Submitted by Secretary Sue Sturgis
Raleigh’s East Citizens Advisory Council held its monthly meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 21, 2011 at the Lions Park Community Center. About 30 people attended, with about five there for the first time. The January minutes were approved without changes. Chairman Mark Turner recorded the meeting, with video available at www.eastraleigh.org.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Charlene Willard with the city’s Community Services Department announced that the Belvidere Park neighborhood will be dedicating its new stone entryway on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 10 a.m. and placing a time capsule inside. The project was funded with a Raleigh Neighborhood Improvement Matching Grant. Other neighborhoods interested in seeking a grant should move forward now; applications are due June 30, and the ongoing recession means the program’s future is uncertain. Anyone interested is encouraged to call Charlene at charlene.willard@raleighnc.gov or 919-996-5718 to discuss ideas.
The Raleigh Summer Youth Employment Program offered by Community Services will be interviewing applicants soon. It is for people ages 14 to 18. For more information, visit http://1.usa.gov/eeXNfG.
Charlene discussed an idea for an ECAC calendar. Currently no CAC has one, and there are lots of possibilities. Anyone interested in working on this should contact Charlene.
PARKS AND RECREATION REPORT: Jason Clemons, Lions Park assistant director, reported that summer camp registration brochures are available at community centers across the city.
The Saint Monica Teen Center dedication was held on Friday, Feb. 11. The teen center, Raleigh’s first, is located at 15 N. Tarboro St. For more information about the facility, visit http://1.usa.gov/fLROW7.
The annual Run for the Oaks 5K race will take place on March 12 at Moore Square. For more information, visit http://1.usa.gov/eVQwkU or call Kira Stewart at 919-870-2911.
Among the current offerings at Lions Park are weight room memberships at $12/month, Tae Kwon Do on Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. for $35/month; Tae Kwon Do for children on Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. for $25/month; cardio fitness classes on Friday at 7:30 p.m. for $20/month, and an adult basketball league for men Mondays through Thursdays. Also, the Lions Park senior program is still looking for members.
The draft Moore Square Master Plan is now available for comment on the city’s website at http://1.usa.gov/iipXnv.
GLOBAL LINK YOUTH EXCHANGE PROGRAM WITH CHINA: Angela Hicks came to talk about Global Link, a nonprofit organization she directs that was founded in 2010 by American and Chinese educators to help youth ages 8 to 18 achieve mastery in Chinese language through cultural experiences in the U.S. and China.
The organization offers young people trips to China for $3,500, with some $1,400 scholarships available. Before being accepted in the exchange program, participants are required to attend Chinese classes for one semester at the Forest Hills Baptist Church on Clark Avenue across from N.C. State University. For more information about Global Link and its programs, visit http://bit.ly/icNlZu.
POLICE REPORT: Community Police Officer James Kryskowiak could not attend the meeting due, and filling in for him was Officer Kratzer of the Southeast District. He noted out that the overall crime numbers for our area were pretty low over the previous month.
There were 14 larcenies from motor vehicles, with 11 of them involving unlocked cars. Many also involved items left in plain view. Please remember to lock your doors and hide valuables.
There were three robberies in the area. One off Calumet Drive involved Hispanic men who are thought to have known each other. Another took place at the Family Dollar in the Longview Shopping Center on New Bern Avenue. Officer Kratzer noted that there are foot trails near the store that cut through the woods and the golf course; the police are doing some work there involving Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design.
The third robbery took place in the woods behind the Food Lion on Raleigh Boulevard when a man cutting through the area on foot was jumped by a group of juveniles. If you see a group of juveniles behaving suspiciously, please call 911 and report it.
UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE PRESENTATION: Planners James Brantley, Grant Meacci and Eric Hodge with the Raleigh Planning Department came to discuss the work underway on a new development code for the city setting forth guidelines for the built environment. This will take the form of a Unified Development Ordinance (UDO).
As part of the UDO process, the city will be retiring some current zoning districts including R-15, R-20 and R-30 (residential districts referring to the number of houses allowed per acre), and will be creating new mixed-used districts such as RX (residential multifamily with very limited office and retail allowed) and CX (commercial mixed use).
Among the issues addressed by the UDO are building heights and frontages—that is, the character of the space between the building and the street. Frontage categories include PK (parkway, with a heavily landscaped buffer), and SH (shop fronts like Hillsborough Street near N.C. State).
Messrs. Brantley, Meacci and Hodge then led the ECAC in an exercise to discuss redevelopment possibilities for the area around the flea market and Chevy dealership on Capital Boulevard south of Crabtree Boulevard.
The new development code will be rolled out over the next six to eight months, and there will be opportunities for public comment, including a public hearing planned for the summer. Mayor Charles Meeker has said he hopes the code will be adopted by year’s end, to be followed by a 12- to 18-month period for rewriting the standards.
The entire presentation given to the ECAC is available online as a PDF document here: http://1.usa.gov/fYH67b
The meeting adjourned at about 9 p.m. The next ECAC meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 21 at Lions Park.