A massive housing development is being planned along Durham-Chapel Hill line

Leigh Village was meant to be a stop on the Durham-Orange Light Rail Transit Project, a compact and walkable neighborhood where thousands of people could sleep, shop and hop on the high-speed train to jobs in Durham or Chapel Hill. But when transportation authorities finally shelved light rail in 2019, landowner Jed Harris and the team behind the proposed mega development kept at it. “The need is still there,” said Dan Jewell, regional director for the land planning firm Thomas & Hutton. In October, Harris and Jewell submitted an annexation...