Front Yard Parking Update

Today's News & Record ran a story talking about the difficulties the City is having in implementing the new Front Yard Parking Ordinance, chiefly the volume of calls it has generated. I think Lorraine Ahearn gave a very fair reporting of the issue. (Lorraine contated me last Friday and we talked about half an hour on the topic.) It did make me cringe to hear the city refer to some of the complainants as vigilantes. I don't think that is the right word to use for people who are trying to help the city become aware of properties that violate the ordinance.

The Music Is Back

Sometime this past spring the music stopped. I don't know if it was the heat of the summer or just a temporary hiatus, but I had gotten used to hearing the glorifying and the shaken tambourine every Sunday morning...and then silence. (Sorry birds and bugs...I'm not discounting your music.) Today it is great to hear the joyful singing again. People gathered in the front yard, shaking tambourines, singing hallelulah and otherwise creating some welcome music for a Sunday morning. I can't say I know what these gatherings are or for whom or for why...only that I'm glad it's back...and that I hope it will return next Sunday too.

1 Tree 1 Lot

I had to pick my jaw up off the floor after listening to Mayor Pro-Tem Sandra Anderson Groat say during last week's City Council meeting that preserving or planting ONE TREE would hinder the development of affordable housing. Landscape Architect Randal Romie mentioned several of the benefits of having trees - some environmental, some beautification, but her response is that having a tree would be a maintenance burden on these homeowners. Really? Raking leaves and watering a tree periodically is a burden? Have you seen how much grass is planted at "affordable housing" locations? Grass requires weekly maintenance during the summer, requires much more water and does not provide nearly the same benefits as a grove - or even one single tree - of trees would provide.

This also got me to thinking that neighborhoods like Glenwood, Arlington Park and Ole Asheboro have tons of old, majestic shade-providing, air cleansing trees and if these areas don't qualify as affordable housing, then I don't know what does. Does she think these neighborhoods would be better off without trees? My very own house is completely shaded by trees on its east side and substantially shaded by a large pecan tree on its south side. I can get by most days without running the AC because of these trees. This would not be a remote possibility if I didn't have those trees. I would be baking in this house.

I've never heard of a more reasonable idea than keeping or planting one measly tree in a yard. This is absolutely a social justice issue...that somehow poor people don't deserve trees is absurd. The reality is, because they are low-income, they are less likely to plant a tree after moving in, but if it is already there (adding $3 to the cost of the house per City research on the issue), they will reap the benefits of that tree for years.

Seriously, Mayor Pro Tem Groat, please think a little bit more deeper on this subject.

My House is a Nuisance, Part 2

Back on June 19th, I posted about my experince being hit with a nuisance violation for what I felt were rather petty items. Today, I got a notice to call the Inspector which I did knowing that it was probably not good news. I have been advised to remove the logs that create a border between my property and the adjoining property; remove a small pile of bricks which is located by my back deck which nobody can see unless you are physically standing in my back yard, and to clean up a pile of brush standing next to my new compost pile. I was upset because the original complaint cited "logs in the driveway" and "brush piles". Both of these issues I addressed. The brick pile (from a torn down chimney when we put on a new roof) was a new one.

I have been told that if I remove the mortar from the bricks (the pile is about 4 square feet) and stack them that it would not be an issue and I'm told that I have to move the logs placed end to end because if I don't they will rot and they are not an approved border material - never mind that there is no such thing as a list of approved border materials, but that the Inspector is classifying logs neatly placed end to end as "yard debris". When asked what problem these logs pose, I was told that they will rot and "create a mess." I let him know that the rotting is a good thing as I have very little soil on my property and that this will be a good thing for my property.

The reality is that given the vagueness of the nuisance ordinance, the inspectors have no choice but to enforce it equally. My small pile of bricks isn't differentiated from the huge pile in someone else's yard. It is believed that the ordinace addressing nuisances (Chapter 17 of the municipal code) dates to the 70's and has not been updated. It NEEDS to be updated. The problem with the way it is written currently is that it creates inefficiency among the inspection staff as it gives them no leeway to decide which properties need more attention than others; and so, in many cases, they are forced to spend time on minor violations like mine.

I really don't need another wagon to haul around right now, but I can't see any other option than to push for the updating of the nuisance ordinances so that our limited city staff resources are used appropriately and are not wasting their time on minor items like my property. (It's of special note that my house never would have brought any attention if it wasn't for local slumlord Bulent Bediz's dislike for me. No other rational person or neighbor can care less about the fact that I have a few bricks lying on the ground or a few twigs lying in a pile in the back yard.) That being said, the City isn't really left with many options since the code does not allow them any leeway.

Part 3 to come....I'm sure of it.

UNCG Proposing Pedestrian Underpass

UNCG is inviting surrounding neighborhoods to participate in a discussion to construct a Pedestrian Underpass at Forest St. underneath the railroad. From Mike Byers at UNCG,

UNCG will host a Public Involvement Meeting to discuss plans for a Railroad Pedestrian Underpass project. The meeting is scheduled for 6:30 PM on Wednesday, August 12, 2009 to be held in the Alexander Room of the Elliot University Center located at 507 Stirling Street. Parking is available directly across the street in the Walker Avenue Parking Deck.

Stephanie Hachem with Kimley-Horn and Associates will conduct the presentation and description of the project as well as invite public input and comment regarding the project.

Please attend this meeting and pass this invitation along to others who might be interested.