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For those of you that have been following the infill debate in Raleigh, the lines have been drawn and citizens from both sides are taking their stands. I first become educated on the issue from some Five Points residents forming Community SCALE.
Recently, another group of citizens organized around the issue and went more public with a new website: Renew Raleigh. Their mission? The website claims the following:
Renew Raleigh is a group of concerned Raleigh citizens —including homeowners, property owners and small business and service providers—who have grouped together to stop the City Council from adopting new policies that will take away property rights and diminish the property values of Raleigh’s homeowners by imposing significant restrictions on new and renovated homes.
I am actually intrigued with the issue. When I try to understand the bottom line, I say the debate over is the following: Property Rights vs. Neighborhood Rights
When you think about it, any property owner is entitled to their property rights. So where do neighborhood rights come in? I think their is a certain, unspoken expectation, that when you move into a neighborhood, you have a certain vision of what the neighborhood will look like for years to come. I believe that property owners have a right to improve their property, who wants to see a property deteriorate? I think the real issue is the teardown trend that people are seeing and the houses that push the zoning restrictions to the limits.
After all, according to the North Carolina Legislature, Planed Zoning Districts are the law. Any rezoning has to make a very good case if it doesn’t fit the current zoning. Hence, one of the main reasons why Raleigh is putting so much effort into the Comprehensive Plan.
This is a really interesting debate, Infill. City Council has a tough decision on it’s hands. Overall, I’ve found that there are many benefits to the right kind of infill, however, the teardown component probably needs to be addressed. For this to be resolved, I think both sides of the argument need to be willing to discuss the issue and come to resolution. Raleigh should address this issue now before it becomes just another growth issue like is has in so many other cities in the United States.
On a final note, I think that the Lineberry area probably isn’t too concerned with this issue right now as most of the homes here are fairly new. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t pay attention. The only area’s here that (I think) would be subject to infill are the older lots in Pleasant Ridge & Ramsgate and Trailwood Drive homes. Other than that, our area is pretty dense as it is.
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