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September 2, 2004

Billboards and more billboards

For those of you who may be asking, "Where are Greensboro's 363 billboards?" Inside Scoop has the answer thanks to the city's Planning Department.(Click here to download a more detailed .pdf file)
billboardsblog.jpg
A few caveats: GIS whiz Katie Herring said the map is based on some old data and shows approximately 60 signs that may no longer exist. She said planning staffers planned to update their information in the near future, as the City Council contemplates more restrictions on billboards.
On that subject, billboard supporters, including Fairway Outdoor's local manager, Dan O'Shea, have pointed out that council member Robbie Perkins, a leading billboard critic, himself benefits from outdoor advertising. They are referring to commercial real estate brokerage NAI Maxwell, whose president is Perkins. The company's "For Lease" and "For Sale" signs are posted outside dozens of properties around the Triad.
When asked about the criticism, Perkins said there's one difference between billboards and his company's "For Sale" signs. "When the building gets sold, my signs come down," Perkins said. He also sends this picture of a fellow real estate company's sign in the shadow of a Fairway billboard.
billboard3.jpg

Coliseum finances and zoning changes

The agenda for next week's Greensboro City Council meeting is out. Council members will be asked to appropriate money to bridge a million-dollar shortfall in the Greensboro Coliseum's finances.
Also up is a repeat of a zoning case first heard by the council earlier this year.
From our April 21 report:

"...the council turned down a separate request by Centex Homes to bring 48 acres near the interchange of Interstate 40 and Young's Mill Road into the city limits.
Centex wanted the city to annex the land so it could build 132 homes between an older neighborhood and the highway...several council members agreed that the homes would be built too close together compared to the surrounding neighborhoods.
The council voted 6-3 to reject the development, with council members Robbie Perkins, Don Vaughan and Sandy Carmany supporting the plan."

This time, Centex and attorney Charlie Melvin have returned with a proposal to build 100-125 homes on the same land. The plan passed the Zoning Commission by a 5-3 vote this time around.

September 7, 2004

Rough Riders

David Hoggard wonders why some of Greensboro's recently milled streets are turning our Chevys' seats into vibrating massage chairs. In a July 12 memo to council members, Deputy City Manager Mitchell Johnson attributes the problem to an aggressive schedule for the contractor hired to repave the streets.

In the memo, Johnson explains the three-step process for putting down new blacktop. First crews mill down the edges of the road near the curb. Then the crew raises the manhole covers and then they put down the new layer of asphalt.

In previous years, the city gave construction crews 30 days between when they ground down the road to when it should be finished. But to save money this year, the city allowed the contractor to do most of the milling all at once as long as the job was done within 30 days of the manhole risers going in.

What happened is that grinding went really quickly but the crews are taking a while to catch up with the rest of the work. Johnson pegged the savings to the city at $300,000 but conceded that the public might think things are awry.

"In reviewing the overall success of this year's process we did not adequately communicate the impact of our new process effectively thus leaving our citizens with the impression that we were well behind schedule since it was plain to see that much of the already milled streets were more that 30 days in process," Johnson wrote.

On a related note, the Greensboro Department of Transportation has a handy map showing downtown's new two-way streets and when they plan to finish the projects. Lindsay, Bellemeade, Davie and McGee streets are first on the list and are projected to be converted to two-way this fall.

September 9, 2004

More on Community Relations Project

This morning, we reported on a "community relations project" that Mayor Keith Holliday plans to unveil next Monday at the Greensboro Historical Museum. But city staffers involved in the project are being very tight-lipped about what the project will entail, saying that Holliday is insisting on keeping it secret until Monday's announcement. All they have provided so far is this short press release.

Greensboro Truth and Community Reconciliation Project spokeswoman Joya Wesley added that her group was invited to attend Monday's announcement and said she doesn't think Holliday is trying to preempt their work.

Update:(9/10/04) More on the mayor's community relations project here. Also online is a video produced about Rochester's project.

September 10, 2004

Tiptoe through the tulips

Walking through Phil McDonald Plaza outside the Guilford County Courthouse today, I witnessed a security guard waving a metal detector wand over the bed of petunias. He told me it's a favorite place for visitors of the courthouse to stash their drug paraphernalia and weapons when they realize the contraband will be confiscated at the security checkpoint. Enough guns, knives and drugs have been hidden amongst the flora that the security guards do a regular sweep.

So for anyone planning a visit to the courthouse, leave your goodies at home if you're keen on keeping them.

September 14, 2004

Keeping up with the Joneses

Nobody likes a nosy neighbor, but the folks next door will never know that you can find out how much their house is worth and how much they paid for it.

Thanks to your local governments, you can find out tax values for your house, your neighbors' digs or that house with the "For Sale" sign that you've been eyeing. All from the comfort of your computer.

Continue reading "Keeping up with the Joneses" »

September 16, 2004

Tennis anyone?

It seems that the long-delayed opening of Greensboro's indoor public tennis facility has been delayed again. This time, the courts at the Simkins Indoor Sports Pavilion have too much of an outside flavor. Ann Rolke explains in an email to council members:

"As I understand it, there are so many leaks in the metal roof at Simkins that the courts are unusable when it rains. This is RIDICULOUS!!!!"

