by Leo Suarez

The Comprehensive Plan’s Number 2, The UDO

The draft for the Raleigh Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) was released yesterday. Jump right into it at this link or keep reading as I’ll attempt to introduce it and explain why this is important.

For those that aren’t aware, the 2030 Comprehensive Plan was adopted in 2009. This plan is a guideline for how the city should grow over the next two decades. Different areas of the city are zoned differently and suggestions are made on how to handle many topics like parking or open space. The Comprehensive Plan was simply that, a plan.

So how do you get this plan to actually happen? The plan has some areas being higher density than others. Do you just ask developers to build and hope out of the goodness of their hearts they will oblige? In comes the UDO, the tool to get the Comprehensive Plan to happen.

Let’s compare two situations involving developer A, let’s call him Issac, and developer B, we’ll call him Walter.

Present Day

Isaac and Walter come to Raleigh and want to build stuff to make money. They take a look around Raleigh and read up on the development codes to decide what and where they should build.

After looking through all the codes and regulations, Isaac decides he can make the most money by building single family homes on 600 acres off highway 70 in Northwest Raleigh. He even notices that a development like this doesn’t require much city approval and he’ll save money by not having to gather impact studies or public comments about the development.

Isaac presents his plan to the city and the plan is approved because it meets all the requirements.

At the same time, Walter is looking at building near downtown. He too wants to build single family homes but there isn’t enough room for a neighborhood like the one Isaac is going to build. Walter decides to build a medium density townhome complex along Person Street. He thinks his townhomes being close to Krispy Kreme will be a hit.

Walter has to meet the same requirements that Isaac has to but a higher density development like the one he envisions requires a bit more study. Walter needs to get his development approved by more city commissions and he needs to spend more money on gathering the right information to present to those commissions.

In the end, Walter’s development takes much longer to get approved and he spent more money to build his townhomes. He is also lucky that the nearby neighbors didn’t complain too much because the neighborhood’s opinion could have slowed things down even more.

You see, the current state of things in Raleigh almost encourages these sprawling developments because developers, like Isaac, go after the easy build that will get approved with little cost to themselves. The denser developments that Walter wants to build have to go through so much more scrutiny that its amazing people are building downtown today.

Here comes the UDO

Isaac and Walter’s development will change after the UDO is approved and implemented in the next few years. Rather than developers looking around Raleigh for what to build and then having to get it approved, the UDO will tell all developers what we want, where we want it, and if they want to deliver it will get approved very easily.

For example, if the UDO specifies that we want medium density townhomes along Person Street, Walter can come into Raleigh and say that he is willing to deliver that. Since it’s in the UDO, Walter gets the approval and he can start building. No big review, no long discussion, done and done.

This UDO is important because it now encourages developers to build what we want by cutting out all the red tape. Low density housing in the suburbs or mega-high skyscraper in downtown, it doesn’t matter. Whenever the developer steps up and says they are willing to build what is in the UDO, it’ll be approved.

Now this is a simple way at looking at the UDO but I hope it paints a picture of what the new process will do. You need to care about this, especially if you are a property owner, because development around you will essentially be pre-approved and if someone is willing to build it, it will get done.

RaleighUDO.com

I’m working with Philip Poe and some others at RaleighUDO.com to help digest the draft document that was released yesterday. There are a lot of picures in the document but it stills stings to go through over 300+ pages of development code.

I can see the most comments about the UDO coming from transitions and how dense downtown skyscrapers would step down to neighborhoods with historic housing.

I plan to write up some posts on specific sections of the UDO on RaleighUDO.com so follow along over there.

I also want to highlight some UDO workshops that are coming up soon. This is a great way to learn and ask questions. The kicker about this UDO draft is that public comments on it are only being taken for two months, ending June 6th, so writers seem to be scrambling to try and go through it and get the word out.

Let me know if you have any questions and I’ll try my best to help out.

Three meeting times to choose from—
SAME MEETING, DIFFERENT TIMES FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE

Wednesday, April 20, 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts, Fletcher Opera Theater, 2 East South St.
Consultant’s Presentation begins at 12:00 noon

Wednesday, April 20, 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts, Fletcher Opera Theater, 2 East South St.
Consultant’s Presentation begins at 7:00 p.m.

