East CAC OPED Meeting is Sept. 14th

The East CAC’s Outreach, Planning and Economic Development (OPED) Committee will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 14 at the Lions Park center to discuss rezoning case Z-18-09 involving the Longview Grocery at 2405 Poole Road at Norwood with developer Daniel Coleman.

This involves a rezoning from Residential-6, which the city imposed on the store when it annexed the area in 1948, to Shopping Center-Conditional Use, with conditions including no convenience store, auto facility or drive-through restaurant. (For more details on the case and possible conditions, see the March minutes and the June minutes.) A public hearing is scheduled for October 21 before a joint panel of the City Council and Planning Commission.

Raleigh Neighborhood Exchange is Sept. 19th

The Raleigh Neighborhood Exchange is designed to increase neighbor-to-neighbor engagement for the purpose of improving our neighborhoods from the inside out. This conference seeks to increase leadership confidence and capacity at the grassroots level.

Residents gather for the Neighborhood Exchange each September, which the City Council has designated as Neighborhood Month in Raleigh. The exchange features guest speakers and interactive programs that allow community members to share information and ideas about activities in their neighborhoods.

The 2009 Exchange will take place Saturday, Sept. 19, at the McKimmon Center, 1101 Gorman St., Raleigh. Registration for adults is $10, and the first forty (40) teens ages 13 to 18 are free.
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Community Oriented Government Report

Mr. Michael Ballen, Community Policing Coordinator for the Raleigh Police Department, has provided a report titled “Community Oriented Government in the Capital City – Progress Report to the City Manager.” It contains all the information provided by the focus groups conducted in Southeast Raleigh by neighbors and police representatives.

Although the East CAC feedback was not included (due to our meeting’s later date, I assume), the report provides insight into how well police initiatives are working in our city and the priorities of the other neighborhoods in our city.

You may download the entire 71 page, 4 MB PDF file here.

East CAC meets Monday and BMX event at Lions Park

The East CAC will be meeting Monday evening at 7 PM at Lions Park Community Center. We’ll have the usual neighborhood announcements and police report and then spend a little time planning upcoming meetings and discussing community concerns. Hope to see you there!

BMX event at Lions Park

Also, Capital City BMX’s national competition starts today at Lions Park. There are trailers and vendors already set up in the park and folks are already arriving. Also, Raleigh’s Parks department did a lot of work sprucing up the park and cleaning up the trash. It looks great!

If you get a chance to wander over this weekend you may enjoy watching the competition. The pre-race starts this evening at 6PM.

Here’s the full schedule:
Continue reading “East CAC meets Monday and BMX event at Lions Park”

Draft July East CAC minutes

East CAC Meeting Minutes
July 2009
Submitted by Secretary Sue Sturgis

Chair Mark Turner called the July meeting of Raleigh’s East Citizens Advisory Council to order shortly after 7 p.m. on Monday, July 15 at Lions Park Community Center. Throughout the evening there were about 80 people in attendance, including City Councilors James West and Russ Stephenson. Attendees approved the minutes for May and June, and Mark passed out a sheet with information on various community e-mail listservs.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: In good news from around the CAC:

* City Council agreed to adjust its rules for neighborhood improvement grants so neighborhoods seeking to erect identifying signs that encroach on the city’s right of way will not be required to purchase insurance in perpetuity;

* Woodcrest threw a neighborhood party, which was a good opportunity for residents to get together; and

* It appears the area’s real estate market has picked up, with houses in the CAC seeming to be selling quicker than before.
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Results from RPD brainstorming session

At our last meeting, the East CAC held a brainstorming session with the Raleigh Police Department to establish policing priorities in our area. Here are the results as compiled by Mr. Michael Ballen, RPD’s Community Policing Coordinator.

Lions Park/East CAC Residents Establish Community-Directed Priorities

On July 20, over 75 citizens from the Lions Park community joined with representatives from RPD to develop collaborative strategies to address neighborhood public safety and quality-of-life concerns. Participants were divided into work groups and came up with several priorities for community policing efforts. These priorities are listed below, ranked by degree of urgency:

Loitering at Food Lion and Maxway: Neighbors feel that people loiter at the two stores in the 1100 block of Raleigh Boulevard and cause trouble.

Problem Businesses/Houses: Neighbors feel that some areas in the community harbor and condone behavior that conflicts with the quality of life. Specific areas include the 1600 and 1700 blocks of Capital Boulevard, the 1100 block of Raleigh Boulevard, and rooming houses.
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Build a playground in a day

This is not East CAC related but a good volunteer opportunity regardless. – MT

Join us as we team up to build a playground for the children at Green Road Community Center. We are seeking 75 volunteers who do not have to be skilled, trained or have any special tools; they just have to be enthusiastic, energetic, a team player, willing to work, and have fun, fun, fun! (And be at least 18 years of age). Join us as an individual or come with an entire team. Activities will be provide for children ages 5 and older. Everyone must be pre-registered!

Build date: August 29, 2009
Time: 8:00 am –3:00 pm
Location: Green Road Community Center
4201 Green Road Raleigh, NC 27604
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South Lions Park Community Watch meeting tonight!

Good morning, Eastsiders!

There will be a community watch organizational meeting for the neighborhoods just south of Lions Park and north of Glascock. This includes Bennett Woods, Heritage Heights, Breezy Heights, Lions Way, and Leyland Heights.

The meeting will take place at 6:00 PM at the Lions Park Community Center, 516 Dennis Avenue. Light refreshments will be served.

Again, this is for the neighborhoods immediately south of Lions Park. Here’s a PDF map of the neighborhoods.

See this flyer for more details. Hope to see you there!

Lions Park to host national BMX event!

Did you know that our own Lions Park hosts one of only five BMX tracks
in the state? It’s the home track of the Capital City BMX (CCBMX) club.
BMX racing is exciting to watch: these riders take their bikes over a
bone-rattling dirt track, catching air at times! It’s an X-Games worthy
event.

Capital City BMX is honored to have been selected by the American
Bicycle Association to host its East Coast Nationals event from August
14th to August 16th! It’s a prestigious event that will bring lots of
visitors from all over the country. You won’t want to miss it!
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East CAC meets Monday, July 20th at 7PM

Good morning, Eastsiders!

We’ve got quite a CAC meeting shaping up for Monday! After our usual reports, we’ll hear an announcement from Martha Hobbs on the nomination of Longview Gardens as a National Historic District. The Raleigh Historic Districts Commission will hold a public meeting for more in-depth questions from Longview neighborhood residents on August 10th.

Next up will be our special guest, Raleigh Police Chief Harry Dolan, who will be conducting a brainstorming session to better align the police department’s resources with the community’s needs.

Following the Chief’s presentation, we’ll hear from Lt. Embry (ret.) and Sgt. Darrow about Raleigh’s new RPD Volunteer program, where citizens can assist the police department with various tasks.

Police officers have distributed hundreds of flyers to neighborhood residents in an effort to get them to Monday’s meeting. Many Longview residents will also be attending for the Historic District announcement. Thus we will likely have a VERY full room Monday evening, so we suggest you get there early if you hope to get a seat.

Have a great weekend. See you Monday at 7!

FYI, below is the full agenda for Monday’s meeting.

Regards,

Mark Turner
East CAC Chair Continue reading “East CAC meets Monday, July 20th at 7PM”