How Durham City Council and Planning Commission Voted on Development Cases in 2025

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In 2025, the Durham City Council and Planning Commission voted on 34 development cases. Of those, 29 were approved, five denied, and one withdrawn. Before members changed in December 2025, the council approved 90% of items it voted on, while the commission approved 80%. Durham Dispatch has analyzed how council and commission voted on this year’s annexation and rezoning cases. That data is available here.

This 2025 tracker emulates a 2024 project from Bull City Public Investigators [1]. In 2024, the council voted on 45 development cases and approved all but three. The Planning Commission recommended approval in 76% of cases, compared to the council's 93% approval rate. The two-faction dynamic was also present in 2024. Caballero, Middleton, Rist, and Williams voted similarly 95% of the time when all four were present, while Baker, Cook, and Freeman were more likely to dissent.

The council overrode a negative commission recommendation three times. For the Pickett Apartments case, the commission rejected it 2-8, yet the council approved it 4-3. Durham Gateway at Brier Creek was similar. Despite a 1-8 commission rejection, the council approved 4-2. Heartland Park Subdivision followed the same pattern, with a 4-7 commission denial reversed by a 4-3 council vote. In these three cases, a minority of Baker, Cook, and Freeman voted with the commission. The majority of Caballero, Middleton, Rist, and Williams voted to approve regardless.

Annexation and rezoning votes in 2025 created two factions on Durham City Council. Baker, Cook, and Freeman formed a more skeptical bloc. Caballero, Middleton, Rist, and Williams voted together as a more permissive majority. This division shows up on the three overrides of commission recommendations, but also on Howard Property (4-3), Danube Lane Townhouses (6-1, with Baker dissenting) and Wake Olive (5-2, with Baker and Freeman dissenting). Middleton was the most reliable yes vote at 97%, while Baker was the most frequent no at 70%. The majority bloc (Caballero, Middleton, Rist, Williams) had an average approval rate of about 90%, compared to about 75% for the minority bloc (Baker, Cook, Freeman).

Only four items in 2025 were decided with the new council (Matt Kopac and Shanetta Burris replacing Freeman and Middleton). However, all seven members voted the same on every item and the sample size too small to draw conclusions.

For years, one of the most divisive topics in Durham politics has been how to address a chronic crisis of high rents and home prices. One answer has been to build outward, approving new developments on cheap land at the city's edge. Critics say this approach helps private developers more than cities themselves, since fringe development needs roads, water lines, and schools that cost more than the tax revenue they produce, leaving cities to foot the bill for decades. Fringe developments are also built around car ownership, making it harder to create walkable and bikeable communities [2]. In addition, annexations and rezonings aimed at spurring new construction could only help in a crisis that was simply a matter of supply. However, the core problem is that the US political system is committed to high rents and home values, and has been on a bipartisan basis for decades [3]. For example, federal laws such as the Faircloth Amendment cap public housing construction, while North Carolina laws bar municipalities from competing with private developers, through the Umstead Act, and prohibit rent control, through NC GS 42-14.1.

Works Cited

1. Marohn, Charles. "America Should Sprawl? Not If We Want Strong Towns." Strong Towns, May 5, 2025. https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2025-05-05-america-should-sprawl-not-if-we-want-strong-towns

2. Marohn, Charles. “The Housing Debate Is Finally Catching Up to Reality.” Strong Towns, February 9, 2026. https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2026-2-9-the-housing-debate-is-finally-catching-up-to-reality

3. Constantine, Lucia. "How Durham City Council Voted on Development in 2024." Bull City Public Investigators, December 17, 2024. https://bcpi.substack.com/p/how-durham-city-council-voted-on