by Leo Suarez

Municipography, Moore Square and Solar Powered Vehicle Chargers

Municipography is a summary of current issues going through the Raleigh City Council and other municipal departments in the city. The point is to try to deliver any video, photos, and text associated with the discussions happening at City Hall or elsewhere. Since this is a downtown Raleigh blog, the focus is on the center of the city.

There are only two items that were discussed in yesterday’s Raleigh City Council meeting that are related to downtown Raleigh that I will highlight today.

The first item was approved through the consent agenda and involves a pilot program with Progress Energy. The pilot is for a solar powered vehicle charging station to be set up on the surface parking lot along Salisbury Street between Lenoir and South Street. There are more details about this experiment below, taken from the meeting agenda.

The next issue was related to the Moore Square Redesign. Concerns about damage to trees during construction were brought up and the Tree Conservation Task Force will comment on the plan soon. See the conversation in the video below.

Solar Charging Station on Salisbury Street

From the consent agenda:

“In partnership with Progress Energy (PEC) the City will undertake a solar charging station pilot project. The project will consist of a two bay vehicle parking structure with integrated solar photovoltaic cell equipment located thereon, and will include two electric vehicle charging stations with battery storage capability. The facility will also incorporate an inter-connection with the electric energy grid, as well as appropriate metering, control, and monitoring equipment and will be located on a surface parking lot owned by the City located at 616 South Salisbury Street across Lenoir Street from the Raleigh Convention Center (City Site 4). The project can be removed or reused by the City after the two year pilot project or can be extended upon agreement of both parties. The City shall provide, or otherwise be responsible for the cost of: (a) electric vehicle charging equipment for two vehicles, and (b) battery for the facility. All other costs of the solar array, equipment, and installation, site improvement, and design work, specifically including design, facility oversight, and other consultation services by Advanced Energy, will be the responsibility of PEC. As construction of the facility progresses, the City will invoice PEC for work completed and equipment installed, to be reimbursed to the City. Funding will be shared by PEC and the City, with the City’s portion funded by Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant funds.

Recommendation:
Authorize execution of an agreement with Progress Energy as described.”

Tree Conservation Concerns With The Moore Square Redesign


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From the agenda:

During the April 19, 2011, Council meeting, the Parks, Recreation and Greenway Advisory Board presented the Moore Square Draft Master Plan with the recommendation that the Council adopt the plan as presented and that the Parks, Recreation and Greenway Advisory Board have the opportunity to review and comment at the 30% Schematic Design Phase as recommended by the Parks, Recreation and Greenway Advisory Board. Following the presentation, it was reported that some concern had been expressed by the North Carolina Secretary of Administration. It was directed that the item be placed on this agenda to receive a report relative to State approval of structures and to get a recommendation from the Tree Conservation Task Force.

by Leo Suarez

Contemporary Art Museum Now Open

The Contemporary Art Museum in the warehouse district has now opened. CAM Raleigh has been covered in different places on the web and the best two reads out there are:

The cost to visit is $5 and the hours are listed below.

Mon, Wed, Thurs, Fri: 11 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Closed Tues
Sat, Sun: 12 p.m. – 5 p.m.
First and third Friday of the month open until 9 p.m.
Closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year’s Day

by Leo Suarez

Possible $37 Million Bond Referendum For Transit On The Way

$37 million for Transportation improvements are being discussed for Raleigh and may be on this year’s October ballot. Sidewalk improvements, station upgrades, and greenway projects are just a few on the long list here. Downtown Raleigh would see some improvements if this is passed.

The list of projects that may get funded are below, starting first with downtown related ones, and how much of the pie each one would get. ($ in millions)

  • Preliminary engineering: Blount/Person corridor planning $0.25
  • Moore Square facility improvements $3.50
  • Rosengarten Greenway $0.50
  • South/Lenoir two-way conversion $2.00
  • City initiated new sidewalk $4.75
  • Transit corridor improvements (shelters & benches) $0.750
  • Tryon Road widening & realignment $1.8
  • Resurfacing Program $10.05
  • Petition projects $3.00
  • Sidewalk repair reserve $4.00
  • Streetscape: Hillsborough: Gardner to Rosemary $1.00
  • Walnut Creek Greenway – New Hope Road to Neuse River $3.20
  • Lumley/Westgate Road corridor (greenway & bike lane) $2.20

A public hearing about this referendum should be announced within the coming weeks.

We’ve discussed greenways coming through downtown before and the Rosengarten piece is a crucial connector from south of downtown into the warehouse district.