Thursday, April 21, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Optimist Community Center, 5900 Whittier Drive
Consultant’s Presentation begins at 7:30 p.m.

by Leo Suarez

Introducing Municipography!

This is an idea that I’ve always wanted to do but haven’t because of the amount of time it would take. However, it wasn’t until recently that I noticed the video streams on the city’s website had a spiffy update I never noticed before. Joy!

Videography + Municipal issues = Municipography. (Connoisseurs like big words) The idea was to take the entire video feed of every Raleigh City Council meeting and cut out the issues that are relevant to downtown. This is a great way to tap your inner municipal geek or just hear the discussions taking place on issues you are interested in.

I’d like to attempt this experiment a few times to see how it turns out. If there are technical issues, let me know. I’m nervous about the Silverlight requirement but it could be worth it. Also, readers subscribed to the e-mail will most likely have to jump to the main site to view the videos.

I’ll include the agenda items with each video and add any other relevant information. As mentioned, the videos are there also to see how it went down.

City Council Meeting on April 5th, 2011

Review of the City’s Parking Program


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The Finance and Public Works Departments have maintained an ongoing work group to evaluate the current status of the City’s enterprise Parking Funds (442 and 444). This is based on the premise that the Parking Fund is intended to be entirely self-sufficient beginning in FY06, with revenues coming from the parking fees and fines generated within the on and off-street parking programs. The stagnant commercial development and the closing or downsizing of many downtown businesses and corporations has made a significant impact on revenue projections. A detailed report and copy of the updated fund model is included in the agenda packet.

Recommendation:
Refer to the Budget and Economic Committee to review the revenue options.

—-Additional information—-

The projected parking revenue shortfall, if no corrective action is taken, is $1,432,040. The plan cited the weak economy and subsequent loss of off-street parking contracts, lower transient on-street parking revenue than anticipated, and an increase in the debt service as the main causes of the projected shortfall.

The options offered by the plan for correcting the projected shortfall include:

  • Charging for use of parking decks in the evenings and on weekends and installation of automated payment equipment, to facilitate payments from evening and weekend patrons;
  • Focusing on collecting $2,558,746 of unpaid and recoverable parking fines;
  • Receiving legislative approval to boot vehicles with outstanding parking tickets or fines;
  • Initiating a tax refund intercept to collect unpaid fines from state tax refunds;
  • Obtaining Department of Motor Vehicle holds on vehicle registration renewals;
  • Selling advertising space in City-owned parking decks;
  • Reimbursing the enterprise Parking Fund through a General Fund subsidy for the revenues foregone by the fund in support of City activities, such as;
    • Street closures due to City-sponsored or supported special events;
    • Non-charged use of parking spaces by City guests or employees; and,
    • Other City-sponsored or supported activities resulting in loss of revenues.

Urban Agriculture and Community Gardens in the City of Raleigh


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During the 2030 Comprehensive Planning process, staff recognized the importance of the urban agriculture movement as a national trend, and flagged the issue for further study. A long-term action item regarding community gardening was adopted in the Plan (Section C.9 Environmental Education Awareness and Coordination). Additionally, City Council has received citizen petitions requesting public land for the establishment of community gardens. In 2010 the City established a working group of community garden advocates and City staff to look at ways to remove obstacles to City-wide community gardening efforts on private property and examine opportunities for it on public lands. There will be a presentation of the findings and recommendations.

Recommendation:
That the report be accepted.

Options for CAT Service between Moore Square and Union Station


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The Passenger Rail Task Force was asked to evaluate options for providing service between the Moore Square Transit Station and the proposed Union Station. The Task Force has evaluated this deliverable as requested by the City Council and will present recommendations regarding this proposed future service. A copy of the Task Force’s resolution is included in the agenda packet.

Recommendation:
Endorse the findings of the Passenger Rail Task Force regarding this future service.

by Leo Suarez

Rising Steel All Over Downtown Raleigh

This is a small gallery showing construction around downtown Raleigh. Click the photos for a larger image.


