Helping residents protect their backyards

Submitted by Rodger on 29 July 2009 - 9:38pm

For a while now I've been working with residents in the Quail Hollow neighborhood on protecting their backyards. Under state law the city of Raleigh is required to maintain sewer easements so in case of a spill or other emergency the city has reasonable access to sewers and other public utilities to quickly respond. The issue was how to interpret what "reasonable" meant.

City staff thought this meant basically clearing the whole easement. The implication of this, however, would have meant wiping out large swaths of people's existing yards. Furthermore, I did not think the city did a good job notifying people and educating them in advance so they understood what was going on and how it would affect them. Prior to my involvement, the first time someone found out their easement was going to be cleared is when orange flags and markers mysteriously appeared with a note stating the clearing would soon follow.

People were justifiably upset. Everybody understood the need to maintain the easements. To be sure, the city does need to maintain them and city personnel must be able to get to the sewer system in the event of an emergency. But the way in which it was done and how it was communicated could stand to be dramatically improved.

Some residents contacted me and asked for my help. I was glad to jump in and help change policies and rules. Today the N&O ran a story about this. The link to the story is here:

http://www.newsobserver.com/nrn/story/1623704.html

Many times when I talk to people they are surprised how easy it is to get a hold of me or my fellow councilors. Most of us on the council care deeply about representing people and making sure neighborhood needs come before developer interests or bureaucratic rules. And often all you have to do is send an email or pick up the phone to get the ball rolling.

I'm very glad to have been able to be of substantive help to these deserving residents. But it was their activism and energy that made it all happen. It's a great example of how local political leaders can partner with neighborhoods to ensure local government works for the people.

Rodger