"One of the major concerns to date has been whether a too-heavy commercial presence of stores and restaurants on Central Campus would provide adverse competition for nearby businesses on Ninth Street. Businesses on Duke campus get an automatic leg-up because of easy access for students and tax advantages not shared by Durham-based entrepreneurs. It's important for all, as this process continues, to make sure that Ninth Street -- one of Durham's most vibrant business areas -- is enhanced, not hurt, by Duke's plans."
--Herald-Sun editorial
"You've got Duke putting everything they can on campus so the students don't leave and things like that happening, which makes it that much harder for any business to make it in any of these towns."
-James Lee, co-owner of "305 South" (N&O, 8/13/06)
“It makes abundant sense that the community should be interested in what happens in the redevelopment of 128 acres of Duke's Central Campus.”
-Herald-Sun editorial
Thomas Stith said elected officials "need to be very cautious in giving Duke a blank check," and insist that the university emulate other builders by giving the city a good idea of how the project will be laid out.
-Herald-Sun
"I like to think we are one of the premiere literary bookstores in the country. This is going to be a huge store there, only a quarter-mile from us."
-Tom Campbell, The Regulator
"I believe it's going to impact Ninth Street business. If people have more choices, they are going to have an impact."
-Hamad Ghanayem, nearby merchant
"I'd like to see as much specificity as we can see on this, and that's something the neighborhoods have asked for."
-Councilman Mike Woodard
"In general, the more detail the better. And I have a history of trying to work out stuff and trying to get as many committed elements [in rezoning cases as possible.]"
-Councilwoman Diane Catotti
"Stith singled out the question of commercial space, saying he wants restrictions that make sure new enterprises don't have an unfair competitive advantage over existing businesses."
-Herald-Sun
"If anything we do stiffs Ninth Street," executive vice president Tallman Trask has said, "then we'll stop." Last week, Provost Peter Lange repeated pledges that Duke has no intention of supplanting enterprises on Ninth Street…Yet, Lange acknowledged last week that Duke administrators have talked about bringing a Barnes & Noble bookstore to Central Campus, just a quarter mile from The Regulator Bookshop on Ninth Street."
-Jennifer Hardison, Old West Durham (letter in Herald-Sun)
"In addition to the monetary advantages that a big public franchise like Barnes & Noble has over an independent bookstore like The Regulator, the fact that a university-based Barnes & Noble would be exempt from property taxes, thereby giving it an additional financial advantage while relieving it of the social responsibility of giving money back to the city from which it profits, is criminal in principle, whether or not it is technically illegal. "
-Melissa Rooney, Durham (letter in Herald-Sun)
"Peter Lange has accomplished more [in terms of community relations] in two months than the public relations office was able to do in two years. But it's still the same set-up, where Duke talks for 45 minutes about what they're going to do and when we ask questions the answers are always, 'We'll get back to you.'"
-John Schelp, Old West Durham
"[The Barnes & Noble] was a big concern to me. They were going to open a bookstore a quarter of a mile from here."
-Tom Campbell, The Regulator
"Trask's brazen attempts to exploit Duke's non-profit status to abuse Durham's retail market, without any consultation with the faculty, continue to degrade Duke's standing as an institution that exists for something other than its own promotion."
-Michael Bacon, Durham (letter in Herald-Sun)
"I wish there was a little more back and forth than the university letting us know what they're doing."
-Josh Parker, Durham (Herald-Sun)
"Plans to relocate the student bookstore and T-shirt shops to Central Campus caused grave concerns among Durham merchants and residents from near-campus neighborhoods. Too much commercial development at Duke, they complained, could further isolate the walled-in campus from the city and give students few reasons to go to nearby restaurants or stores that count on their business."
-News & Observer
"Duke's announcement last year [to go with limited retail zoning] was a victory for common sense. We look forward to seeing a development plan for Central Campus. We're just happy to help Duke become a better neighbor."
-John Schelp, Old West Durham
“These meetings help sensitize us to these things." -Provost Peter Lange (before Duke submitted a mostly blank Development Plan)
"Plopping down a big box Barnes & Noble would be a disastrous expression of corporate largesse and insouciance about the local economy. The Regulator is a family-owned bookstore on 9th Street with a college-feel, and could expand its operation in a new facility on Central."
-student column in Duke Chronicle
Director of Dining Services Jim Wulforst explained that meal plan points are non-taxable and thus can only be used on campus.
-Duke Chronicle
"Duke gets these tax breaks because it's a "non-profit," but this looks a whole lot like "for-profit" behavior. I just don't see other non-profits engaging in such elaborate schemes to avoid paying sales tax. By opening up the DukeCard system to all local merchants, Duke could avoid this appearance of impropriety, and Durham would receive the sales tax revenue."
-Chris Sevick, letter in Herald-Sun
"Duke, which is considerably more well endowed than any of those institutions, apparently gouges both their students and the local merchants while accepting the two-fold subsidy we taxpayers give them as an educational institution: Tax breaks for donors to the university and a pass on the payment of property and sales taxes… Looks like they want it both ways: To be considered needy, do-gooder education providers when it comes to claiming a public subsidy, while playing aggressive, private sector-style entrepreneurs when it comes to economic relations with the surrounding town."
-Tom Clark, letter in Herald-Sun
"My assumption has been that it's a choice Duke has made to keep all its transactions on campus." -Tom Campbell, Ninth Street merchant
"[The DukeCard] is almost the only thing you take out of your wallet all week... People feel really comfortable in the Duke bubble and aren't as willing to get off onto Ninth Street as they should be.”
-Ian Long, Duke student (Herald-Sun)
"Whichever way you cut it, somebody at Duke 'misinformed' me. I'm not interested in affixing blame to either of these individuals, but I think it demonstrates how frustrating it can be to deal with Duke's administration. It's time for some straight answers. They have heard our concerns, and told us that they'd get back to us with the details in a month. It's now been well over two months."
--Chris Sevick, reply in Herald-Sun
"...it is far worse to keep the surrounding business in Durham at their current disadvantage and to continue to deny them business from Duke students."
-Elliott Wolf, Duke student column in the Chronicle (now Student Body President)
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