The Lenoir and South Street two-way conversion stretches the previous two-way conversion, completed in 2008, to the east and west out of downtown. For Lenoir Street:

  • Two-way conversion from Wilmington Street to East Street. This makes Lenoir two-way from Boylan Heights to South Park.
  • Sharrows from Dawson Street to East Street.

For South Street:

  • Two-way conversion from South Saunders Street to Dawson Street.
  • Two-way conversion from Wilmington Street to East Street. Both conversions make South two-way from Boylan Heights to South Park.
  • Striped bicycle lanes along South Street from South Saunders Street to East Street.

The description of the work for the two streets also mentions, “modification of traffic signals, turn lane improvements, installation of new pedestrian head signals, crosswalks, and raised landscaped medians.” The western side of South Street is pretty wide so medians would be an easy fit.

Source: N.C. Capital Area MPO, Roadway projects

by Leo Suarez

Municipography: Moore Square, Parking and Food Trucks

Municipography is a summary of current issues going through the Raleigh City Council and other municipal departments in the city. The point is to try to deliver any video, photos, and text associated with the discussions happening at City Hall or elsewhere. Since this is a downtown Raleigh blog, the focus is on the center of the city.

Moore Square Redesign


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The Moore Square Draft Master Plan was presented to the Parks, Recreation and Greenway Advisory Board (PRGAB) on February 17, 2011, at which time the PRGAB heard public comment and asked questions of the consultant and staff. On March 17, 2011, the PRGAB continued discussion of the Draft Master Plan and voted unanimously to recommend the Draft Master Plan for Moore Square to City Council for approval as presented with the recommendation that the PRGAB have the opportunity to review and comment at the 30% Schematic Design phase. The motion includes keeping the restroom and café kiosk in the master plan although they have been objected to by the State of North Carolina Department of Administration which owns the property.

At the April 19, City Council meeting, Christopher Counts Studio and City staff will present the following information:

  • Summary of the Master Plan Process
  • Moore Square Draft Master Plan

Recommendation:
Adopt the Moore Square Draft Master Plan as presented, with the recommendation that the PRGAB have the opportunity to review and comment at the 30% Schematic Design phase as recommended by the Parks, Recreation and Greenway Advisory Board.

Parking Management

The current parking management fund is in the red. For some background, jump to the last Municipography post on April 6, 2011.


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The Committee recommends removing the stipulation in the City’s booting ordinance that requires that a bootable vehicle must be found in contravention of a parking ordinance before it can be booted.

The Committee further recommends adding a tax intercept amendment to our current Parking Management Service contract to collect delinquent fines for anything $50 and over on tax refunds.

The Committee further recommends that the City seek authority for DMV holds on delinquent citations.

The Committee is holding the item to receive a report from Downtown Raleigh Alliance relative to advertising and increasing revenue in our parking fund by not charging fees for evening and weekend parking in the City decks.

Food Trucks


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TC-5-11 Food Trucks. Amends the Zoning Code to permit ‘Food Trucks’ to locate on commercially-developed properties subject to specific conditions.

Issue moves to planning commission to be discussed and make a recommendation to the city council within 30-45 days.

by Leo Suarez

Spring Downtown Eats Update

Spring is in the air and so are restaurant openings. There are a handful of places that we are currently waiting on but here are some more to add to that list.

  • Wilmoore cafe will open very soon on Wilmington Street directly next to The Busy Bee. I’m very interested to hang out here as they have used the old shop front windows for seating. Those deep walk in entrances are nice and cozy, great for sitting outside but staying under some shelter.
  • The Astoria Cafe & Lounge will go in The Hue where White Rabbit Books used to be. It looks like this is the same place that previously went by Tribeca Cafe, as highlighted over on Goodnight, Raleigh. According to the Facebook page, there will be an opening date around early July.
  • Ruben’s Downtown may finally open soon, as highlighted by the Raleigh Philosophical Society.
  • Spy Raleigh is a new club on Davie Street that will also open soon. Any fans of the old Ess Lounge across the street should be right at home, as their description on their website is similar to what Ess Lounge used to bring to the warehouse district.
  • The Raleigh Wine shop will open at the corner of Glenwood and Jones Street.
by Leo Suarez

New Seating and Space At The Moore Square Bus Station

Recently, construction has finished on some new walkways and seating areas at the Moore Square bus station. The fountains that used to go along the sidewalks of Blount Street have been bricked over and now have a few more benches. More amenities are always welcome at the busiest transit stop in Raleigh. As a frequent bus rider, I see the station being pretty busy at the rush hour times during the week.

In the future, the station will become a major compliment to Union Station so look out for more improvements.

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.