City Academy

I started the City of Greensboro’s City Academy last night.  It seems as though this is an excellent way to learn more about the goings on within local government. The class runs for right at two months with one four hour session each week.  Get details here.

Greensboro Rental Inspections Recommendation Made

I ran into News & Record reporter Amanda Lehmert last night and she mentioned a story that would be in today’s paper about the rental certificate advisory board.  The story outlines a recommendation from the board to the council that rental unit certificates be reissued when they expire and go back to more of a complaint driven system.

This does not mean that all landlords will be off the hook, “certificates should be automatically reissued if they reach their five-year expiration date without having any code violations.” (N&R)

One other quote that is worth sharing is, “”The city cannot go back every year and inspect all those buildings again. They don’t have the time or resources,” said Todd Rotruck, the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress representative on the board. “I don’t think they need to go around and look for any little nitpicky thing that is wrong with a house.”" (N&R)

What do you think?  Is this recommendation to light on the issue?  Should the city have gone about these inspections differently?  For example, should a rating system of some sort be implemented for the process?  The city could have created a 1 - 5 scale, with 5 being terrible condition, and only re-inspect the properties that fall in the 3 - 5 category.  Any other ideas how to make the system better?

I have one additional question.  How has the Agapian property at the corner of Summit and Cone been allowed to get in such bad shape?  Watch a short video on this property below.

Read Amanda’s full story and quotes from a few council members here.

New Garden Rezoning Makes Fox 8

I received a call from a Fox 8 reporter yesterday afternoon asking about the rezoning issue on New Garden Road.  Here is the story that ran last night.  Their report states that their will be a meeting with the business owner and residents next week to hear their concerns.

College President Speaks Out About Warnersville & Sports Park

Imagine this.  Someone wants to build something new.  Residents near the property don’t like the idea.  A public battle is born.  That is exactly what has happened between the Warnersville community and Greensboro College over a  a new sports part the college wants to build.  Dr. Craven Williams, president of Greensboro college, has submitted a Letter to the Editor at the News & Record.

“I write this out of a deep sense of heritage and love for the city of Greensboro. It is written to set the record straight and to bring final clarity to Greensboro College’s plans for a new sports park near the historic Warnersville neighborhood.”

“Our intent is to build an important component of Greensboro College that also brings new life and new vibrancy to the Warnersville neighborhood. We believe the sports park can contribute to a shared sense of unity and honor in our city. Let me tell you how.”  Read the entire letter here.

GPD Buracker Recommendations Progress Report

Find the progress report here.

Where has Mary Rakestraw Been?

As a reminder this site is not meant to point fingers at one particular council member or to only highlight certain issues.  That being said, where has Mary Rakestraw been?

At the end of every council meeting each member is allotted time to talk about specific items, ask questions and appoint new board members.  When it was Mary’s turn last night she asked when the council was going to be able to see the police video.  One can only assume she is talking about the video that has been circulating online for quite some time that attempts to show that GPD officers are using excessive force.  Can council members actually not track things of this nature down?

Then she asked about the café ordinance issue that the council settled at their last meeting.  I forget her exact statement but she asked if the issue had been resolved. 

Where has this At-Large council member been? 

Are the length of the meetings causing fatigue to council members causing them not to pay attention?

New Garden Road Update: Attorney for Applicant Provides Info

Derek Allen, the attorney representing the individual that would like to rezone the property at 1807 and 1809 New Garden Road has passed the following information along.

Couple of things you should note that people are not focused on:

1. When we first started this process, the city staff did not know what zoning classification we fit in - - so, in order to be very safe we filed for LB (limited business) with the ONLY allowed use being an “events center”.  Staff has now defined us as a “club/lodge” which means that we could have left the zoning unchanged (i.e., such a use is permitted in residential zoned areas with a SUP).

2.  The neighbors on New Garden support the project.  The people Opposed are across the lake.

3.  The project will look and feel like a very nice house.  I can get You pictures.  Think European Country Manor.  Brick, stone, residential architecture.  As many old growth trees as possible will remain. Everyone who has seen the pictures has said - - “what is the difference between this and a house”?

 4.  The back 600 feet of existing forest (go back there if you want) Will remain undisturbed.  She plans to give it to the City, County, Piedmont Land Conservancy or some similar group.

5.  This structure will host parties in the 100 person range and less. Hours are limited to midnight on the weekends and earlier than that during the week.

Also, to further explain the “feel” she is going for:  the landscaping will keep as many of the trees as possible.  The idea is for this facility to look like a manor that has been there for a long time. There will be a water feature with stream, pond and water fall.  There will be a gazebo.  There will be tiered parking (to reduce grading) and heavy landscaping around the parking area (crepe myrtles, soft leaf holly, etc.).

