May 11 is going to be a busy one for a neighborhood around Spruce Tree Way near Falls of Neuse Road.<\/p>\n
RunRaleigh Races will hold a race at 9 a.m. that day. The race is one of two on the same day in the same area, a conflict that exposes a gray area in the city’s race policy, which attempts to avoid such duplication.<\/p>\n
In this case, Assistant City Manager Dan Howe said one race uses a commercial street and a greenway, the other uses residential streets in a different direction. The start and end points of each race are about a half-mile apart.<\/p>\n
The incident is another on a list of reasons Councilors lately have discussed changing policies<\/a> around road races. A new special events office<\/a> has been proposed to coordinate races. Meanwhile, Councilors are looking at other ways to balance the residents’ concerns about race impact with the goals of those organizing the events.<\/p>\n Howe said there have been concerns from both May 11 race organizers that one might cannibalize the other; one is a 5k and the other is a 10k.<\/p>\n \u201cWe think these two races can happen at the same time, without any logistical impact,\u201d Howe said.<\/p>\n Still, he added, logistics don’t address the concerns from organizers about how participation might be affected.<\/p>\n A relatively unknown law in the city code actually prohibits two events from happening at the same time. The city has been allowing this to happen for years, without any adverse effects. Howe said that his staff will come back with a report on repealing that part of the code and replacing it with a more comprehensive policy.<\/p>\n Wilmington Retreat Agenda Released<\/strong> Councilors agreed to have the retreat in Wilmington Jan. 30 and 31 after some debate<\/a> about whether councilors should travel out of town or stay local. The retreat was pared down to two full days in order to save money and reduce Council members’ time away from family and their jobs.<\/p>\n Last year, Councilors went to Zebulon for the retreat, but opted to head out of town this year at Hall\u2019s recommendation.<\/p>\n Only a handful of the city\u2019s high-ranking staff will be attending the retreat, but Hall said that support staff will be constantly updated throughout the meeting so that they can join the conversation if necessary.<\/p>\n The retreat will focus on future growth, strategic planning and creating working expectations between Councilors and the city manager.<\/p>\n Councilors will be required to make a five- to seven-minute presentation about what they believe about the future of Raleigh. The exercise is based on National Public Radio\u2019s This I Believe <\/a>essay format.<\/p>\n Another exercise will have Councilors draw on a map what they\u2019d like to see \u2014 or not see \u2014 in Raleigh in 10 to 15 years.<\/p>\n
\nCity Manager Ruffin Hall presented Councilors with the agenda for next week\u2019s City Council retreat.<\/p>\n