Continue reading "Tennis anyone?" »

September 22, 2004

Continued from Tuesday night

Here's what we didn't have time or space to include in the paper(unposted) from last night's council meeting:

  • Thanks to lower interest rates, the city can refinance some of its outstanding debt from bonds first issued in 1992. The council gave Finance Director Rick Lusk the authority to make the move, which is hoped to save between $800,000 and $1.4 million in interest payments.
  • The council voted 5-4 to uphold an annexation and rezoning for Centex Homes to build 124 homes on the south side of I-85 near Young's Mill Road. Two weeks ago, the council heard the case and made the same vote. Here's the background of the case as we wrote Sep. 8:

  • Continue reading "Continued from Tuesday night" »

    September 23, 2004

    When it rains, it pours...into Latham Park

    For folks in Latham Park, the sight of sewage shooting up out of manholes is an all-too common sight when a moderate to heavy rain comes around. Almost year ago, the city agreed to upgrade the sewer pipes running along Buffalo Creek at a cost of $42 million. At the time, state environmental officials were threatening to crack down on the city if it didn't volunteer to fix the problem. The project is now well under way. More from the city's Water Resources Department:

    "Residents in the Latham Park area are invited to attend a public meeting to discuss the North Buffalo Creek stream restoration project scheduled to begin in 2007. The meeting will inform residents about construction impacts in Latham Park, solicit public input on the stream restoration design, and review the proposed route of a new sewer line. In order to address sewer overflows in the Latham Park and Lake Daniel Park areas, the stream restoration is part of the comprehensive North Buffalo Sanitary Sewer Project approved by the Greensboro City Council in 2003. As part of the project, more than nine miles of pipe and the construction of three new sewer pump stations will be added to City utility infrastructure."

    The meeting will be held Monday, Sep. 27 at 6 p.m. in the Water Resources Auditorium at 201 N. Greene Street, the city's old central library building.

    September 29, 2004

    More Online...

    This morning, we had a story about the Greensboro Transit Authority raising rates for some disabled users of the SCAT van system. Basically, folks who want to get picked up or dropped off more than three-quarters of a mile from a regular bus line have to pay twice the normal amount for a monthly pass. This map shows the areas that are within that federally-mandated buffer.

    If you want to read more about red-light cameras, you can read the city-sponsored study or the executive summary.

    The city-sponsored study comes to different conclusions than a wider study of accidents at intersections done by A&T researchers. You can get that one here.

    And if you're really curious about the city's call for architects to come up with plans to fix up War Memorial Stadium, you can read the Request For Proposals here.

    October 6, 2004

    More from Tuesday Night

    Tuesday night's city council meeting ran a bit late for our presses to catch up, so here's some of what you didn't read in today's paper. (If you want to read along, the agenda is online here.);

  • The council voted again to uphold a rezoning along New Garden Road across from Jefferson Elementary School. Because it was approved by only a 5-4 vote in the previous meeting, the council has to vote a second time, and the votes lined up exactly the same. Robbie Perkins, Don Vaughan, Claudette Burroughs-White, Florence Gatten and Tom Phillips voted in favor. Mayor Keith Holliday, Sandy Carmany, Dianne Bellamy-Small, and Yvonne Johnson voted against.

  • Continue reading "More from Tuesday Night" »

    October 8, 2004

    Yes, Virginia, there is a billboard ban

    (Actual e-mail from city government)

    From: Lindemeyer, Nancy

    Sent: Thursday, October 07, 2004 4:16 PM

    To: Johnson, Mitchell

    Subject: Fox 8 News

    Mitchell, Fox 8 Assignment Editor Robert Murray found the billboard information on their web site and apologized for the incorrect information. He will remove it immediately. Fox 8 sent a photojournalist, Eddie Hughes, to the Council meeting and he thought that Item #7 (annexation issue) concerned the Urban Loop (can't explain why). They will put the correct information about Item 7 up, but it really doesn't have to do with billboards.

    Here's what they had:

    Greensboro Urban Loop billboards

    The Greensboro City Council has voted unanimously to allow billboards along Greensboro's Urban Loop. The vote will now allow advertisers to put billboards up along the loop, which is the new interstate that will one day circle Greensboro. In November of 2002, the city voted to create a scenic corridor banning billboards along the Urban Loop. But this vote means the scenic corridor is no longer a reality.

    Nancy Lindemeyer, Communications Manager

    Organizational Development & Communications

    City of Greensboro

    P.O. Box 3136, Greensboro, NC 27402

    Phone: 336.373.2105 Fax: 336.373.4656

    http://www.greensboro-nc.gov


    If you're wondering, the item #7 that is mentioned was an annexation petition for land adjacent to the interchange where Interstate 85 splits off from Interstate 40 on the east side of the city. Contrary to the Fox 8 report, the vote didn't involve billboards, and the Scenic Corridor regulation is still in effect for portions of the highway that are inside the city limits.

    Incidentally, the vote on item #7 wasn't unanimous. The tally was 8-1 in favor of annexing the land, with Council member Dianne Bellamy-Small voting against.

    October 15, 2004

    On our agenda...

    Both the Greensboro City Council and the Guilford County Board of Commissioners will be meeting next week.

  • Check out the City Council Agenda here. For those who may be interested, Item 8 proposes the sale of the old downtown library building (now home to several city departments) to a group controlled by the Joseph M. Bryan Foundation. The foundation then plans to lease the building to Elon University for their new School of Law.

    The City Council will meet Tuesday, Oct. 19 at the special early time of 4 p.m.

  • Check out the County Commissioner Agenda here. Note that they have moved the "Appointments/Reappointments to Various Boards and Commissions" section to the middle of the agenda.

    Chairman Bob Landreth and Vice-Chairwoman Carolyn Coleman made this move so that the commissioners would be forced to settle their appointments to the Planning Board. Usually, those are done at the end of the meeting. But at the end of last week, things were getting testy so the commissioners adjourned without settling the matter.

    The County Commissioners will meet Thursday, Oct. 21.

  • October 19, 2004

    City: No plans for bond vote on War Memorial Stadium

    From WMFY late last week, we learned that renovations to War Memorial stadium "will most likely be funded with bond money."

    The report, filed by Frank Mickens, expressed this news with a sense of certitude that surprised us and residents in the nearby Aycock neighborhood. We knew that a bond referendum was a possible way to pay for the repairs to the historic structure, but the city council hasn't yet discussed any specifics, pending the results of an architectural study that would tell them what needs to be done and how much it will cost.

