Raleigh Wide Open Canceled

Raleigh City Manager Russell Allen, who made the call to cancel the event, said cutting the festival will save the city $150,000 to $180,000 for the year.

Museum funding, greenway move forward

Members of the Raleigh City Council approved an additional $15,000 from their contingency fund for the Raleigh City Museum this week. They also voted to go ahead with a new greenway partnership with Wake County along the Neuse River.

UDO group wants more time to review code

The advisory group working to craft a new comprehensive zoning code wants more time to finish their work. The group’s chair this week asked for additional time so the public could digest the document, but the Raleigh City Council denied the request.

Senate bill could stop Raleigh’s billboard ban

S.B. 183 would nullify ordinances in Raleigh and other communities that ban billboards on thoroughfares and local sections of interstate highways. Under the bill, automatic changeable facing signs – billboards with panels or slats that move to allow a new advertisement to display – would be legal on “any interstate or primary highway system route” within the state, even if such structures are already illegal in local jurisdictions.

Councilors are jurors in new site plan process

A new state law says city council members must preside over “quasi-judicial” hearings for site plan approvals. This new law means that constituents cannot make their cases for or against a proposed development to councilors, unless it can classify as “expert testimony.”