East Community Action Coalition of Raleigh, NC (East CAC)
October 21, 2024
7:00-8:15 pm
Lions Park Community Center
Jean Mosher, Chair
Mark Turner, Vice Chair
Bryan Ryan, Secretary (remote)
Approximately 15 residents in attendance
Corey Branch, Raleigh City Council member representing District C
CAC Organization
1. CAC Reboot—Vice Chair Mark Turner and Council Member Corey Branch provided information and addressed questions about the proposed reboot of Raleigh’s CACs.
a) History of CACs
▪ Launched by Mayor Lightner in 1974 as part of a federal grant application; although the city did not receive the grant, it kept the CACs until 2020, when Raleigh City Council voted to disband these community groups.
▪ Council voted in 2024 to bring back CACs.
b) CAC Reboot
▪ City Council has requested input from the reconstituted Raleigh Citizens Advisory Council (RCAC) and from neighborhood CACs, which includes the East CAC.
▪ Vice Chair Turner, Chair of the former East CAC, shared information about RCAC discussions and his recommendations on behalf of the East CAC. Key to the discussions has been the desire to recreate an effective conduit for communication and concerns from residents to the city.
▪ Council Member Branch emphasized that Council wants the RCAC to drive the reboot in terms of roles, responsibilities, representation, and CAC boundaries, as well as what support it seeks from the city.
2. East CAC Meetings—Chair Jean Mosher shared that the reconstituted East CAC is seeking input on frequency of meetings—every month or every other month.
Focus Areas
3. Communication and Representation
a) Chair Mosher and Vice Chair Turner introduced themselves to the attendees. Secretary Bryan Ryan attended remotely via Facebook.
▪ The East CAC Chair can be reached to share questions, concerns, and agenda topics at cac-chair@eastraleigh.org
b) Council Member Branch informed attendees that the city now has a Communications Department.
4. Public Safety
a) Officer Eric Hinton, who has regularly attended East Raleigh neighborhood meetings, was not able to make this meeting, but he asked Jean to remind residents to lock their cars to protect them from having contents stolen, especially guns.
b) Chair Mosher shared that she had received input from residents about their public safety concerns.
▪ Crime
▪ Begging
c) Attendees shared concerns about noise nuisances, especially live music from Bowstring Pizza and Brewyard at 1930 Wake Forest Road. Neighbors can hear the music from this outdoor venue in their homes and have contacted Raleigh Police to express concerns. Council Member Branch responded that he would look into the issue. He also noted that the city’s noise policy had been updated from using a sound meter to account for the hearing of a reasonable person. Chair Mosher gauged interest in inviting the owner of Bowstring to a future East CAC meeting.
5. Public Works
a) Jean, Mark, and Council Member Branch provided information and received/recognized resident concerns relating to
▪ Traffic calming—including bump outs
▪ Traffic circle at Wake Forest, Automotive, and Brookside
▪ Sidewalks—Council Member Branch described the new process that includes city staff looking at data, prioritizing projects, and pursuing priorities with available funds. He clarified that the vast majority of sidewalk projects are in the right of way and do not involve compensating homeowners. Approved sidewalk projects should be available on the Planning Department’s website. Approximately 20 projects are tackled per year from a list of about 120.
▪ Parking—especially on Automotive Way near Tap Yard, and the “no minimum parking” policy for residential development.
▪ Stormwater—Megan Walsh is the city’s Stormwater Senior Engineer, and can be reached at megan.walsh@raleighnc.gov
▪ Shade trees—The city has resources available to plant shade trees.
6. Zoning and Development
a) East CAC officers and Council Member Branch heard concerns from neighbors about
▪ Missing Middle Project and its related zoning changes—Council Member Branch reported that the Council had recently changed some of the Missing Middle language to address building more in line with neighborhood.
▪ Projects underway at New Bern and Clarendon Crescent, at King Charles and Poole, and on Barksdale.
▪ Affordable housing—Council Member Branch related that North Carolina does not allow inclusionary zoning, so Raleigh has attempted to engage developers in voluntary efforts, which have not been effective. The city leverages land that it owns—Duplex Village and Moore Square are examples—to improve affordable options.
▪ City Comprehensive Plan—Corey shared that this is being revamped to plan for 2040-2050.
▪ Property Taxes—Wake County reassesses every 4 years. Council Member Branch reported that 40% of property downtown is state owned and not subject to property taxes. An attendee pointed out that universities and private schools do not pay property taxes.
Next Meeting—November 18, 2024 at 7:00 pm at the Lions Park Community Center