Fwd: campfires in the underbrush at Parking Lot 37 on Seminary Street

[ro...@rossgrady.org]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Williams, Stephen" <Stephen....@durhamnc.gov>
Date: January 2, 2026 at 1:38:23 PM EST
To: Ross Grady <ro...@rossgrady.org>
Subject: campfires in the underbrush at Parking Lot 37 on Seminary Street



Mr. Grady,

I am in receipt of your e-mail the City Manager Ferguson and additional city staff regarding the unhoused individuals on Seminary Street.

City staff are aware of your concern and actively working with the individuals to assist in finding more permanent housing.  

If you require further assistance, please call Durham One Call at (919) 560-1200 or you can reach out directly to me. 

Thanks, 

Stephen Williams

Customer Service Administrator

Durham One Call

City Manager's Office, City of Durham

101 City Hall Plaza

Durham, North Carolina 27701

P 919-560-4222, ext 11321

Stephen....@DurhamNC.gov

 

<Outlook-Durham One.png>

 

[Brittany Ladwig]

Good day thank you for sending this over, I have cc'd your manager for further assistance.

Brittany Ladwig Area Manager  877.252.3327 | www.mycmg.com Service Driven: People, Process and Purpose

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[Holland Falls]

Is anything being done about this? The trash behind the building and falling over the fence line is no longer acceptable. I saw a couple of mice out there today and it is becoming an issue. I’ve walked up on the individuals bathing using the faucet back there twice (which, I’m not sure what to say. I’d like them to have a place to bathe and maintain their dignity) and leaving behind their soap bars and towels. This is not sustainable. 

Has any further contact been made with the city to find them housing and clean up the trash overflowing into the property line? 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mangum506residents/CAF5YhR5%2BwdEyFa2ALPejLjhDxqhKT45ZqLvPS8nUpoeaZiC%2Bog%40mail.gmail.com.

[Carmen Dawes]

Hi there-

Thank you for making us aware of the situation. I think talking with the city manager, contacting the police is the course of action. Ross had mentioned an organization that could possibly give them shelter. Are we certain that area is not HOA property? 

I've attached the maps I have of the community.

Carmen Dawes Community Manager

877.252.3327 | www.mycmg.com Service Driven: People, Process and Purpose

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[Jim Desper]

Their camps (there are now two camp structures) which are in the parking lot that I believe belongs to the city. However, they hang considerable numbers of shirts, etc on the fence and they fall onto our property. And with two camp structures in place it is a fair amount of material that would cause them to jump the fence onto our property. They are surrounded by very dense, very dry brush with open flames maybe 10 feet from our building and our HVAC units.

Jim Desper

201

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[ro...@rossgrady.org]

Hi folks,

I sent this emall to y’all on January 2nd, and I received the following response from Stephen Williams later that day — many thanks to him for the speedy response!

Mr. Grady,

I am in receipt of your e-mail the City Manager Ferguson and additional city staff regarding the unhoused individuals on Seminary Street.

City staff are aware of your concern and actively working with the individuals to assist in finding more permanent housing.  

If you require further assistance, please call Durham One Call at (919) 560-1200 or you can reach out directly to me. 

Unfortunately, nothing has improved in the situation since then, and it has been six weeks. If anything, it has gotten worse, inasmuch as there are more people living there now than there were before.

The residents in our building have grown increasingly concerned as the weeks have dragged on. Here is a sample of their recent comments:

Is anything being done about this? The trash behind the building and falling over the fence line is no longer acceptable. I saw a couple of mice out there today and it is becoming an issue. I’ve walked up on the individuals bathing using the faucet back there twice (which, I’m not sure what to say. I’d like them to have a place to bathe and maintain their dignity) and leaving behind their soap bars and towels. This is not sustainable. 

Has any further contact been made with the city to find them housing and clean up the trash overflowing into the property line? 

And:

Their camps (there are now two camp structures) which are in the parking lot that I believe belongs to the city. However, they hang considerable numbers of shirts, etc on the fence and they fall onto our property. And with two camp structures in place it is a fair amount of material that would cause them to jump the fence onto our property. They are surrounded by very dense, very dry brush with open flames maybe 10 feet from our building and our HVAC units.

One thing I know *definitively* as a longtime (18 years) resident of Durham is that if this were not City of Durham property, Neighborhood Improvement Services would have acted aggressively about the overgrowth on the lot a long time ago. It is not clear to me why the City is allowed to leave this parking lot in an overgrown condition such that an entire campground has cropped up.