    Mickens' source for the story, Deputy City Manager Mitch Johnson, said this morning that he never implied that a bond referendum is likely, only that it is a possibility. He said that neither the council nor City Manager Ed Kitchen has instructed the staff to prepare for a bond offering. But he did say that borrowing money with voter say-so would be an option if the council voted to go that route.

    "Obviously, if we're talking about a significant amount of money, it would require a bond referendum," Johnson said.

    One of the key factors, he said, was whether the economy recovered by the fall of 2006, the earliest that a referendum could be organized. The city has a lot of needs, but if the economy is bad, bond votes might have to be delayed.

    "We know there's things that the community would want to do, but can the commmunity support it? That's the question," he said.

    When Inside Scoop called Mickens for his side of the story, the WFMY reporter said that Johnson told him Friday that a bond vote is the "most likely" scenario by which the repairs are paid for. Mickens suggested that Johnson may be backing down from that assessment after catching flak from folks in the city.

    "He's changing his story," Mickens said.

    Meanwhile, council member Sandy Carmany responded to a blog post by Aycocker David Hoggard saying a bond referendum was only a possibility not a certainty.

    Signs, signs, everywhere the signs

    (More on yard signs from our Meredith Barkley)

    Charles and Mary Elizabeth Irvin thought all the political signs in their West Market Street yard - 28 of them at last count - were a public service. They felt the signs helped voters begin to recognize names they'll find on the long Nov. 2 ballot.

    To the city of Greensboro and one anonymous caller, though, there were way too many of them. In response to the caller's complaint, city zoning enforcement officers sent the Irvin's a certified letter last week and paid them a visit earlier this week.

    The Irvins' signs, they say, are violating a city ordinance which prohibits more than six political signs per yard.

    Mary Elizabeth Irvin didn't know about the ordinance. But she has a definite opinion of it.

    "I feel like when you buy property you own it from hell to heaven and I don't think you have a right to tell me what I can do with it, as long as I'm not hurting anybody, and those signs aren't hurting anybody," she said. "They're taking my property rights away and also my freedom of speech."

    Since all her signs - except one - are for Republican candidates, she figures a die hard Democrat must have been the complaintant.

    While the Irvins are the only homeowners cited so far for too many signs, several property owners have gotten letters because their signs are too big. They can't more than six square feet and more than six feet high.

    But the biggest problem, city zoning officials say, are the signs that have gone up in public right-of-ways all over town.

    "They end up trashing up the landscape," said Bill Ruska, the city's zoning administrator. "It's a headache."

    Every now and then zoning officers go through an area and confiscate those in right of ways.

    Property owners can be fined $50 and up for not complying with an order to take signs down. But as a practical matter it is unlikely a homeowner cited this close to the election would be fined.

    For one thing few, if any, ever have been. For another, they could appeal to the city Board of Adjustment, and the earliest meeting they could get on the agenda would be late November. Once appealed, the zoning department could do nothing until then.

    October 26, 2004

    March planned for 25th anniversary of Klan-Nazi shootout

    This morning, we hear from Joya Wesley of the Greensboro Truth and Community Reconciliation Project that there are a bunch of events planned to mark the 25th anniversary of the shootout at Morningside Homes that killed five people taking part in a protest march. The highest profile event is a march on Saturday, Nov. 13 from the site of the 1979 shooting to the downtown government plaza.

    Here's the full press release.

    October 29, 2004

    Too much traffic, bad referees and free money

    Every few weeks, we like to share what folks are writing in to their council members. Here's a selection of the e-mail for the past two weeks or so:

  • Dear Mayor Holliday and City Council Members,

    I live in the Quaker Run Subdivision just off Horsepen Creek Road in District 4. More and more high density building is being approved
    creating absolute chaos for those trying to get access onto Horsepen Creek Road during high peak traffic hours. Visibility is limited coming out of our subdivision due to the curve just north of Quaker Run Drive. With the opening of a school on Drawbridge Parkway and several other schools along Horsepen Creek Road, which is only two lanes, you take your life into you hands just trying to get out of our subdivision. Yet approval was made for massive townhouse building on the west side of the curve and now more townhomes will be going in to the east just south of the Montessori School. Yesterday morning alone, with only 5 cars ahead of me, it took 6 minutes for me to make a right hand turn onto Horsepen Creek Road. Then upon reaching Drawbridge Parkway, I ended up inching up past Caldwell
    Academy while over 300 cars wait to drop their children off at school, without so much as a center turn lane so those of us travelling to work have to wait on every car as it turns into the school.

    Why do you folks keep on approving more and more building when the road cannot accomodate the traffic as it stands now? When was the last time any of you travelled along that road during peak traffic hours? I bet if you were faced with the dilemma that those of us who have lived in that specific area for the past 10 years, you would put your foot down and say, "NO," to more development without first assessing if the roads could handle the traffic.

    Sincerely,
    Nancydee Maxey
    (Note: This rezoning case is scheduled to be heard by the council at their Nov. 16 meeting.)

  • Continue reading "Too much traffic, bad referees and free money" »

    November 2, 2004

    Let's talk

    The Greensboro City Council is usually a pretty reserved bunch, especially compared to the other governmental body across Phil McDonald Plaza. About the only time there's a spirited discussion is after all of the agenda items are done and it comes to the "items from council" portion. That's the time everyone can distribute darts and laurels.

    Starting off, Council member Yvonne Johnson asked why the city didn't vote to move Halloween back a day so it wouldn't be observed on a Sunday.

    Mayor Keith Holliday and Council member Tom Phillips argued that it wasn't the city role to dictate when a holiday is celebrated. City Attorney Linda Miles agreed.

    "I don't think in all fairness you can control when children go trick-or-treating," she said.

