Final Tally and Update on the RCAC resolution re: UDO - RCAC

5 May 2010

Hi folks,
Just a quick note to let everyone know the final tally of the email vote.
As of lunch time today we had 16 CACs in favor, none opposed.  I think this
might just be a record in recent years!
I sent the resolution to Council and appropriate city staff yesterday, and
delivered it to each individual councilor (as well as Mitchell Silver from
Planning) last night and gave each a quick summary of what we were asking
for.  All seemed more or less agreeable, including Mr. Silver.  From what I
could tell during last night's council discussion, councilors were on board
with the idea of having more forums for the public to get a better grasp of
the concepts being discussed.  What was apparent to me was that it's up to
us as CAC leaders to follow through on that with Planning staff to A) make
sure our requests are realized and B) make sure that people in our
neighborhoods are able to take full advantage of the additional learning
opportunities and resources.
There was also a strong discussion around having a "deep breath" moment
sometime in August, a couple months into the code re-write.  This would be
an opportunity for Council, the UDO workgroup, CAC folks and members of the
other boards and commissions to check in, see how the new code compares to
the old code and make sure it's going in a direction that's good for the
city.  Based on what I heard from council last night, and from Mr. Silver,
that meeting would be similar to the joint session held last night.
Thanks to everyone who responded...I think we're making progress!
Ana
On Tue, May 4, 2010 at 3:13 PM, Ana Duncan Pardo &lt;acpardo(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote:
...
  Make that 14 in favor, none against.  Thanks Danny!
 Ana
 On Tue, May 4, 2010 at 3:06 PM, Ana Duncan Pardo &lt;acpardo(a)gmail.com&gt;wrote;wrote:
  Hi again folks,
 Just a reminder to please respond regarding the resolution below.  This
 resolution came out of the April RCAC meeting.  So far we've had 13 CACs
 respond in favor; none against.  The CACs who have responded so far are:
 Wade, West, Hillsborough, Five Points, South, Glenwood, Six Forks,
 Northwest/Umstead, North, Northeast, East, Falls of Neuse and Central.
 Thanks so much for the quick response--this now means that we can submit our
 resolution in time for Council to consider it this evening.
 I plan to send the resolution to Council this afternoon, and present it at
 the UDO Joint Meeting taking place this evening from 4-6 p.m. at the Urban
 Design Center.  Light refreshments will be served.  Hope others can make it
 in support of increased education and input on our city's future zoning
 code!
 Ana
 (919) 818-5933
 On Mon, May 3, 2010 at 11:47 AM, Ana Duncan Pardo &lt;acpardo(a)gmail.com&gt;wrote;wrote:
  Hi folks,
 At April's meeting we heard a report back from Phil Poe, the liaison on
 behalf of the CAC leaders to the UDO workgroup.  Phil indicated that folks
 on the UDO workgroup didn't feel they had the information they needed to
 make the kinds of recommendations they're being asked to make on a variety
 of issues, including form-based planning and inclusionary zoning.  The CAC
 leaders agreed to put forth a resolution asking for an extension of the
 comment period on the consultants' approach to rewriting the Unified
 Development Ordinance (the city's zoning code) as well as more opportunities
 for the public to learn about the elements being discussed and more concrete
 examples of these elements from the Planning Dept. and the consultants.
 The group agreed that a resolution should be drafted after the meeting
 and approved by electronic vote, and folks volunteered to draft the
 resolution (thanks Bill and Phil!) which is pasted below.
 Please respond via email with your yea or nay vote by noon on Wednesday,
 May 5th.  Thanks!
 Ana Duncan Pardo
 Chair, Hillsborough CAC
 Chair, RCAC
 (919) 818-5933
 RCAC suggestion to City Council on the UDO
 ------------------------
 Where As the UDO is a complex process of great importance to Raleigh that
 touches on every aspect of the future of our city and communities;
 Where As the Complexity of the project requires significant commitment of
 time from the pubic to comprehend the concepts, informatively discuss and
 provide input;
 Where As the Importance to clearly define requirements for Code Studio is
 critical;
 Where As similar Projects in other cities have taken 2 to 3 times longer
 to complete than Raleigh’s time table;
 Therefore Let It Be Resolved that the Diagnostic and Approach phase be
 extended at least 2 months;
 And Further Resolved that Good Examples – both visual and written – be
 provided to help the public better understand the UDO concepts and
 processes;
 And Further Resolved that More workshops be conducted to deal with the
 more challenging issues like affordable housing and context and district
 mapping;
 And Further Resolved that Test / Pilot cases be developed to help the
 public understand what the final code will look like and be interpreted;
 And Further Resolved that City Council re-examine the timeline and
 deliverables to ensure Code Studio is able to deliver a complete and quality
 product at the end of 18 months.