(In fact: many years ago, NIS cited us because the groundcover on our side of the property line was more than 12” high . . . )

I emphatically agree that the solution to this problem should be that these individuals are assisted in finding more suitable housing, particularly given the horrible cold weather conditions we have endured over the past month.

But until that is addressed, these folks are tenants of the City of Durham on City property, and our expectation is that the City will take on this responsibility at the same level that any other landlord would be expected to have. 

Your tenants are: 

• persisting in having open fires during the driest and windiest part of the year, directly adjacent to our property
• using our water and leaving the faucet dripping, to the extent that our City of Durham water bill was $200 higher for December than it was for August

Please let me know with all due haste what the City plans to do to address this situation.

Warmest regards,

Ross Grady

President, Mangum 506 HOA

506 N Mangum St

Durham, NC, 27701

On Jan 2, 2026, at 10:28 AM, ro...@rossgrady.org wrote:

Hi folks,

Sorry for the shotgun approach to the email list here, but it is difficult to ascertain from the City website who is responsible for city-owned parking lots.

If you’re not familiar with Parking Lot 37, it is the small gravel parking lot on Seminary St, bordered by Cleveland and Mangum, directly across the street from the Durham County Schools central office. It’s owned by the City of Durham.

For a couple of months now, there have been some unhoused people camping with tents in the overgrown brush that takes up around 15% of the surface area of the parking lot.

I am the president of the owners association of the Mangum 506 condominiums, which is directly adjacent to the parking lot.

A few weeks ago, on December 7, 2025, one of our residents noticed that the people camping in the bushes had a campfire going. Given the dryness of the winter season, and the close proximity to our building, I was sufficiently concerned that I called 911 and asked for the HEART team to be dispatched to conduct an intervention with these folks. I made the call at around 5:30 pm, and the HEART team (along with DFD! — the dispatcher insisted :) ) arrived a little while later.

I did not reconnect with HEART to find out what happened, but today another of our residents observed that there is another campfire happening back there, so whatever intervention was conducted, it was not effective.

I have lived in Downtown Durham for 17 years, and I have generally had a cordial relationship with most of the unhoused people with whom I have come into contact. The HEART team has been a real blessing for us these past few years, as well.

But I continue to be pretty concerned about the risk of a brush fire going out of control back there at this time of year, when things are dry and windy.

Given that this camping & campfire is happening on City of Durham property, I am somewhat reluctantly emailing y’all to ask you to please do something about this open fire situation.

Warmest regards,

Ross Grady
President, Mangum 506 HOA
506 N Mangum St, Apt 302
Durham, NC 27701

[ro...@rossgrady.org]

I checked last week — much like with our individual units, the original builder and their not-great plumber did not install a shutoff on that outside faucet. It ties directly into the riser for the 400-building sprinkler system.

I think we *should* consider hiring a plumber to completely remove that faucet, as it is supplied from the unheated riser room and is thus at more risk of freezing anyway. 

Residents: do any of y’all use the outside faucet in the trash corral?

Ross

On Feb 14, 2026, at 9:14 AM, 'Vahid Tarokh' via Mangum506HOA <mangum...@googlegroups.com> wrote:



Hello Ross

Thanks for sending this

Why not shut the external water for now while this situation gets resolved?

Thanks a lot

Vahid

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[ro...@rossgrady.org]

Hi Ryan,

Another month has gone by, and the situation in the City of Durham’s parking lot on Seminary, between Cleveland and Mangum, has not improved. If anything, it has gotten worse.

I appreciate that you have taken point on addressing this issue, but I would like to redirect this conversation back to the folks who bear the ultimate responsibility: the City Council, the Mayor, and the City Manager.

Below please find another email from another unit owner in Mangum 506, regarding the City of Durham’s ongoing negligence in continuing to ignore the nuisance it has created on its parking lot.

I would also regretfully like to call attention to one aspect of your email from February: "They will respond and put out any campfires that do not comply with safety protocols.”

I will rely on the City Attorney to correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is that the City of Durham does not permit any sort of open fire/campfire on city property. If I go to any of the City Parks, I am not allowed to light a campfire — I must use one of the grills provided.

