Raleigh's comprehensive bike plan

An issue that is likely to be of interest to many of you is Raleigh's Comprehensive Bike Plan. The draft can be downloaded from www.greenways.com/raleighbike_download.html. A public hearing is scheduled for Tues., March 3 at the Raleigh Municipal Building.

Parking ban at Reedy Creek and Trenton

Raleigh City Council was recently asked to issue a parking ban in the Trenton Woods neighborhood. They opted to undertake a study before taking action. We oppose the additional ban on parking and appreciate the decision to delay action without further study. To recap actions to date, all city council members were contacted 1/17/08 with a link to the petition. Rodger Koopman and Philip Isley were responsive but indicated that it was more of a state government issue. Mayor Meeker was very supportive in our meeting of 6/4/08 (ee 6/7/08 post). Actions needed: Contact city council members with your opinions. While this may not be your preferred point of access, the issue impacts all of us so please take action. Please see below for a sample position statement with the e-mail addresses.

To:
Mayor Charles Meeker (charles.meeker@ci.raleigh.nc.us)
Mary-Ann Baldwin (mary-ann.baldwin@ci.raleigh.nc.us)
Russ Stephenson (russ.stephenson@ci.raleigh.nc.us)
Nancy McFarlane (nancy.mcfarlane@ci.raleigh.nc.us)
Rodger Koopman (rodger.koopman@ci.raleigh.nc.us)
James West (james.west@ci.raleigh.nc.us)
Thomas Crowder (thomas.crowder@ci.raleigh.nc.us)
Philip Isley (philip.isley@ci.raleigh.nc.us)

In reference to the issue of a parking ban on the streets of Trenton Woods and other neighborhoods surrounding Umstead State Park, I respectively ask you to please consider the numerous petitioners who signed a petition to restore parking at the Reedy Creek Road entrance to Umstead State Park (www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/609803273). I appreciate the action to study the issue rather than approving it without discussion. I request that the city take action to remove the all current signs prohibiting parking on Reedy Creek Road and Trenton and that the city delay any further action prohibiting parking at this area until the city and/or state can restore parking access for park users. I would also appreciate any action the city makes in providing parking at the Reedy Creek Road and Graylyn Drive areas for the numerous park users.

Richland Initiative

An Access Umstead supporter, Adam Meyer, has been working to preserve the natural environment and recreational opportunities of the Richland Natural Area to include Umstead State Park and has shared information that should be of interest to you.

The City of Raleigh is accepting comments on is Comprehensive Plan 2030 through 1/31/09 to be included as part of the revised draft and an extended deadline of 2/28/09 for comments to remain under consideration. To see the city's Comprehensive Plan, please check planningraleigh2030.com. This is another opportunity allowing your input on Raleigh's future to include land use, transportation, environmental development, etc.

For information on Adam and his efforts, check: www.saverichland.org

Results of the Public Comment on Graylyn

We received the following update from Mr Peek providing results of the public comment on Graylyn. Please note that the final course of action has not been decided.

I'm mailing this CD to you today and I wish I could've gotten it to you sooner. To save you just a bit of work: our count was 249 comments and we received thoughtful comment on all sides of the issue. That's one of the more gratifying results of an exercise such as this. Something over 150 of the comments favored Alternative C or some slight variation, although I stress once again that the solicitation of public comment is not to be considered a referendum. Nonetheless, the division administrative team and planners will consider all the comments carefully in deliberating a possible course of action. My thanks for the role that you and Access Umstead have played in the process thus far.
chp
Charlie Peek

update on Graylyn

In response to a request for the progress on Graylyn, we received the following response from Charlie Peek, NC Parks and Recreation Public Information Officer:

Mr. Fisher,
I can certainly understand your impatience; and I'm hoping you'll understand that with nearly 40 units open to the public, this is not the only issue with which we're currently dealing.
We have prepared a fairly detailed summary of the comments, and our webmaster is preparing to post that on our Web site hopefully within a few days. I can send that information directly to you if you'd like. We had a total of about 250 written comments. I can also send you the full text of everything on a CD if you'll supply a mailing address.
Our operations and planning staff is currently reviewing the comments.
chp
Charlie Peek
Public Information Officer
N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation
919-715-8709

no substantive info on Graylyn

Regretfully, there is still no word on the Graylyn issues. According to Don Reuter and from information from Scott Letchworth from the recent Umstead Park Advisory Committee meeting on 11/12/08, the are still compiling the data from the public comment period. It will be announced to the public after review and approval by the head of NC Parks and Recreation, Mr Ledford.

Graylyn tidbits

We have received many questions for updates on the Graylyn issue. I am sharing the following e-mail reply from Charlie Peek from NC Parks and Recreation regarding questions we submitted to him regarding when/how results of the public comment will be shared and whether modifications in the alternatives would be considered:

Ms. Cooper,
Thank you for understanding. While not all the comments were positive, we view the experience as positive. It's always good to connect in a thorough way with so many people that use our parks. I'll try to answer your questions as best I can at this time.
When we get all these comments compiled, I'll be happy to post them on our Web site. That would likely be linked from Umstead's home page.
The Division of Parks and Recreation's intent is to adopt one of the three alternatives described, though there could be modifications to any one of the alternatives after more careful review. We must retain some flexibility but those alternatives were created from the best information gathered by park operations staff, our professional planners and natural resource managers. The most popular "variation" was, of course, reestablishing some type of small parking area at the park boundary near the end of Graylyn Drive for the convenience of runners and bikers. (It was suggested many times that park gates could simply be relocated to accommodate this.) This is not an option the state parks system is prepared to consider as it would present serious problems of management, security and natural resource protection.
Be assured that when a course of action is decided, I'll be very anxious to share that with the public. I cannot predict when any decisions will be made, but I'll make sure to contact you and the media.
chp