Church to create a community garden in their ba...

It is not considered animal cruelty to house an animal outdoors. However, all animals must be provided adequate food, a constant supply of clean, fresh water, and adequate shelter from the weather at all times. Animals that are tethered outdoors are required to have no less than 10 feet of chain with swivels on both ends and are to be tethered in such a manner that the animal cannot become entangled. A chain or tether cannot exceed 10% of the animal's body weight. A Chain cannot be used as a primary collar. For the purpose of chaining or tethering a collar must be made of nylon or leather. It is unlawful to allow a collar, rope or chain to become embedded in or cause injury to an animal's neck. It is important to monitor a growing animal's collar for the necessity of adjustment. It is also unlawful to use a choke or pinch collar to be used as a primary collar when the animal is left unsupervised. In addition to failing to comply with the above stipulations, other acts whi...