Wendell News Outlet

Agenda

Wendell Community Coalititon

June 5, 2007

Wendell United Methodist Church

Fellowship Hall

7:00 p.m.

I. Welcome (Neal Conoley)

a. Sign-up Sheet

b. Hand-outs

c. Organization Update

II. Presentation on Wake-Up Wake (Stan Norwalk)

III. Presentation on Zoning (Andy Wheeler and Randy Cobb)

IV. Committee Reports

a. Policy and Planning (Dan Edwards)

b. Neighborhood (Ginna Gray)

c. Information and Education (Jenny Melton)

d. Public Safety (Kevin Barbour)

V. Other Business

a. Priorities

b. Upcoming Public Hearings and Meetings

VI. Next Coalition Meeting

VII. Adjourn

Check out the Opinion page of this week's Eastern Wake News.
There is a rather positive article referencing the Wendell Community Coalition.
The title of the article is "Lessons there for the taking" and is located at
http://www.easternwakenews.com/104/story/1150.html

May 16, 2007

The old adage about not “re-inventing the wheel” proved true once again. While searching the Internet for information about Housing Density as part of my committee assignment, I came across the Triangle Community Coalition. This web site, which is very sophisticated indeed, had an in-depth article about the very issues I was looking for.

While perusing their web site it occurred to me that, perhaps the Wendell Community Coalition should reach out to the Triangle Community Coalition and see what we could learn from their experiences. The following excerpt taken from their web site sounds like they are on the same course as us, only a giant step ahead. Maybe we could use them to play catch up.

"The Triangle Community Coalition is a 501(c) 4 non-profit, non-partisan organization whose mission is to promote public policy that encourages a balance among economic growth, development, the environment, and community needs while protecting the rights and interests of property owners."

Their web site: http://www.tricc.org/

Charlie Kramer

Eastern Wake County Gang Prevention Forum May 17 in Knightdale

People living in Eastern Wake County will have an opportunity next week to discuss and develop community solutions to gang problems. The Gang Prevention Community Forum on Thursday, May 17, 2007, is the second of two forums designed to prevent the growth of gang activity in Eastern Wake County. The forum will be from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Faith Baptist Church at 2728 Marks Creek Road, between Wendell and Knightdale.

Juvenile crime and gang-related activity emerged as one of the top four priorities in the 2006 Wake County Community Assessment.

"This is an issue that affects every citizen in our community," said Gibbie Harris, director of Community Health for Wake County. "If we are truly interested in a gang-free community, we all need to be willing to take action in our communities to support the children residing in Wake County."

Next Thursday's forum is the second of two forums sponsored by the Wake County Gang Prevention Partnership, along with 17 organizations and the police departments in Zebulon, Knightdale and Wendell. At the first forum on April 19, community members learned about gang activity in the area. Law enforcement officials and representatives of youth organizations also answered questions about gangs and ways to engage youth in more meaningful activities.

The mission of the Wake County Gang Prevention Partnership is to prevent youth gang activity and violence in Wake County through community mobilization, opportunities provision, social intervention, gang suppression, and organizational change and development.

For more information about the Eastern Wake County Gang Prevention Community Forum, contact Andrew Meyer with Wake County 4-H Youth Development at 919-250-3977 or ameyer@co.wake.nc.us or visit www.wakegov.com/humanservices

News Channel 17 conducted an interview this morning at the Wendell Town Hall about the purpose of the Wendell Community Coalition. On behalf of the WCC, I presented the purpose of our group along with the organizational and committee structure. We discussed the Comprehensive Plan, the importance of the new zoning ordinances and growth in our area. I expressed our interest in getting more people in the community involved in the decision-making process and working with elected officials and others to make Wendell a great place to live and work. I hope it presented our group and Wendell in a positive light. They also interviewed the new Interim Town Manager and I feel sure he did the same.
The program is supposed to be on the news tonight at 6 and 7 pm so you might want to check it out to see if a fair and accurate view was presented... The reporter, Shirley Min, indicated that she was interested in our group and she might attend our next meeting on Tuesday night, June 5.

The Wendell Planning Board zoning subcommittee will meet at 6pm on Tuesday evening, May 8 at Wendell Town Hall.
The topic of discussion will be Transitional zoning districts for Wendell.
Mark your calendars and plan to attend if you can.
There will be a public comment time for persons wanting to speak for or against Transitional zoning districts for Wendell.

Suggestion:

At the last meeting of the Wendell Community Coalition (WCC), it was decided to express the organizations support for retention of the “super majority” vote. This was, in my opinion, a big step in the right direction. In keeping with this movement, I propose the WCC consider the following suggestion for its next step:

Request the Town of Wendell to pass the same resolution as was passed in Knightdale that ssys “new single family homes should have a minimum value of 85 percent of the average sale price reported by Wake County for the previous year.”

In March of 2007, when this resolution was discussed in an article in the Eastern Wake News, that 85% amount was $198,000.00.

Factors considered when making this suggestion:

1 – Knightdale has effectively curtailed the building of low and middle-income housing within their jurisdiction. Therefore, developers who wish to build in Wake County will have to consider other areas such as Wendell. Let us stop this potential encroachment before it is too late. With 7 sub-divisions currently under way in the town and an additional 11 more in the planning stages time is of the essence.

2 – It would “preserve the town’s resources and develop the tax base appropriately.” In other words, new homeowner’s would help pay for more of the services they receive.
An excerpt from the Town of Wendell’s “Financial Impact of Residential Development,” fiscal year 2004 – 2005, indicates that the financial impact of development of one household in the Town of Wendell was a negative $958.59. That figure was as of September 2004. How much is it now?

3 – Larger homes would become more available. This in turn would enable younger residents currently living in Wendell to move-up to those homes and stay in town as their families grow.

4 – Families that could afford the more expensive homes would most likely have more disposable income. This should be beneficial to the town’s current business community and perhaps bring in more upscale stores.

One negative argument to be considered regarding this suggestion is that this type of resolution will bring home construction in Wendell to a standstill. If we accept that argument, should we also accept the premise that the tooth fairy really does put money under our children’s pillows?

Alternate suggestions and constructive comments would be welcomed.

There is a Letter to the Editor in this week's Eastern Wake News that will be of interest to citizens of Wendell and surrounding area.
Wendell's super majority rule is mentioned in the letter and will be a subject of discussion at the next Board of Commissioners meeting on May 14.
For those who are not familiar with Wendell's super majority rule, it is a rule that has been in place at least 20 years and requires 4 out of 5 (super majority) commissioners votes to overturn a denial of a rezoning request by the Wendell Planning Board. Commissioner Thompson wants to change that rule to a 3 out of 5 simple majority which would make it easier for the commissioners to overturn a Planning Board denial.

That super majority requirement is their insurance policy against doing something they might regret later.

The planning board is charged with doing in depth studies on various issues and giving the commissioners sound advice based on those in depth studies so the commissioners do not have to spend their valuable time doing those studies.

So the question is: Why would the Wendell Board of Commissioners want to make it easier for them to overturn a Planning Board decision?

Everyone is encouraged to attend the Board of Commissioners meeting on May 14 and voice their opposition to changing this super majority rule to a simple majority.