    The longest and the most informative discussion came from Phillips, who usually has plenty of constructive criticism. Tom cleared up some misunderstandings about the city's rental inspection ordinance and asked about the re-deteriorating stretch of Randleman Road near I-40.
    But the most frank discussion came as Phillips and others on the council let it be known that they didn't like being left in the dark about the merger of the Chamber of Commerce, Action Greensboro and the Greensboro Economic Development Partnership. The city gives money to two of the three groups, and the mayor and the city manager serve on some of their boards. But it seemed that few on the council other than Holliday knew about the merger until it was a done deal and reported in the media.

    Phillips: "That's the history in Greensboro. A small group of people decide something and don't tell anyone."

    Johnson: "We just felt blindsided."

    Council Member Sandy Carmany said she had reservations about the makeup of the board, pointing out that there was nobody from "my side of town" on the group's executive committee.

    Holliday apologized for not letting the council in on the impending merger and suggested a get together with the heads of the new Greensboro Partnership before the council's next meeting. It's at 5 p.m. in the ground-level conference room on Nov. 16 if you're interested in going.

    November 5, 2004

    Race project update

    Back in September, we reported about a "community relations project" being launched by Mayor Keith Holliday. Holliday gave an update to council members in the form of a memo (posted here) that sums up the progress of pairing folks for the seminars and updates the financing.

    Holliday said that after council member Tom Phillips raised questions about the city contributing $30,000 for the project, he decided to ask private donors to bear the entire cost of hiring the Rochester, N.Y. consultant to facilitate the program. So far, Holliday said $194,000 of the $319,000 cost had been raised.

    But he defended the usefulness of the program, dubbed the "Greensboro Bicentennial Mosaic Partnership Project."

    "There were some initial concerns by a few people regarding duplications of efforts but when the concept and details were more fully explained, I believe most people concerned realized the value of reaching individuals within our community that probably would not be exposed to race relationship building as a matter of course in their daily lives."

    Project co-director Pat Boswell said a committee has almost finished inviting the 180 folks to be a part of the program, and the first orientation meeting will be Nov. 18.

    Inside Scoop will post a listing of the participants as soon as it is finalized.

    Full disclosure: My boss, Editor John Robinson, has been invited (he blogs about it here), and his boss, Publisher Robin Saul, is on the project's advisory committee. Neither have any involvement in our writing about the program.

    November 17, 2004

    In other news...

    A couple of things that didn't make it in time for our story (unposted) this morning on the city council:

  • It will soon be easier to get a late-night hot dog from a street vendor. Until now, vendors were required to pack up by 9 p.m., well before the rush of nighttime visitors to downtown clubs. Downtown Greensboro Inc., a quasi-public group of downtown property owners and businesses wanted the regulations enforced, but were willing to extend the time until 11 p.m.
    Not late enough, a group of vendors told the council. They wanted to provide nosh at least until 3 a.m. when the nightclubs shut down for the night. The council agreed to the later time and was then promised free bratwurst.
  • After the meeting, the council went into a closed session to discuss an economic incentive package. Nobody would say what company the incentives were for, but some county commissioners have already been approached about a deal to bring a Dell Computer plant to the Triad. The state already offered the company $242 million in incentives to build a plant somewhere in the Triad.
    (Update:) Council member Robbie Perkins said this morning he couldn't disclose whether Dell was the subject of the incentives but indicated that it was a very large project.
    "I think we'll have to have several meetings to work out this one," he said. "It's not something you do in a 20 minute meeting."
  • Quote of the day, from Don Vaughan: "The new two-way streets are a hit!"
    Hopefully he doesn't mean the kinds of hits that make your insurance premium go up.

  • November 29, 2004

    Make like a tree...

    ...and find out if the city's leaf crews have gotten around to your humble dwelling to suck up your extra leaves. At this city-run site, you can type in your address and find out whether the city has come through your neighborhood yet for one of the two remaining rounds of pickup this season.

    For instance, type in 1403 Pebble Drive, home of Mayor Keith Holliday, and you'll find that crews are working in his area of the city, but they haven't gotten to his street yet.

    Continue reading "Make like a tree..." »

    December 1, 2004

    War Memorial Stadium Update

    The architects are lining up for a crack at fixing up War Memorial Stadium, now that the Greensboro Bats/Grasshoppers are moving into their new digs. Back in October, the city asked local firms whether they would like to design the renovation. Three design teams are competing for the contract:

  • Walter, Robbs, Callahan and Pierce of Winston-Salem: The firm's recent project includes the Barber Park tennis pavilion, East Carolina University's baseball stadium and the expansion of Wake Forest University's Gene Hooks stadium.
  • Moser Mayer Phoenix of Greensboro: This firm designed War Memorial Stadium's successor, the still unnamed downtown stadium on Bellemeade Street. They have also designed some of the larger recent government projects, including the renovations of the Depot, Greensboro's new fire, police and Water Resources building on S. Elm-Eugene Street, and Guilford County's Social Services and Health Department building.
  • Teague, Freyaldenhoven, Freyaldenhoven of Greensboro: While this firm doesn't list large athletic projects on its resume, it does have experience with this stadium with their consultant, Rolando Llanes. The Miami-based Llanes helped put together a proposed renovation of the stadium back in 2002. The management of the Bats rejected that plan, favoring a new location instead. But Llanes is a favorite of folks in the Aycock Neighborhood. He was part of a team that created a neighborhood plan for Aycock, so he knows the territory well.

    A committee of city staffers and citizens will interview the architects over the next month or two and select one to draw up a plan for renovating the stadium. Council members have stuck to their pledge made in 2003 to renovate the stadium, even if the minor-league team moved out. But where the city will get the money for the fixes is still an unresolved issue.

    Dear Scoop readers, what would you like to see happen with the stadium?

  • December 8, 2004

    In other news..

