Because I am not writing a news article here, I can insert an editorial comment or two.

I think it is such a shame that there was support for this woman, but only one or two people showed up to express it. It seems to me, Durham residents should share their support as much and as quickly as they share their disapproval.
Because that was not the case in this woman's efforts, the Townspeople of Durham allowed decisions to be made by a handful of people who spoke for the town whose opinions may or may not been accurately presented. If there had been people present who were in support of this, the outcome might have been different.
In my opinion, the people who spoke against this woman's proposal, came into the room with extremely hateful expressions. They sat in the back of the room uttering various expletives that I could clearly hear and they were simply mean. Their attitudes were ugly.
These are the people whose opinions shaped the decision of the PZC and who represented the Townspeople.
I doubt, if the residents of Durham were aware of the ugliness that sat in the corner of that room, they would be pleased. The attitude these people exhibited was simply hateful.