Preservation NC Annual Conference

The Preservation North Carolina Annual Conference will be held in Raleigh Oct. 25-27.

See link on their web site.

Home! Sweet Home! Preservation of Our Historic Homes and Neighborhoods

Save the date! PNC's Annual Conference will be held Thursday, October 25 - Saturday, October 27, 2007 in downtown Raleigh. ...

PNC is pleased to announce William Schmickle, author of The Politics of Historic Districts, has been added to the program as a keynote speaker on Friday, October 26. He will join Adrian Scott Fine to discuss the politics of teardowns. Carole Boston Weatherford, author of the children's book Dear Mr. Rosenwald, will address the honor award winners and guests on Friday, October 26 with a special reading from her book.

Raleigh Neighborhood Exchange

The Raleigh Neighborhood Exchange is
Sept. 14-15 at the McKimmon Center
click here for more information.

The most important and effective partner the Community Services Department has is a concerned and informed citizen. The “Neighborhood Exchange” is being offered to you as an effort to provide the information needed to address concerns in your neighborhood.

The City of Raleigh’s Community Services Department is constantly searching for ways to help residents identify physical and human resources to help them build stronger neighborhoods and improve their quality of life.

In 2004 visionary leaders, supportive sponsors, and participating citizens witnessed the birth of a new movement in Raleigh. We call this movement the Raleigh Neighborhood Exchange. The title has proven appropriate because, looking back on the neighborhood and citizen development workshops and speakers, participants felt that a genuine exchange stimulating of ideas and information had indeed taken place.

September has been designated as Neighborhoods Month by the Raleigh City Council. In conjunction with this event, the Neighborhood Exchange Citizens Committee in partnership with the City of Raleigh’s Community Services Department will host the Raleigh Neighborhood Exchange. This event will be held on Friday and Saturday, September 14-15, 2007, at the McKimmon Center, N. C. State University.

City Council Meeting Schedule for Fall

Tuesday, August 7, 2007
City Council meeting at 1:00 and 7:00

Wednesday, September 5, 2007
City Council meeting at 1:00 and 7:00

Tuesday, September 18, 2007
City Council meeting at 1:00
Zoning Hearing at 6:30

Tuesday, October 2, 2007
City Council meeting at 1:00 and 7:00

Tuesday, October 16, 2007
City Council meeting at 1:00

Wednesday, November 7, 2007
City Council meeting at 1:00 and 7:00

Tuesday, November 20, 2007
City Council meeting at 1:00
Zoning Hearing 6:30

Tuesday, December 4, 2007
City Council meeting at 1:00 and 7:00

5 Points CAC meeting

5 Points CAC meeting
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
7:30 - 9:00 PM
Garris Building in Fred Fletcher Park
820 Clay Street
Heading into downtown on St. Mary's St., turn left on Clay St. just
before you reach Broughton High School (on right). Turn left into parking lot of Garris Building.

Police Report
7:30 - 7:40 PM
Captain Mise, District 26 Commander, Raleigh Police Department
Captain Mise will provide his usual update about policing activities
And issues affecting the Five Points community

Parks and Recreation Update
7:40 - 7:50 PM
Anita Spencer, Program Supervisor, Raleigh Parks and Recreation Department
Anita will talk about upcoming events in the City and the Five Points community.

Five Points Briefings
7:50 - 8:05 PM
Philip Poe, Five Points Co-Chair
* Ghost Lot Lines
* Infill project at Mial and Bernard (S-067-06)
* Downtown Appetite for Art
* Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)
* Neighborhood Exchange
* Neighborhood month
* Red Bird sculpture
* Fletcher Park water garden

Neighborhood Identification Program
8:05 - 8:20 PM
Susan Humphries, Five Points Resident
Susan will talk about a proposal for strengthening the identity of
Raleigh's neighborhoods.

Property Revaluations
8:20 - 8:50 PM
Emmett Curl, Wake County Revenue Director
Every eight years, Wake County revalues properties throughout the
County. Emmett Curl will provide a preview of changes for Five Points and other downtown neighborhoods. In 2000, some downtown neighborhoods saw property values rise 150 - 190% between 1992 and 2000, while the Wake County average was 43%.


Click on the link below to view the agenda for the July 11th Five Points CAC meeting:

http://fivepointscac.home.att.net/fivepoints-agenda-jul-2007.pdf (PDF format)

Also, visit the Five Points CAC Info Center if you would like to join
The Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) discussion group:
http://fivepointscac.home.att.net/

City Council Meeting June 5th, 1:00 pm

Notes from the meeting follow. Please note that the City Council needs to hear from people in the neighborhoods to get a sense of the level of concern about infill. The links to City Council addresses are embedded in the previous post, or are available at the link to the City website below.

. . . . . . .

ITEM: Motion from the Comprehensive Planning Committee (CPC) to hire a consultant for Planning Department to address infill issues

The City Council voted on this item. The motion from the Comprehensive Planning Committee (CPC) to hire a consultant to address infill issues failed. The video is available on RTN, you can watch it below.

This motion has been brought to CC twice and failed twice. This time, Councilor Kekas voted for it in CPC but voted against it in the CC meeting. Meeker, Stephenson, and Councilor Taliaffero also noted that the discussion about an infill consultant came out of her district but said that there are also many people who are opposed to infill standards.