    Space and time constraints keep us from detailing all of the things that go on during a city council meeting. So here's what we couldn't slip into the story:

  • All of the zoning cases on the agenda passed unanimously with no opposition from residents. We did learn that a marble and granite fabrication shop is opening at the intersection of Ward and Burlington. In addition, an old house in Fisher Park at the corner of Church and Leftwich streets, a former antique shop, will become an office for Genuity Concepts, a pharmaceutical marketing firm. It is owned by Fisher Park resident Michael Wenig.
  • During the debate on the change to the comprehensive plan, Council member Tom Phillips suggested merging the functions of the Planning Board and the Zoning Commission. The two hold joint meetings when there is a challenge to the "comp plan," which resulted in a very lengthy meeting when it was first done in November. No word on whether that idea is supported by the rest of the council or when such a change might take place. Other cities have a single P&Z board that handles annexations and rezonings.
  • The city is getting a $3 million federal grant to remove lead paint from older homes.
  • Robbie Perkins, a longtime critic of billboards, noted that the first billboard on the urban highway loop has been constructed in the county. The city is working on a policy that would, among other things, require county landowners to remove billboards from their property when they apply for water and sewer service.
    ***
    Update: Janet Wright reminded me of another noteworthy item. A few months after leaving the Zoning Commission, Janet will be joining the Board of Adjustment. She was nominated for the post by Sandy Carmany.

  • December 13, 2004

    Race Relations Project

    In Sunday's story on the city's race relations project, we promised more information on the Scoop Blog. It's a day late, but here's a list of the 144 city leaders that have pledged to meet up and talk about race relations over the next year. The table has first and last names, and their title or affiliation if we could determine one:

    Continue reading "Race Relations Project" »

    December 15, 2004

    Bill Agapion and Arco Realty

    I've gotten a few calls and emails today about Tuesday's story, "Complex remains standing for now," some of which suggest taking tougher action against landowners that callers say are responsible for blight in the city.
    Some of those suggested a creative approach that I am certain is not within the power of the city. Arnold Rogers writes, "make Mr. Agapion and his daughter move into these properties and live. Problems would probably get taken care of real damn fast."
    The city is pledging to put more pressure on landlords, including filing suit against those who rent out homes that have been condemned.
    So what do you think about substandard housing and the approach the city should take? Is an aggressive campaign in order, or are property owners well within their right to do largely what they want with their own homes?
    Please leave us your thoughts by clicking the comments link below.


    (A note about commenting: Some people who have seldom commented on weblogs and message boards might think there's a lot of complications to actually leaving your thoughts. Here at the Inside Scoop, it's really easy. You don't have to register, you don't have to give us your e-mail address if you don't want to and you actually don't have to put your full name, though it does help. Tell us what you think on this and any other post. We want to hear it.)

    December 22, 2004

    Council to GCTV: You've got 3 years to shape up

    There wasn't much space to explain this in the paper (sorry, unposted), but there was a bit more to the move of Greensboro Community Television from the old Central Library annex on Greene Street to the city's Cultural Center.

    Tuesday night, the city council was asked to approve a GCTV's lease in the Cultural Center. GCTV is getting booted from their old space to make room for Elon University's law school.

    But it quickly turned into a discussion about the merits of the public access channel, which is funded by a surcharge on the cable bills of city residents. Tom Phillips started out by saying that the channel's programming was "awful" and questioned why the space wasn't given to other arts organizations. Don Vaughan, an attorney, questioned whether GCTV fit the legal requirements to be given space in the center.

    Although the council eventually voted 6-2 to approve the lease (Phillips and Vaughan voted no), the message from the council was that when the contract with Time Warner Cable expires in three years, there will be no more funding for GCTV.

    "You're not going to get any money out of this council in 3 years unless you dramatically change the programming that you've got," Robbie Perkins said.

    We'll have more on this to come.

    January 4, 2005

    Higher fares for SCAT riders and water as a billboard fighter

    Two items from our memos department:

  • First, we have a report from the city's transportation director proposing a new fare structure for the SCAT van service for disabled residents. In November, the council asked that the city discontinue a $35 dollar monthly pass that provides an unlimited number of rides. The idea was that if the riders paid by the ride, there would be fewer unnecessary trips and therefore lower costs.

    In its place, Jim Westmoreland writes that the transit authority's board is suggesting giving discounts to riders that buy books of 10 rides at a time.

    The short of it is that the average user of the monthly pass takes about 40 rides a month, meaning they pay about $.87 per ride. Under the new fare structure, the riders would pay anywhere from $1.40 to $1.54. That means the average rider will pay 60 to 76 percent more than under the current system.

    The council will vote on the new rates at their Jan. 18 meeting. We'll have more on this before that meeting.
  • For tonight, the big issue for the city council will be a new policy aimed at discouraging billboards outside the city limits. I wrote about the policy for this morning's edition, but for those interested in the nitty-gritty, here's the entire resolution and explanation from the city's staff.

  • January 5, 2005

    Johnson: I don't know if Holliday plans another run

    Former at-large candidate David Hoggard joined the press table last night to blog a city council meeting live. David quickly figured out what many reporters know about covering meetings: It's not easy to write an interesting story on the fly about discussions that are often terribly wonky.

    But he does include a short item detailing a conversation he had with Council member Yvonne Johnson, who has long been seen as a future mayoral candidate. According to David, Johnson says she hasn't been able to get an answer out of Keith Holliday whether he intends to run again.

    Holliday told me in an interview in December that he will make a decision by February or March.

    David also reveals that Council member Tom Phillips will be starting his own weblog by weeks end. Ed Cone says that political pair Don and Nancy Vaughan plan a joint blog that will start up at the end of the month. They are joining Yvonne Johnson, who has had sporadic postings at her blog since November. We'll get you links to the new blogs when they go live.

    January 7, 2005

    More on War Memorial Stadium, Coliseum

    Boiling down five hours of staff briefings and council discussions into a short story means that everything of note doesn't make it into the soybean extract on pressed wood pulp edition of the News & Record. The print edition talked about mixed-use developments and the trash transfer station, but they also covered...