The Justice Center appears to be topped off and is taking shape into the Raleigh Skyline.


A family poses for a portrait in front of the globe, a part of the upcoming Nature Research Center, now being pieced together.


The new AIA headquarters is being built on Peace Street.

by Leo Suarez

Battistella’s Coming Soon to City Market

The old Angelo’s space at the corner of Martin and Blount Streets will be home to Battistella’s, a New Orleans style restaurant. Opening in May, chef Brian Battistella brings his cooking experience straight from New Orleans to downtown Raleigh.

There are plans for outdoor seating and a full bar. If popular, this could bring more activity to a growing Martin Street scene. The sidewalks around Blount and Martin already get a little foot traffic so a place that is open at night will keep pushing the nightlife up a bit around Moore Square and City Market.

by Leo Suarez

Light Rail in or over downtown Raleigh?

As a reminder, there are some transit related events that are going on right now. Remind yourself by clicking here if you’re not sure what I’m referring to. Anyway, two events are taking place in Raleigh this week and the downtown portion of the light rail plan is sure to bring controversy.

Some of the presentation materials have been posted online and I’d like to cover some of it here.

An excellent read, with images that I will be linking to, is over at The Indy. I recommend reading that first.

Rail route is blurry through downtown Raleigh via Indyweek.com

To recap, planners have a few alternatives to work with when the light rail trains, coming from the west, head towards downtown Raleigh. If you look at the initial alternatives study, the map of those routes look like the spaghetti bowl below.


Click for full, larger view.

The next step planners took to eliminate some of these routes was to look at each one and evaluate them on five parameters:

  • Potential Transit Ridership
  • Consistency with Plans and Studies
  • Stakeholder Support
  • No Irresolvable Environmental Impacts
  • Technical and Financial Feasibility

If one of these parameters failed for the studied route, it was thrown out. After that elimination round, we were left with this map.


Click for full, larger view.

Four plans remain and it will be these four that are open for comment at the Triangle Transit events this week. We can step through each one and take a look.

D2 and D3

D2 and D3 are similar except for the street they head north on when leaving Union Station. D2 would have tracks on Harrington Street while D3 would put the tracks on West Street. Both routes bring the trains on a flyover over the Boylan Bridge and would result in something like you see here and here.

As the trains head to downtown from NC State in the NC railroad corridor, “difficulties” in having the light rail line play nice with freight and future high-speed rail are why the plans to go into the air are on the table. I’ll admit the Boylan Wye is a complicated cluster of tracks but the freight rail companies do have a reputation of being against anything that could possibly disturb their operation.

According to planners, D2 and D3 would make the light rail line go right into Union Station, giving us that very important connection to other modes of transportation. It also avoids headaches with the track layout of the Boylan Wye.

These plans were moved forward because each one:

  • Capitalizes on potential development opportunities on the west side of downtown.
  • Serves both Glenwood South and downtown.
  • Does not include additional overhead structures.
  • Supports location of proposed Raleigh multimodal center (Union Station) concept.
  • Meets the Purpose and Need for the project

I’m not quite sure I agree with these. A train that goes into the air and weaves through downtown blocks may actually take away from development opportunity because it is consuming so much space for itself. Once the train weaves through, that land cannot be developed.

I haven’t been to a meeting yet so I’ll find out for myself later this week.

D5

D5 involves the same flyover going over the Boylan Avenue Bridge but instead of heading to the northern end of Union Station it goes south, towards the convention center. The line would run through the core of downtown, along Salisbury and Wilmington Streets, and back into the NCRR corridor to the north.

My feelings are the same with the flyover over the bridge but I’m not quite sure when the train finally touches down. This rendering and this rendering suggests that the train will most likely continue to be elevated all the way to South Street. Another thing to note is that other routes were turned down because they impact traffic on Dawson and McDowell Street. This leads me to think that D5 will continue to be elevated on South to go over McDowell and come down before Salisbury Street.

