How to Advocate for YOUR Neighborhood

Keeping Growth in SCALE with our Neighborhoods

Are you interested in influencing the future of Raleigh?  

Do you prefer growth that enhances neighborhoods and that doesn’t run the risk of overwhelming existing infrastructure like roads, water and sewer, and schools? 

Would you like to see costs of infrastructure expansion shared fairly?

Then please contact Community SCALE to join the SCALE-Forum, a group of like-minded Raleigh residents who support growth that: 

·      accommodates and encourages compatible development in existing residential neighborhoods, 

·      while reinforcing the established character of the neighborhood, and 

·       mitigating adverse impacts on adjacent homes.* 

And please consider taking the following additional actions.

·       Make sure you and your family and friends are registered to vote. Mark your calendars for City Council elections on 10/10/17.  The power of one vote – your vote – is magnified because turnout is historically low for these elections.  In 2015 Raleigh City Council elections, one district race was decided by just 237 votes.

·       Go to RaleighNC.gov and sign up to get notifications of meetings and other topics of interest (subscriptions tab on the top right page menu of many service pages). 

·       Write and call City Council members and Planning Commission members whenever you see/hear about an issue of interest.

·       Attend meetings of the City Council, the Council’s Growth and Natural Resources Committee, and the Planning Commission when you can.  Meeting dates and agendas at City Council at RaleighNC.gov. Planning Commission details can be found here. 

·       Attend your Citizen Advisory Council (CAC) meetings. If you live in Raleigh, you automatically are a member of a Citizens Advisory Council. The City of Raleigh has 19 CACs, each representing a different geographic region of the city.

·       If you're in District D (or even if you're not), go to DDNA meetings on the 3rd Saturday of most months. 8:30 a.m., at the Thomas G. Crowder Woodland Center, 5611 Jaguar Park Drive, Raleigh, NC. 

Community SCALE (Streets that connect people under a Canopy of trees with Architecture of different types and Land preserved for a neighborhood Everyone can enjoy) formed in 2007, and in 2009 incorporated as a nonprofit to help keep the citizens of Raleigh informed about a variety of development-related topics. 

Among Community SCALE’s most important projects has been advocating for the development of Residential Infill Compatibility Standards; these are a now a component of the Unified Development Ordinance code and regulations.  SCALE continues to play a role in advocating for responsible growth.

*From the City of Raleigh Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Infill Compatibility Standards intent statement.

Action Alert: Stormwater Ordinance at City Council Tuesday

Tuesday, Nov 1, Public Hearing at 7 PM in Raleigh City Council Chambers
Subject: TC-2-16, residential stormwater exemptions and limits

• Did you know that the City of Raleigh currently does not have an ordinance regulating the control of drainage water from new construction in older residential lots? 

• Did you know that there is no limit at this time to the amount of impervious surface allowed in infill construction?

This is why so many older neighborhoods, and existing homes, are being affected by new drainage problems, why our creeks are showing red clay runoff, and why so much vegetation can be replaced by concrete. This has been an expensive problem for many unsuspecting homeowners.

A Text Change to the Unified Development Ordinance is ready to be presented to the City Council this Tuesday at a public hearing. Ordinance TC-2-16 is based on the recommendations of the Stormwater Management Advisory Commission, who began their work in 2013 at the recommendation of the City Council. This year the recommendations on impervious surface limits for infill construction have been reviewed in the Planning Commission, who recommended this text-change, and discussed at "stakeholder" meetings between residents and the builders, facilitated by the Stormwater Division.

There are a few details that either perspective would like adjusted, but the urgency of getting code in place to protect all homeowners NOW is foremost.

The updated text of the change can be found here, 
http://www.raleighnc.gov/content/PlanDev/Documents/Zoning/Rezoning/TextChanges/2016/TC-02-16.pdf

What you can do:

• Please write the City Council today and say YES to TC-2-16. 
• Plan to attend the public hearing tomorrow and show your support for regulations. 
• Consider telling your story at the hearing if you have been affected by this problem. 

If you intend to present, the City will need 12 copies of your pictures to pass to the Council and officials. Comments must be concise and take less than 3 minutes. Do not be repetitive to others comments. 

If you cannot attend, but have a story to share, please write the council today so that they may consider your viewpoint in their deliberations. Be concise, and share a picture if you can. 

Click here to write your City Council

YES to TC-2-16 now!

ALERT: Presentation on Neighborhood Conservation Overlays

You are invited to attend the Raleigh Citizens Advisory Council Meeting.  Wednesday, September 21, 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.   Meetings are open to everyone and are held in the Avery C. Upchurch Government Complex  City Council Chamber Rm. 201, 222 W. Hargett St., downtown Raleigh.  Free parking at night on street or in municipal deck.   At this meeting City Planning Staff Members will present information about overlay protections that the City of Raleigh offers to preserve neighborhood character. These overlays are the NCOD (Neighborhood Conservation Overlay District) and the HOD (Historic Overlay District).   If you can't be there - you can watch the videotape later on:  http://raleigh.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=2 AGENDA  I. Welcome, CAC Introductions and Key Updates 7:00 II. Approval of July 20, 2016 RCAC Meeting Minutes  III. Chair Announcements : Carole Meyre  IV. Wake-Up Wake County – Anne Franklin  V. NCOD & HOD Presentation – Bynum Walters & Tania Tully 7:20-8:20 p.m. Old Business 8:10 – 8:30 p.m.