  • War Memorial Stadium: A committee of "stakeholders" (governmentese for "people who care enough about this issue to come to meetings") will be appointed to pick one of three architects to actually put a plan together to renovate the historic ballpark.
    Council member Robbie Perkins asked if the committee has been given a budget for how much the renovation would cost, pointing out that people on the stakeholder committee will probably want more invested in the stadium.
    "They're the folks that either live near it or use it," Perkins said. "They're going to want a blank check."
    City Manager Ed Kitchen proposed instead that the committee offer three options of varying costs so the council can decide which one is the best use of taxpayer money.
    Update: Ed Kitchen released a list of the stakeholders who will be part of the design process. Let's give a hand for Betsy Baun, David Hoggard, David Wharton, Gregory Woodard, Kim Strable, Wheeler Brown, Benjamin Briggs and Marc Bush.
  • Greensboro Coliseum: Remember this?
    07/28/04--City officials unveiled a plan Tuesday to fund $30 million in improvements to the Greensboro Coliseum Complex, including a banquet center, six-story parking deck and renovations to War Memorial Auditorium.
    Voters would likely be asked to authorize the city to borrow the money as early as 2006 if the plans move forward, City Manager Ed Kitchen said. He emphasized that the coliseum's plan is merely an early vision.

    Kitchen reminded the council that one of the decisions they will have to make in this budget is whether to include the Coliseum's request for improvements in the city's overall building plan.
    "That's probably going to have to come as a part of the next referendum," Kitchen said.
  • Police: Chief David Wray made a presentation to the council on the police force's efforts to tackle drug and violent crime problems. While he didn't make a specific request to add officers (that will come in the coming weeks) he did say that he could always use more officers patrolling the beat.

  • More benefits coming for city employees, including elected officials

    City employees will start getting more vacation and sick time starting next month, according to a memo sent out by City Manager Ed Kitchen. He details it here, but the change basically increases the number of leave hours accrued per month to bring Greensboro in line with other governments.
    Kitchen also proposes giving health and dental benefits to city council members for the first time. He estimates the benefits would cost about $37,000 per year if all the council members take part.
    Kitchen said he is implementing the citywide vacation change starting Feb. 1, but he left it up to the council to vote on giving themselves additional perquisites.

    January 12, 2005

    Phillips: City should keep unlimited SCAT pass

    At his new blog, Greensboro council member Tom Phillips said that after hearing from SCAT users, he'd support keeping an unlimited ride pass as an option for disabled users of the SCAT van system. He says in his post...

    "What I have begun to realize and I believe other Council members have too, is that many of these people who are using SCAT a lot are simply trying to remain active and not give in to their disability. Even though most cities don't offer it, doing away with the unlimited monthly pass would make it prohibitive for these citizens to continue to live the lifestyle they have become accustomed to. I do believe our rate is too low and would recommend that it be increased to $45 per month."

    The SCAT fares are one of a couple big issues up for the Jan. 18 council meeting. We'll have more on two other big topics on tap for that meeting in Thursday's paper. Stay tuned...

    Health & Dental morphs into possible council pay increase

    Last Friday, Scoop blog wrote about the proposal to give health and dental benefits to council members for the first time. Yesterday, City Manager Ed Kitchen wrote a follow-up memo (.pdf) proposing that council members who already have insurance from other sources be allowed to take the cash value of the coverage as a "supplement" to their regular pay.
    The proposal will have to be approved by the council, and a vote is scheduled for Jan. 18.
    There's also bonus material in that memo for those particularly interested in changes to the city's comprehensive land-use plan.
    UPDATE: Here's a look (Excel spreadsheet) at what other North Carolina cities pay their elected officials, courtesy of Greensboro's Human Resources Department.

    January 18, 2005

    Is Greensboro "among" highest taxed in NC?

    It's often mentioned, usually in letters to the editor, that Greensboro's property tax rate is "among the highest in the state."

    Is this the case?

    The answer is that it depends on your definition of "among." The city's rate of $.5675 per $100 assessed value plus the county's $.6184 means that a property owner shells out 1.1859 percent of the value of their home every year in taxes.
    As far as large cities go, Greensboro is just about in the middle of the pack. The city-imposed tax is higher than average, but the lower than average county tax evens it out. Here's the total tax rate (city plus county) for large N.C. cities:

  • Fayetteville: 1.41
  • Durham: 1.373
  • Winston-Salem: 1.233
  • Greensboro: 1.1859
  • Charlotte: 1.1767
  • High Point: 1.1584
  • Wilmington: 1.14
  • Raleigh: .999

    According to the N.C. Department of Revenue, the highest rate (2.000) is paid by residents of Maxton that live in Scotland County. The lowest rate is paid by residents in unincorporated Watauga County (.35).

    If you're interested, the effective property tax rate in Bridgeport, Conn. is 4.55 percent.
    Update: The conservative John Locke Foundation has a report ranking local tax burdens.

  • January 24, 2005

    Coming to a ballot near you

    On Tuesday, we may get the first outlines of a citywide bond referendum in 2006 to pay for big construction projects. You may remember the last round of voter-approved borrowing in 2000, which brought you the East Market Street redevelopment, new fire and police stations and libraries and road improvements.

    It's unclear how big 2006's referendum could be, but City Manager Ed Kitchen laid out some possible items:

  • War Memorial Stadium: The city is still figuring out what to do with the former home of the former Greensboro Bats. But the repairs are certain to cost money, and a bond referendum has been mentioned as a way to pay for it.
  • Greensboro Coliseum improvements: Coliseum Managing Director Matt Brown has asked for $30 million in renovations and new construction for the complex, namely a banquet center, six-story parking deck and renovations to War Memorial Auditorium.
  • "Downtown Facilities": There's no description next to this item, so we'll likely find out tomorrow what "facilities" are envisioned.
  • Fire Stations
  • Libraries
  • Major repairs/renovations

    We'll have a full update on this for Wednesday's paper.

