It’s no secret that the City of Raleigh is growing—and South west Raleigh is a great place to live and a great place for citizen involvement.
One way for citizens to get involved is to participate in their local Citizens Advisory Council (CAC). There are 18 CAC’s for the entire city, and for some, there are changes on the horizon.
South west Raleigh includes five CAC’s: Central, Hillsborough, SouthWest, Wade, and West. Some of the CAC’s are making some updates to their boundaries due to growth or because some neighborhoods are split between two CACs.
During the December 2010 meeting of the South West CAC (SWCAC), which was held jointly with the West CAC (WCAC), boundary changes were discussed between the two organizations. In particular, boundary changes between WCAC and SWCAC along Trailwood Drive were the main topic.
Properties along Trailwood Drive between Avent Ferry and I-40 sit on the current CAC boundary. The West half belongs to WCAC and the East half to the SWCAC. The proposal is to bring eastern residences into the WCAC with the driving factor being to ‘re-unify’ the Trailwood community. The desire was to have the neighborhood in one CAC and let the neighborhood make the decision.
At the January 2011 WCAC meeting, the proposal mentioned above was voted on and accepted. The vote was 23 yes to 0 no and 3 supporting votes from SWCAC members present.
This Saturday (Feb 26), Raleigh CAC (RCAC) members are meeting at a retreat to finalize boundary changes across the city. The SWCAC has also agreed to the following changes in addition to the WCAC proposal:
- Northern boundary change: Pullen Terrace neighborhood is moving to the Hillsborough CAC
- Eastern boundary change: Washington School, the cemetery near the school, and the east side of Hammond Road are moving Central CAC
As the city continues to grow the CACs will look to optimize citizen participation and monitor their boundaries. For this round, each CAC agrees to the changes and the new boundaries must be approved by city council. With continued growth expected, these boundary changes may be an annual occurrence.