I must insist that the City of Durham do more to mitigate this situation. If the City of Durham is comfortable having unhoused people camping on City property — and to be honest, that’s fine with me, I fully respect these folks’ need to live somewhere — then I would like to suggest that the City owns *many other properties* that are not located 30 feet away from people’s homes. I’m sure I don’t need to provide y’all with a list of your vacant or underutilized properties which aren’t in residential areas.

Attached below please find the aforementioned email from another of our Mangum 506 residents regarding this situation. 

Warmest regards,

Ross Grady

President

Mangum 506 COA

Hi friends, 

I wanted to bring up an ongoing issue outside the building that has been affecting my ability to sleep and feel comfortable in my home.

Since around November, there has been an encampment behind the units. They are close enough that conversations and activity carry straight up into the units. The noise regularly continues late into the night and early morning hours, and white noise inside the apartment hasn’t been enough to mask it.

Beyond the noise, there have also been repeated instances of open fires, sanitation concerns, and drug-use. I completely understand that this is a complicated situation, but the ongoing disturbance is starting to have a real impact on sleep, feeling of safety and overall quality of life. 

I also wanted to flag that the presence of open flames near the building and the ongoing sanitation concerns feel like potential safety issues for the property. They are burning plastics and other miscellaneous items that create toxic fumes that reaches inside the units. Because this has been happening consistently for several months, I thought it would be helpful to bring it to the HOA’s attention (again) so it can be addressed proactively before it becomes a larger concern for residents or the building.

I have contacted the non-emergency line multiple times with little success and the group has been gathering for months now, so it feels like a more proactive approach may be needed.

Would the HOA or building management be willing to look into a few possible options?

• Installing brighter lighting around the sidewalk area near the building
• Exploring environmental deterrents that might discourage people from lingering there nightly
• Reaching out to the city for more consistent engagement or outreach 
• Looking into any sound mitigation options that might help affected units. Request to install sound-proof windows.

This is a serious issue that impacts quality of life and I urge you to take it seriously. It’s now been many months and nothing productive has happened. I just wanted to raise this (again) so we can hopefully find a solution.

On Feb 16, 2026, at 9:09 PM, Smith, Ryan <Ryan....@durhamnc.gov> wrote:

Dear Mr. Grady,

Thank you for your continued patience and for the detailed update regarding the situation at the Seminary Street lot. We hear your concerns clearly—specifically regarding the fire risks, the unauthorized use of your building’s water, and the trash and property maintenance standards.

Please find an update below on the steps the City is currently taking:

Immediate Outreach and Engagement. Our Street Outreach staff have been visiting this site regularly to build rapport and discuss shelter and housing transitions. The individuals at the site have indicated they are arranging to relocate to housing. In our visits to the site this week we will:

• Confirm their transition plans and, if those plans are not viable, continue to support them in connecting to available resources.
• Emphasize concerns over campfires in collaboration with the Durham Fire Department (see below) and address the unauthorized use of your building’s faucet.
• Work with those at the location to address concerns over trash. 

Shelter and Safety Coordination. While our goal is to transition these individuals into stable environments and close this encampment, our local shelters are currently at capacity, which limits immediate placement options.  While we work to resolve this matter, I wanted to speak to the safety concerns you raised.

• Fire Safety: I spoke with the Durham Fire Department.  They are going to visit the site with Street Outreach to examine the campfire location. DFD advised that residents of your property call 9-1-1 should they see a campfire that concerns them. They will respond and put out any campfires that do not comply with safety protocols. 
• Emergencies: Please continue to call 9-1-1 for any other immediate safety hazards, or the non-emergency line for other behavioral concerns. The appropriate first responders will be dispatched to the site.

Long-Term Strategy and Accountability. We recognize that "long-term solutions" do not mitigate the immediate risks and concerns you have named. However, it is important to share that the City is pivoting to a more robust and proactive strategy to resolve unsheltered homelessness.

We recently presented a new approach to City and County leaders that aims for a 30% reduction in unsheltered homelessness next year. Our three-year goal is to reach a "functional zero" state where any encampment can be resolved within 30 days by moving individuals directly into housing.

Last month, we launched an interim housing work group to assess options for increasing the supply non-congregate shelter to support our efforts to more quickly resolve encampment concerns.

Next Steps. We will keep you updated as our Outreach team makes further progress on-site. Once we are able to close the encampment, we will work with other City departments to clear the area of trash and, where possible, brush.  