  • Nuisance Central

    Whether it's for your current neighborhood or for one you're interested in buying a house in, Scoop's got one more way to find out what's really going on.

    Already, John Q. Public can go online to find out the tax values and sale prices for their neighbors homes. But let's say you're buying a house on the 200 block of S. Mendenhall St. and you want to make sure your future neighbors don't leave junk cars in the yard or let their houses deteriorate.

    All you have to do is go to the City of Greensboro's online Code Enforcement database and type in the name of the street and the first numeral of the street address.

    For Mendenhall, you'll find that in August of last year, 211 S. Mendenhall had a problem with trash piling up in the yard. City inspectors ordered it cleaned up and it was completed a week later. The next month, the same property was inspected and ordered vacated for numerous building code violations. As of Dec. 28, the property has not been repaired.

    Whether you still want to buy a house on that block is your call, but at least you'll know. The service also comes in handy for apartment renters, who can look up what problems have been found by inspectors in their building. And if there's a condemned house in your neighborhood, you can check up to see whether the owner is making any progress to fix it up.

    Try it out on your street and see if anything catches you by surprise.

    January 26, 2005

    Whatever happened to...

    Whatever happened to all those great things we were promised in 2000? Remember that $137 million in borrowing Greensboro voters approved for road projects, libraries, police, fire, and neighborhood redevelopment?

    Well Scoop's got your update, with a list of all the projects promised and how much has been spent so far. Two new libraries: Check. Carolyn Allen Park: Check. Greensboro Sportsplex: Check. Zoo at the Natural Science Center: Ehh, not so much.

    I've also got detailed information on individual projects mentioned on the list, but it's too long to post all of it at once. If anybody wants to know more about a specific project, let me know in the comments below and I'll put it out there.

    January 28, 2005

    Hockey owners' outstanding bill

    Remember this?

    A group of Greensboro businessmen led by Bill Black and Don Brady have yet to make a $200,000 payment to the city it promised as a part of the city's management of the team.
    The Generals Brigade, a limited-liability corporation, was formed a year ago by Brady and Black to lease the Generals' franchise rights from the team's original owner, Greensboro attorney Art Donaldson. The company then turned the team over to the Greensboro Coliseum and agreed in a contract to pay the city $200,000 to help cover the team's expenses.
    The city-owned coliseum operated the team, paying all the team's bills and collecting ticket and advertising revenue.
    The city lost $259,000 operating the team partly because the Generals Brigade never followed through on the payment.

    There hasn't been much public talk recently about the hockey team's private ownership group and their outstanding debt. But in a letter to the city (available here), the Generals Brigade's attorney, Howard Williams, explains that it does not have any money to pay the bill.

    "I believe that pursuit of a claim against the Generals Brigade, LLC will yield no money for the City of Greensboro. The only result of such a suit would be additional expense to the City."

    In response (available here), Assistant City Attorney Mike Williams responds by saying "I assume that you are not offering any defense to the City's claims for $200,000 and will be willing to enter into a judgment for that amount."

    The first letter also includes the owners' explanation for why they didn't raise the money needed to pay their debt. Chief among the reasons they cite are negative publicity in the News & Record and a lawsuit filed by former coach Jeff Brubaker seeking to collect unpaid salary.

    "Every effort was made by the Brigade to comply with its written agreement with the City of Greensboro; however, adverse publicity by the News & Record and the resulting fallout from the lawsuit filed by Jeff Brubaker prevented the Brigade from achieving its goal."

    So far, the city has issued several invoices to the ownership group, but it has not filed a lawsuit yet to collect the money.

    February 14, 2005

    The downfall of St. James II

    There's been some lively discussion about the twilight years of the St. James II apartment complex on South Eugene Street. Our Margaret Banks wrote about the ailing complex in the Sunday edition, eliciting commentary on David Hoggard's blog.

    Hoggard supports the contention of St. James' nonprofit managers that city leaders pushed the complex into the abyss or at least sat on their hands while crack dealers did the same. Remember that the apartments are adjacent to a site that was once pitched as the location for a new minor-league baseball stadium.

    The directors of the Christian Counseling & Wellness Group, Donald and Sarah Graham, spelled out those accusations in their response to a city audit of the apartments' operation in 2004, which we have scanned and made available online in its entirety. In the audit report (click here to read the PDF) Internal Audit Director Len Lucas noting that the apartments' rehab work had been unexplainably stalled.

    In response, the Grahams write (click here to read) "Are we sending up smoke screens and making excuses for the lack of progress toward completing the renovation project of St. James Homes II? The answer is absolutely not. This project has not moved forward because 'we have been redlined.'"

    They continue: "We realize the sensitivity of this issue and the danger of rubbing certain individuals the wrong way, but we did not come this far to just give up all the battle that we have already fought. It is so sad to have so many people tell us that we can not save these apartments when the "establishment" - meaning city leaders and Down Town Greensboro, Inc. - wants them destroyed for their own personal agenda. We have had people call the city leaders the "Greensboro Mafia."

    Lucas responds (click to read here): "I appreciate your candid responses, however there are still issues outstanding that do not appear to have a solution or plan of commitments in place to rectify."

    "We appreciate both of your efforts to provide affordable housing in Greensboro. Unfortunately, it does not appear that St. James Homes II is a feasible project at this time," Lucas wrote.

    City Council member Tom Phillips also responds to Hoggard's post, writing that "If this is a conspiracy, please explain it to me. Some people find it easier to blame others for their failures than to accept responsibility for themselves."

    February 15, 2005

    St. James Homes, Skip Alson and Linda Shaw

    This morning, our Margaret Banks writes about Republican County Commissioner Linda Shaw's contact with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development leading up to the agency's withdrawal of $900,000 in grants to fix up the St. James II apartment complex.