Again, lots of elevated tracks that take away from development opportunity. This plan passed because it:

  • Does not cross McDowell and Dawson Streets at-grade.
  • Penetrates core of downtown Raleigh.
  • Does not impact Morgan, Hargett, and Martin Streets.
  • Provides more direct access to the Convention Center.
  • Meets the Purpose and Need for the project.

D6

No renderings are provided for this scenario. Interesting.

D6 avoids the Boylan Wye and the possibility of going over the Boylan Avenue Bridge. The plan has the light rail line coming out of the NCRR corridor down by Charlie Goodnight’s and it hits the street at Morgan. It continues East and takes a left turn onto Harrington Street and continues on its merry way. According to the report, the plan:

  • Avoids Raleigh Wye and does not interface with freight and Southeast High Speed Rail track issues.
  • Does not include additional overhead structures.
  • Capitalizes on potential development opportunities on the west side of downtown.
  • Serves both Glenwood South and downtown.
  • Meets the Purpose and Need for the project.

The negative with this plan is that if the light rail line went down Morgan Street, the optimal station stop would be at the intersection of Morgan and West Street, the Union Station stop. But if you’ve been out there to see it, Morgan is not quite so flat in that area, a requirement for a light rail station to be ADA compliant. I’ve heard this is also the more expensive alternative, but will confirm at the meeting, because a lot of road work would have to be done to get that Union Station stop, something that is very important to the connectivity of the system.

Wrapping Up

I like to see all the materials first before I choose which direction to take my opinion but from what I have seen so far, the D6 route seems to be the best choice on the limited amount of information available.

D6 is the most pedestrian friendly and turns downtown streets into more efficient modes of transit, moving more people through without building more roads or widening them. In my opinion, trains on elevated tracks that are not over roads take away from potential development.

I’d be really interested to see what kind of road modifications need to be done to Morgan to get that Union Station Stop at the West Street intersection. This will likely be my first question to answer at the meetings.

The Mayor’s Passenger Rail Task Force supports a route similar to D6 and the Downtown Living Advocates are speaking out for the same thing.

Whatever your opinion may be, make sure to send it in.

by Leo Suarez

No Raleigh Wide Open This Year, Fine. Try Something New.

For the parents out there, you’ve got some time to think of a way to tell your kids that there won’t be any water ball fun in downtown now that the city has decided to drop Raleigh Wide Open this year. The economy is to blame on this one, and they feel the money is better worth saving then spending. The news might sound bad but I feel there is a positive way to look at this. Downtown Raleigh has a little breathing room and maybe an opportunity to offer something new.

If you are a downtown regular, especially on the weekends, the Spring and Fall can be quite hectic. Downtown is pretty event driven, in my opinion, with visitors brought in by large events, drowning out the local crowd. Some months, it’s weekend after weekend of street closings, crowds, music, and food. The old man in me sometimes gets tired of it all and just wants to relax.

How can downtown Raleigh create its own identity if it’s constantly catering to so many different groups?

I do believe in variety though and that downtown should have something for all. The last five years of Raleigh Wide Opens have hopefully convinced enough people that downtown is a place to visit every now and than, that there is something for you to be a part of.

But maybe with First Fridays, Raleigh Wide Open, Hopscotch, Beerfest, the 3 or 4 marathons, Bikefest, the home tour, SparkCon, Artsplosure, 4 or 5 parades combined with all the other things happening at the convention center and the amphitheater each and every year, should we care that we lost one event?

I’d be shocked to hear that nothing else that happens in downtown can’t cover anyone’s sadness over Raleigh Wide Open being dropped.

Keep enjoying downtown, but do something different this year.

by Leo Suarez

Rendering Bonus, Green Square and SECU Tower


click for a larger gallery of renderings.

Sure Green Square is nothing new and we’ve been watching construction on this baby for over two years now. But the overlooked SECU tower, a separate project from Green Square is starting to rise out of the ground so renderings help give us a nice look at the future.

Enjoy some of these renderings of the SECU tower, now under construction, as well as some more of Green Square that you may not have seen already. Click on the image above for a gallery.

Thanks to Tom at preVision and O’Brien/Atkins Associates, PA for the wonderful renderings.

(reading RalCon in an e-mail? See the gallery on the site, go here)