Short-Term Rentals

As noted in this article in the News & Observer, the proposal for allowing short-term residential rentals is headed to the Raleigh City Council on June 7.

For more information:

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/raleigh-report-blog/article75410417.html

https://www.raleighnc.gov/government/content/BoardsCommissions/Articles/CityCouncil.html

Glenwood Gridlock committee needs your voice

Raleigh’s need for growth and development must be balanced with keeping our neighborhoods vibrant and our roads navigable.  This, however, is not going to happen by itself.

 
Right now you can add your voice to those living in the neighborhoods bordering Glen Eden and Country Club Hills who believe they have no choice but to respond to concerns of size and scale proposed by Grubb Ventures for Glenwood Place development on Glenwood Avenue. 
 
The Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) will become effective on February 14, 2016.  In the UDO the City has zoned commercial properties throughout Raleigh with the intent that sustainable growth could occur if the limits of the UDO were not arbitrarily changed.  Consistent with earlier land use plans, most all of Glenwood Place was zoned OX-5 (a small part is OX-7).  The OX-5 zoning district limits buildings to five stories.  In its zoning petition, Grubb Ventures wants to rezone the property to allow 3 buildings of up to 12 stories. It also plans up to 800 apartments, a hotel with up to 250 rooms, up to 787,600 square feet of new office space and a maximum of 140,000 square feet of retail space.  (Refer to our Glenwood Gridlock Facebook page for more information.) 

The only access to Glenwood Place is Glenwood Avenue.  But drive around just a little and you will see that even small shopping centers have multiple entrances; for instance Glenwood Village can be entered and left from Oberlin Road, Glenwood Avenue or Lake Boone Trail.  And not only will the proposed expansion of Glenwood Place cause more and longer gridlock on Glenwood, it will push frustrated motorists looking for shortcuts into our neighborhoods, ultimately disrupting safety and property values. For this reason we believe that the proposed rezoning is just too much for a property so close to the Beltline.  If you agree that City Council should uphold, and Glenwood Place should respect, the building height limitations, we ask You to sign our Glenwood Gridlock petition on Change.org and help us reach 300 signatures. 
 
Anyone who cares about this issue can sign the petition, so consider sharing this email with your family and friends. 

Bike Plan -- last chance to comment

Please read and comment to make the plan better - and biking safer! 

 

http://bikeraleigh.org/home/index.php/projects/bike-raleigh-plan

 

Comment on BikeRaleigh Plan

The BikeRaleigh Plan Update to the existing bike plan, adopted in 2009, incorporates lessons learned in Raleigh and nationally in the last five years. The plan lays out a strategy for the next five to 10 years to improve the health, safety and transportation options for Raleighites.

  

Now that the draft is finished the project team needs to make sure it hits the right targets. Does the plan include the right types of bike infrastructure? Identify the correct mix of priority projects? Establish the right long-term vision to meet Raleighs needs?

  

The last day the team can accept comments is January 31.

 

Please Write Mayor Today 10-19-15

Dear Neighbor:

The issue of connecting Country Club Hills to the Glenwood Place development is an issue that could affect any neighborhood bordering a new development.
 
Present zoning rules require a development to connect its streets with the streets of an adjoining neighborhood.  Currently, only City Planning staff can make an exception to this rule.  Text Change 8-15 would allow the City Council, our elected officials, the discretion to also make an exception to this rule.  This change will authorize the City Council to be involved in making decisions whether to require "connectivity," an authority it does not now have.  Without the passage of Text Change 8-15, the City Council will not be able to change a decision by City Planning staff regarding "connectivity."
 
Over two months ago Text Change 8-15 received unanimous support from City Council, was then referred to the Planning Commission, which approved it, and sent it back to Council for a final decision.  Two weeks ago the discussion broke down and now City Council is split over whether to adopt Text Change 8-15.
 
If you want City Council to have the possibility to make a decision regarding connectivity, or more plainly, if you want City Council to have any control over a potential cut-through into any  neighborhood then you need to contact Mayor McFarlane today, ahead of tomorrow’s vote at 12:45 (Tuesday, October 20th) and ask her to support the Text Change as she appears to be the deciding vote.  If you personally know other Councilors please ask them to support the Text Change too.
 
Please email Mayor McFarlane today with this message:  Mayor McFarlane, Out of concern for neighborhoods and the issues that affect and make each unique, please vote yes to adopt Text Change 8-15 into the UDO to give City Council discretion concerning connectivity between a neighborhood and a new development.
Nancy.McFarlane@raleighnc.gov  

Thank you and please share this information with your neighbors.  Also, things may soon speed up and you will receive more emails.

From Country Club Hills Committee for a Sustainable Neighborhood