    On Sunday, we wrote about the two managers of St. James II and their accusations that the city's establishment brought about the demise of the low-income apartments on Eugene Street. In a letter to the city (read here), Donald and Sarah Graham allege that the "Greensboro Mafia," namely "city leaders and Down Town Greensboro, Inc.(sic)" wanted the apartments to fail so they could be bulldozed.

    While not on the City Council's agenda for tonight, St. James and Commissioner Skip Alston's remark that the city staff is "racist" may be a topic of discussion among council members at the end of the meeting.

    February 16, 2005

    Shopping center case to be delayed

    If you're following the once-heated debate over the "Battleground Oaks" shopping center, you might have to wait a little longer to get a decision.

    On Monday, the zoning commission recommended in favor of (story here) a 103 acre plan for a shopping center, apartments and condos at the corner of Battleground Avenue and Old Battleground Road. The city council was supposed to make that decision final on March 1, but the developer has asked to push that hearing back to March 15 because several of the key folks in the development are going to be out of town. The council typically approves developers' requests to continue items.

    Remember that this development set off a big debate as it was the "test case" for how much weight would be given to the city's comprehensive land use plan. Now that the developers have tweaked their plan, there appears to be a lot less opposition this time around.

    Update: One of the opponents of the development, Ted Eaves, writes to the city council saying that there are still plenty of folks that don't want the shopping center and apartments:

    "Although I was unable to stay for the debate on the development yesterday at the Zoning Commission meeting, I want to assure you that I am still strongly opposed to this development being placed in this location. And my opinion is shared by many of the residents of these neighborhoods. The turnout at the zoning commission meeting does not reflect our feelings, rather it is a reflection of the meeting time and the lengthy battle that this has turned into."

    February 17, 2005

    Should Greensboro mandate pooper-scoopers?

    Among the emails sent to the city council recently was this message from Natalie Koeplinger, whose sidewalk has been the recipient of, shall we say, presents from a neighborhood canine.

    "I was told that their is no ordinance against not cleaning up after your pet. I think the time has come for a local ordinance requiring pet owners to clean up after their pet, if we don't have one. Most owners in my neighborhood carry doggy doo bags, however there are those priviledged few who want to share. It is also becomming a nuissance in the parks as well, where it seems like the dogs are the only ones who get to use it. Can you please pass an ordinance to make it a fineable offense for not cleaning up after your pet?"

    After confirming that, in fact, there was no excrement edict, Council member Tom Phillips only suggested that what's good for Fido should also apply to Garfield.

    "I'll only vote for that if we require cat owners to clean up after their cats and walk them on a leash," he wrote.

    We'll pick up after this later.

    February 22, 2005

    Center City Park streetscapes

    You can read more about it in Wednesday's paper (link here), but the city council seemed receptive this morning to the idea of spending $750,000 to pay for "streetscape" improvements around Action Greensboro's Center City Park. The money would come from the 2000 transportation bond, where it was originally designated for improvements to Church Street. While the council generally doesn't vote in these morning briefing sessions, they directed their staff to move ahead with plans to retool that money for the park.

    So what does $750,000 get you? Check out this summary here: 11,500 square feet of brick sidewalks, 15 raised tree planters at $12,000 each, 18 streetlights at $10,000 a pop and other miscellany.

    In the same meeting, Budget Director Larry Davis passed out this chart comparing what Greensboro spends on certain things like parks and police to other North Carolina cities. Council member Robbie Perkins pointed out that Greensboro spends a lot more on parks per person ($88.24) than Durham does ($28.87).

    "The difference between 88 and 28 is a lot," he said.

    Don Vaughan shot back, "Yeah. But look at Durham."

    March 1, 2005

    Gatten: Unsubstantiated allegations of racism are counterproductive

    Near the end of Tuesday's City Council meeting (Update:Read the full story here), council member Florence Gatten read a lengthy written statement (read the PDF here) in which she defended the city's handling of the St. James Homes II housing complex and said that to her knowledge, there is no evidence that points to racism on the part of the city's housing staff.

    While his name was not spoken during the meeting, Gatten was responding to charges made by County Commissioner Melvin "Skip" Alston that the city refused to work with the managers of St. James because they were black and that the city staff is "racist." (Read the original story here, or a transcript of Alston repeating his comments last week here)

    "Generalized, vague, non-specific charges of racism are non-productive, divisive and serve to create a climate of distrust," Gatten said in the statement.

    "If there are things that need to be addressed, let us do so in the proper venues rather than broad brush strokes that cast aspersions on the city's award winning staff. Even if a citizen doesn't have specifics but just feels that the staff has a racist attitude, let's talk about it."

    Immediately after Gatten read the statement, Council member Claudette Burroughs-White responded that people have a right to their perception that racism is going on. She said that she hopes the city won't "kick this under the rug and not realize that we do have a problem with distrust and racism in this community."

    Click here to listen to a short, two-minute dialogue between Burroughs-White and council member Tom Phillips about Alston's charges (.mp3, 628k).

    March 4, 2005

    Cue the 'cue

    With the other fireworks Tuesday night, I nearly forgot about a motion made by council member Tom Phillips that was unanimously passed by the council.

    In short, the motion asked that all grants or loans more than $10,000 awarded by groups distributing city money be approved by the city council before any checks are cut. This would cover facade grants given by Downtown Greensboro Inc., grants and loans from the Greensboro Housing Partnership and development projects approved by the East Market Street Development Corp.

    "If it's city dollars, the City Council needs to make the final decision on it," Phillips said.

    Mayor Keith Holliday immediately cast his support: "If I'm going to be held accountable for it, whether it be through public scrutiny or whatever, I want to have the last word on it also."

    Sounding less enthused was Claudette Burroughs-White, who said it appeared that East Market was the real target of the increased scrutiny. Without mentioning any names, she said "there are personalities