Infill Standards need support

If you're concerned about infill development and the whole teardown issue, the Raleigh City Council needs to hear from you now.

Community Scale can help you do so:

http://www.communityscale.com

(see ACTION ALERTS page for complete info)

The folks that are against having any standards at all are already making their opinions heard.

During their Tuesday 1pm meeting the Council will be discussing Interim Infill Standards, as part of the Planning Commission's report on their discussion and ultimate rejection of Interim Infill Standards. The Council needs to be reminded before then of the many people that believe standards are needed to protect the character of their neighborhoods.

Support Mayor Meeker

According to WRAL, increasing impact fees is one of the proposals he is announcing at the news conference today. We should commend him for responding so promptly to the message sent by the election. Some organizations -- such as the Home Builders -- will attempt to use the
slight slowing of new home starts to defeat this proposal. Don't let them succeed.

Send emails of support to the Council and the TV stations, write letters to the editor, show up at the Council meeting on Tuesday, or any other expressions of support you can think of. Make it clear that we appreciate addressing our concerns about the costs of growth.

Missed the Comp Plan visioning workshps?

The handouts and the presentation are on the website now:
www.planningraleigh2030.com

The online comment section isn't up yet, but is promised "soon".

The handout documents are worth looking at and seeing if you agree with subjective parts -- and maybe find some surprises in the facts and figures. See if you can guess what Planning District you live in. It took me three guesses....

Issues and actions

While the election is long past, the issues live on and actions will be needed by the Council and citizens to address them.

I plan to continue to express my opinions and viewpoints -- as I did yesterday at the afternoon Council meeting. (Streaming video of the entire meeting is at: http://raleigh.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=2 ) I urge other people to do the same.

Besides expounding on my ideas, I will using this blog to point out opportunities for other folks: to learn about issues, to express your views, exchange ideas with other people, and even have fun.

Let me know it you have suggestions for opportunities as well.

Our first chance to help Raleigh plan for the future

Don't miss these chances to guide the Comprehensive Plan Update - www.planningraleigh2030.com

Tuesday is the first of the three visioning workshops, each with a citywide scope and identical content and format, to be held in different parts of the city. The purpose of these workshops is to define a vision for Raleigh's future. The workshops will also address citywide issues and opportunities. These citywide workshops are not intended to be specific to the area in which they are being held.

Please plan on attending at least one of the upcoming public visioning workshops. Light refreshments will be served.

First round of city-wide public workshops:

November 13, 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Shepherd’s Hall, The Church of the Good Shepherd
125 Hillsborough Street
For a guide to downtown parking, see www.visitraleigh.com/pdf/downtown_parking.pdf

November 14, 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
McKimmon Conference and Training Center, NCSU
1101 Gorman Street
For directions to the conference center, see http://www.mckimmon.ncsu.edu/directions.html

November 15, 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
North Raleigh Church of Christ
8701 Falls of Neuse Road
For directions to the church, see http://www.nrcoc.org/AboutUs/directions.html

Public input workshops will be held in three sets of three meetings each, for a total of nine public meetings. This first set of workshops, which will focus on the overall vision for the City's future. Eventually public workshops will be held in all parts of the city.

Urban Form lecture

The next "Designing a 21st Century City" lecture is on Tuesday:

"
Creating Urban Form: Conventional and Form-Based Codes

How Do We Design a 21st Century City?

ALL LECTURES ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. REGISTER NOW!

November 6, 2007
7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
The Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts, Fletcher Opera Theater
in Raleigh, NC

GET ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS

Cities all over the world are striving to create more accessible and walkable urban environments. Development patterns are the result of zoning regulations. Conventional codes are based on specific land uses. Form-based codes are based on design, and less on use.

What are form-based codes, anyway?
What are the pros and cons of conventional codes?
What are the pros and cons of form-based codes?
Why does zoning sometimes forbid exactly what our plans call for?
Great cities of the world were created without zoning; why do we need rules at all?"

More info on the City of Raleigh website:

http://www.raleighnc.gov/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_334_306_200_0_43/http%3B/pt03/DIG_Web_Content/category/Business/Strategic_Planning/Urban_Design/Lecture_Series/Cat-1C-20071018-143814-Creating_Urban_Form__Con.html

Comp Plan Kickoff tomorrow

Remember that the City of Raleigh is kicking off the public participation portion of its Comprehensive Plan update tomorrow starting at 7p. See the city website for details.