We had a neighbor meeting on June 24.  Ms. Simpson brought materials showing what the facility would look like.  Only 6 people showed up.  All of them were in favor of the project.

Video: New Garden Rezoning, Area in Question

This video is to show you the area that will be affected by the possible rezoning of 1807 and 1809 New Garden Road.  Try not to get dizzy as you watch!

In the video I mentioned that the groups Web site is a .com address but it is actually a .org address.  I hope this provided some insight.

New Garden Road Rezoning: Interview with Resident

This email below is a response from Bill, the Webmaster of friendsofnewgarden.org to some questions I submitted to the Web site last Friday.  This site was created to voice concerns over the potential rezoning of two lots on New Garden Road.

“As stated on our website, we are a small group of barely-organized concerned residents trying to keep our neighborhood intact.  We don’t have an official spokesperson, or even an official leader, so there can be no “official” response.  I’m the webmaster, so I get the Emails and registrations that come into the site, and I will share some of my personal views, which I believe fairly reflect the feelings of the group.

Comments inserted below. 

Question: The rezoning map you have on your Web site looks as though the property in question is right on New Garden Road with no other access.  Do you think this land would ever be used for residential given the high amount of traffic that you have pointed out?

Answer: You are correct about the access.  While adding any traffic to New Garden will exacerbate an already difficult situation, that doesn’t seem to have slowed any of the residential development so far.  Just because it’s a bad idea doesn’t mean that it won’t get done.  There has been a plan to widen this section of New Garden Road for 4 years, and we are told that work on the 2 year project will start this fall.  That will probably smooth the traffic flow through this area somewhat, though it will be much worse during construction, until 2011 if the project actually goes on schedule. 

Question: Did you oppose the new Target  and the new development at the corner of Horse Pen and New Garden?

Answer: As we are not an organization per se, “we” did not oppose other developments.  However, some members of the group have opposed many of the developments along New Garden Road over the years.  In particular, the residents around Will Doskey Road fought the Harris Teeter center vigorously.  Their one success was an agreement to not put a driveway to the center parking lot on Will Doskey Road itself.  We have learned from discussions with those residents that even that agreement is now being overturned, and a driveway is going to be installed.  I have spoken with a number of residents of that area, and have encountered an astonishing level of cynicism and disgust with the entire planning process in Greensboro.  This has redoubled our efforts to block this rezoning.  The developer has offered some minor concessions, often impractical, to appear flexible.  It is clear that, once the rezoning is accomplished, many of the concessions will be reversed to make the project viable. 

Question: How far is the land in question from Battleground?  I can’t really tell from the map.  Are you between Horse Pen and Battleground?

Answer: Yes, we are between Horsepen and Battleground.  There has been a series of strip malls springing up between Brassfield and Battleground, mostly vacant.  We feel encroached upon at both ends. 

Question: Would you rather have a wedding planner on the land rather than another business that could have much more customers bringing more traffic?  Example: restaurant. 

Answer: Actually , we don’t want a restaurant either.  Or a gas station, or a landfill, or a chemical plant.  This area is zoned RS-12, for single-family residences.  That’s what it was when we purchased our homes, and that’s what it was when the developer purchased this property.  We had no expectation that our residential neighborhood would become anything else.  The developer should have had no such expectation either. 

The city has a Zoning Code and a Comprehensive Plan.  Doing anything other than a low-density residential development (Or, dare we dream, a park or open space next to the creek?  How about doing something that actually enhances the neighborhood?) here is incompatible.  Isn’t there someplace in the city that can start out residential, and remain so?”

A video of the area in question is on the way.  Update: Video posted here.

New Garden Rezoning Battle is Brewing

Have you heard about the rezoning storm that is brewing over on New Garden Road?  Here is what Friends of New Garden Road Web site says about the situation,

“Friends of New Garden Road is a group of neighborhood residents opposed to the rezoning of 4.69 acres at 1807 and 1809 New Garden Road between Timberoak/Strathmore and Jefferson/Will Doskey to commercial to allow the construction of an “Event Center for weddings and similar parties.”

We think this is a really bad idea, and we are encouraging residents of our neighborhood who agree with us to speak out and let our elected officials know that we value the quality of our community and insist on maintaining it.”

The Web site continues to state that council will hear the rezoning request on September 16.  The case was postponed on “August 4th because Derek “conflict of interest”Allen from Brooks Pierce Law Firm came up at the last minute to get a continuance on this rezoning case. The neighbors were none too happy to see this lawyer in question come up at last minute to have the continuance. It made for a few brief discussions and also a directive from the Greensboro City Council to come up with better communications with surrounding owners on rezoning continuance request.”  My mistake, this quote was from TriadWatch.  I was doing to much at once when I wrote this.

I have sent a few questions to the email address listed on the site and will post the responses if anything is received.

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