The council did vote to add a permament staff member to address text changes and infill, but it is understood that a consultant could have addressed in 6 months while it will be a year before a new staff member is up and running and can do the job.

To watch this meeting, go to this link, and once the streaming video is up from today's meeting, you can go to the drop down menu and click on the Comprehensive Planning Committee's (CPC) report. Meeting started at 1 and that item came up about 1:50. Thomas Crowder chairs CPC so he will be talking at start of this segment.

Watch the proceedings here

The next item was planning commission nominations. With Betsy Kane is resigning there are 3 vacancies. The Mayor asked for other nominees by Friday and that he wants a vote taken in 2 weeks.

. . . . . . . .

Action ALERT: City Council Meeting -- June 5

This Tuesday, June 5 the City Council will meet. One item we wish to support is the CPC (Comprehensive Planning Committee) recommendation on May 23 to request the city fund the hiring of a consultant to address the infill/refill issues in our neighborhoods across the city. Please be a part of this important meeting by contacting the City Council if you cannot be at this meeting.

AGENDA here
1:00 P.M. AND 7:00 P.M., TUESDAY
JUNE 5, 2007
THE COUNCIL CHAMBER


Support Mitch Silver's Recommendation to Hire a Consultant to Develop New Infill Regulations

At the May 1st City Council meeting, the Council rejected Mitch Silver's recommendation to bring in a consultant to expedite the work on new infill regulations for the City of Raleigh. He felt infill was a growing and very complex problem that needed immediate attention. As we all know, any work on neighborhood plans have been postponed for nearly 2 years until the staff completes its work on the new Comprehensive Plan, yet infill projects continue and have no similar constraints. If a consultant isn't used, Mitch expects the work will be delayed 6 to 12 months. The minutes from the discussion at the Council meeting are provided below.

At the May 15 meeting of the City Council, Russ Stephenson reiterated the urgency of doing something about infill and suggested an interim solution that would focus on building height. The item was referred to the Comprehensive Planning Committee (CPC). After further discussion at the CPC meeting on May 23, the Committee voted 3 - 1 to recommend the funding of a consultant to complete the entire project within six months. This recommendation will be an item on the City council's June 5 agenda.

This is an opportune time to make a statement about infill. Although infill primarily affects the older downtown neighborhoods at this time, I am sure the effects will be felt further out as the amount of undeveloped land diminishes and the popularity of the downtown business district increases. If something isn't done soon, the character of many of our neighborhoods will be badly damaged and the availability of reasonably priced housing will be further diminished.

If you feel infill standards are an important issue, please consider contacting City Council and urge other members of your group to do the same.

Mayor
Charles Meeker
Send Mail

Council Member, At-Large
Joyce Kekas
Send Mail

Council Member, At-Large
Russ Stephenson
Send Mail

District Council Members
District A
Tommy Craven
Send Mail

District B
Jessie Taliaferro
Send Mail

District C
James West, Mayor Pro Tempore
Send Mail

District D
Thomas Crowder
Send Mail

District E
Philip Isley
Send Mail

The minutes of the May 15 meeting can be found in our post dated June 1.

From the North Raleigh News

Most residents in Central Raleigh never see this supplement to the News & Observer.

This story is taken from today's edition and repeated here in its entirety.
NORTH RALEIGH NEWS
Published: Jun 01, 2007 12:30 AM
Modified: Jun 01, 2007 03:24 AM

City ponders CACs
David Bracken, Staff Writer

Is it time to revisit the role of Raleigh's Citizen Advisory Council?

That appeared to be the consensus last month when the City Council began debating a proposed marketing plan and funding request put forward by members of the Raleigh CAC, the overall body made up of the officers of each of the 18 community CACs.

The seemingly innocuous proposal quickly led to a prolonged debate about the core mission of the RCAC, which continued the following week in the Budget and Economic Development Committee.

Some council members were concerned that the RCAC was proposing to have its own Web site and logo, a strange complaint given the city's myriad of offshoot committees that already have those things.

Others raised concerns about whether the marketing plan -- which relied heavily on e-mail and the Internet -- failed to take into account the digital divide that exists in some of the city's poorer neighborhoods.

There was even talk about trying to redraw the CAC boundaries (redistricting!), some of which haven't been touched since they were created in the 1970s.

What doesn't seem to be in dispute is that CACs play an invaluable role in solving the city's problems. Among the many beneficiaries of the work done by CACs are City Council members, who use them to stay on top of local issues.

In picking apart the RCAC proposal, the City Council is running the risk of biting the hand that feeds it. The proposal is an earnest attempt to encourage more participation in CACs, which has been in decline in recent years.

Granted, the proposal is not perfect, and a certain amount of scrutiny is warranted since it involves public money. But too much meddling on the part of the City Council will likely just frustrate the dedicated volunteers who make CACs successful.

Fashioning a citywide CAC marketing campaign that appeals to all neighborhoods is unrealistic. If the City Council has concerns about how the money's being spent, divide it up evenly among the various CACs and let them decide how to use it.

If the City Council has any other concerns, it should state them clearly and then get out the way and let the volunteers run things.

Staff writer David Bracken can be reached at 829-4548 or david.bracken@newsobserver.com.