When I saw a story in The Herald-Sun this morning about development on Ninth Street in Durham I just knew that John Schelp would be quoted in the story. He’s the president of the Old West Durham Neighborhood Association and the go-to guy for Herald-Sun reporters any time they have to do a story on development seemingly anywhere in Durham. Schelp, we should point out, seems to know what’s best for everyone’s property in Durham. I guess that’s what “neighborhood activists” do. Here’s what he says about Ninth Street:
“It’s more about protecting the landmarks in the neighborhood,” said John Schelp, the association’s president. “The form and use we want to protect is the old mill-village feel of Ninth Street. Bringing in five-story buildings like you see in Bethesda, Md., will completely change that.”
Well, says who? Some people think Ninth Street is rundown. Who is Schelp to say that five-story buildings should be out of bounds? He also presumes to tell Duke what it should do with Central Campus, what it must do with the walkway around East Campus, and where it needs to break up the East Campus wall to provide “accessibility” to the campus. I have a suggestion. If Schelp wants to tell people what they should do with their private property, why doesn’t he buy it fair-market value and do it himself, at his own expense?
