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<br /> Tuesday,October 8,2002 12:OOAM EDT Lk
<br /> Plans of mall, rail line clash
<br /> By BARBARA BARRETT, Staff Writer
<br /> In 15 years, if all goes as planned, a light rail line or busway might whisk shoppers, medical students and
<br /> commuters between central Durham and Chapel Hill, past lines of cars stuck on U.S. 15-501.
<br /> That's a long time away,though,for people who own property in the proposed transit corridor with its dozen or so
<br /> stations. For now, planners face a tough challenge keeping the 14-mile line clean of new development.
<br /> A big test comes Oct. 21, when the Durham City Council holds a public hearing related to the long-hoped-for
<br /> redevelopment of Durham's deserted South Square Mall. Current maps show the transit line and a station edging
<br /> one side of the mall's parking lot, but the mall's owner opposes that idea.
<br /> Planners say a South Square station, with between 250 and 700 riders a day, could be the most important one on
<br /> the Durham-Chapel Hill line, helping to justify the entire project's expense of up to$330 million.
<br /> But South Square owner Henry Faison of Charlotte wants to raze the empty mall and build a big-box strip center
<br /> with a Sam's Club and, likely, a SuperTarget. Those plans don't leave room for a transit station and corridor.
<br /> The Triangle Transit Authority and transit backers see the Durham-to-Chapel Hill corridor, mostly running beside
<br /> U.S. 15-501, as a critical link in a mass transit system for the region. By late 2007, the TTA plans to run commuter
<br /> rail along an existing freight corridor between Raleigh and Durham.The line between Durham and Chapel Hill
<br /> would come later, after transit planners decide whether to go with rail or buses.
<br /> But the TTA and local governments do not own the proposed Durham-Chapel Hill corridor. Instead,they must
<br /> persuade landowners to keep the path open.At the same time, they are encouraging high-density mixes of retail,
<br /> residential and office development around the prospective station sites.
<br /> Faison,the owner, has a different vision for South Square. His proposal would move the corridor away from South
<br /> Square and have it skirt the rear of the nearby Office Depot and run down Shannon Road a few hundred feet to
<br /> the east. The station would be built across Shannon Road, where several businesses are already located.
<br /> Jensie Teague, Faison's senior managing director of retail, said the company spent several hundred thousand
<br /> dollars on planning fees and worked hard with city officials to preserve the corridor but found it economically
<br /> impossible.
<br /> "The corridor, the way it goes through the property, it would be fatal,"he said. "In every way."
<br /> Leaning toward mall
<br /> Durham Mayor Bill Bell,who also is chairman of TTA's board of trustees, said he is inclined to vote for Faison's
<br /> requested change. He pointed out that the corridor needs more study anyway.
<br /> The TTA is far from determining whether it would better to link Durham and Chapel Hill by rail or busway, or
<br /> whether either would be cost-effective. In fact, a recent study showed that for some sections of the route, including
<br /> the area around South Square, buses in mixed traffic might be the best way to go.
<br /> Some warn, however, that moving the station site and corridor away from South Square could put the entire line in
<br /> danger.
<br /> "I just think it sets a bad precedent for this guy to come in and say, 'I don't want it,' "said Dan Jewell, an architect
<br /> and member of the local Durham Area Designers organization, which has pushed for a dense, mixed-use
<br /> redevelopment of South Square Mall.
<br /> Frank Duke, the city-county planning director, said there are important public policy questions to consider with the
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