Sincerely,

Ryan

Ryan Smith (he/him) 

Director

Durham Community Safety Department (DCSD)

City of Durham
516 Rigsbee Ave.

Durham, NC 27701

Mobile 919.433.6196

Ryan....@durhamnc.gov

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From: Vahid Tarokh <vahid...@yahoo.com>
Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2026 9:13 AM
To: Egan, Sean <Sean...@durhamnc.gov>; Bass, Aleicia <Aleici...@durhamnc.gov>; Johnson, Alexander <Alexande...@durhamnc.gov>; Thomerson, Roger <Roger.T...@durhamnc.gov>; Ferguson, Bo <Bo.Fe...@durhamnc.gov>; Smith, Ryan <Ryan....@durhamnc.gov>; ro...@rossgrady.org <ro...@rossgrady.org>
Cc: Mangum506HOA <mangum...@googlegroups.com>; Mangum506Residents <mangum506...@googlegroups.com>; Carmen Dawes <cda...@mycmg.com>
Subject: Re: campfires in the underbrush at Parking Lot 37 on Seminary Street

 

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Hello Ross

Thanks for sending this

Why not shut the external water for now while this situation gets resolved?

Thanks a lot

Vahid

On Friday, February 13, 2026 at 05:47:27 PM EST, ro...@rossgrady.org <ro...@rossgrady.org> wrote:

[ro...@rossgrady.org]

Dear Mr. Ferguson,

Thank you very much for your detailed response. We truly appreciate it, as well as the work that Ryan’s team, and your Community Solutions partners, are doing to drive homelessness towards zero in Durham.

I do have one followup question for you. For the past ~14 years, downtown residents have been paying an additional tax via the BID/MSD overlay. Our building, Mangum 506, is within that overlay. My rough estimate is that our building alone has been responsible for over $100k in BID taxes over the past 14 years.

It is my understanding that the budget for the BID operator (which has been Downtown Durham, Inc since the inception of the district) for Fiscal Year 2026 is $2.3M.

Realistically speaking, I think if you were to take a poll of downtown residents and business owners, a top-3 concern of everyone would be the broad and varied impacts of homelessness across downtown. 

Perhaps it is time to redirect the millions of dollars in BID taxes away from the superficial cosmetic frills and unnecessary downtown promotion that DDI provides, and towards making a more meaningful impact with our tax dollars?

Warmest regards,

Ross Grady

President

Mangum 506 COA

On Mar 20, 2026, at 5:31 PM, Ferguson, Bo <Bo.Fe...@durhamnc.gov> wrote:

Dear Mr. Grady,

 

Thank you for your follow-up and for sharing the additional correspondence from the residents of Mangum 506. I truly appreciate your patience as we navigate what I know is a frustrating and complicated situation for you and your neighbors.

 

I want to start by acknowledging the validity of your concerns. It is entirely reasonable to expect that your home remains a place where you feel safe and comfortable, and the reports of open fires, noise, and sanitation issues 30 feet from your door are deeply concerning to me. Please know that we hear you, and we do not take the impact on your quality of life lightly.

 

Our team is working diligently to balance a long list of competing priorities. As Ryan mentioned, we are currently operating in an environment where our local shelters are at capacity, which limits our ability to provide immediate indoor transitions. However, I want to assure you that I have full confidence in our staff's ability to manage these challenges professionally. They are tasked with implementing our community’s values—addressing the needs of our unhoused neighbors with compassion while simultaneously maintaining public safety and the integrity of our neighborhoods.

 

While we work on the immediate site-specific issues at the Seminary Street lot, we are also moving forward with the broader, long-term strategies I have briefed Council on:

• Strategic Planning: We have partnered with Community Solutions to develop a data-driven strategy to make homelessness rare and brief in Durham.
• Encampment Resolution: Our goal, as Ryan shared, is to reach a "functional zero" where we can resolve encampments within 30 days by moving individuals directly into housing.
• Interim Housing: We are actively exploring non-congregate shelter options to increase our capacity to support these transitions.

 

I trust our staff to continue addressing this situation as responsibly as possible. I have asked Ryan and the Community Safety team to remain in close contact with you regarding their outreach progress and to coordinate with General Services on the maintenance and brush concerns you raised.

 

Thank you for your continued engagement and for your commitment to Durham.

 

Best,

 

Bo Ferguson

City Manager