Join Us ~ Volunteer Work Day ~ January 24th

Please join NOMA in a Volunteer Work Day! 

Saturday January 24th 

8:00am ~ 12:00pm 

Three North Main Sites

♦  1131 N. Main Street / Tree Planting

NOMA joins the City of Salisbury and the Community Development Corporation in the continuation of the beautification project we've been doing at the corner of E. 11th Street and North Main Street.  The abandoned A.T.I.C. gas station has been demolished, new storm drains installed, and new gutters take the place of old driveway aprons (Thank you, NC DOT!).  The new green space has been graded and seeded.  Now we get to do the fun stuff!  Plant trees!  (If you'd like to try something fun, go to Google maps and type in 1131 N. Main Street, Salisbury NC ~ and go to 'Street View'.  When you first land on Main Street, it's a beautiful summer day, crepe myrtles in bloom, and as you travel north on Main Street, our A.T.I.C. gas station is there....but when you cross the 11th Street intersection, it becomes a wintery morning.  Turn around to the south again...and the gas station is gone!  You can see some of the work in progress!)

♦  1428 N. Main Street / General Exterior Clean Up

NOMA joins the Historic Salisbury Foundation in their efforts, via their Revolving Fund, to stabilize the circa 1900 home at 1428 N. Main Street.  Work has already begun in repairing windows and chimney flashings.  We can help too!

♦  1600 N. Main Street / General Exterior Clean Up

NOMA joins the Historic Salisbury Foundation in their efforts, via their Revolving Fund, to stabilize the circa 1912 home at 1600 N. Main Street.  We can help too!  We'll be doing general exterior clean up...clipping, pruning, weeding, and trimming!

Please plan to meet at 1600 N Main Street at 8:00 am or anytime you can make it between 8am and noon on January 24th.  Please bring rakes, gloves, and hand pruners, etc., and make sure your name is on all tools. 

This event is rain or shine!

Tell your friends, tell your neighbors!  

This is a come-one, come-all event!

The North Main Neighborhood Association
northmainneighborhood@gmail.com

N Main & 11th Street Intersection Improvements ~ Coming Soon!!

A small pilot project has been taking off behind the scenes. Earlier in the year, Sue McHugh, Sean Meyers, Tim & Laurie Klaus, Andrew Waters, and Jenni & Brian Pfaff, met with city staff, Historic Salisbury Foundation director Brian Davis, and representatives from the Community Appearance Commission to kick off a small NOMA Main Street beautification project. Here’s where we stand: 

Lynn Raker, Senior Planner with the City of Salisbury, has been working with other city staff and DOT to get streetscape prep work completed so we can “beautify” our 11th St intersection. Lynn has preliminary approval for 2 raised corner planters on commercial properties south of 11th St. We’re looking into the possibility of taking down the empty building across from the market at 11th street, the old A.T.I.C structure. The quote for the A.T.I.C. demolition is $10,000 including finish grade, seed and straw, and Lynn is working with DOT on replacement of collapsed storm drain at curb line. She has not yet talked with property owner, Mr. Helderman, about his desire to proceed with the demo, but that’s next. Long story short, improvements at this intersection are step-by-step, abut we’re moving forward and Lynn will keep us posted on progress. 

A proposed part of this project was to perhaps paint a house along the N. Main Street corridor. If there are owner-occupied properties on N. Main in need of repair/paint, where owner qualifies as low-moderate income and is willing to sign lien, the Community Development Corp (CDC) has funds to make the repairs. It’s a bid process, so volunteer labor would not be needed unless we just want to participate as community building event. Do you know any likely candidates? 2-3 of these could make a big difference to our Main Street corridor. We were originally looking at only 1-story houses, but we’re now told that a 2-story house is no problem. The CDC can bid out the work as specified, so if painting is to be done by volunteers, that would not be in the bid. 

We’ll need to gather up volunteers to focus on the streetscape work at 11th Street. We don’t have a date yet, but we’ll post as soon as we know!

https://nomanorthmain.nextdoor.com 

themainneighborhood@gmail.com

THIS WEDNESDAY!!! March 13th

Public Kick-Off Meeting for the project to revise and update the Salisbury Historic District Design Guidelines, affecting properties in these local Historic Districts: 

• West Square 
• Brooklyn South Square 
• Ellis Street Graded School 
• North Main (NOMA) 
• Downtown Salisbury

Wednesday, March 13
6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Salisbury City Hall
City Council Chamber
217 South Main St.
 
Property owners and residents are invited to participate in discussion about preservation issues and to offer feedback about the design guidelines. The Historic Preservation Commission follows these guidelines when issuing Certificates of Appropriateness for exterior changes to structures and sites located in historic districts.

Please come to this meeting if you can!

NOMA Project Dates: March 9th and April 27th!!!

Hello North Main Neighbors & Friends! 

Representatives from the NOMA (The North Main Neighborhood) and the City of Salisbury's Community Appearance Commission met Monday February 18th to discuss possible improvements to the appearance of the North Main Street corridor.  The City has been receiving complaints as to Main Street's appearance, and as North Main Street is the last remaining residential corridor into the City of Salisbury, some attention is kindly being given to help us upgrade this section of our neighborhood.

Proposed were the following improvements:

• A possible improvement to the lot where the old gas station stood at the southeast corner of E. 11th Street and N. Main Street.
• Possible planters at the 4-corners at the intersection of 11th Street and N. Main Street.
• Painting of one home (this home will need to be in reasonable condition, owner-occupied, and a one-story dwelling)

We also discussed cleaning up our "urban forest" at the corner of Railroad Street and E. Steele Street. While not along the N. Main Street corridor, this wooded area is problematic for the neighborhood and its owners, the Historic Salisbury Foundation, have kindly agreed to help clean this area up, clearing the brush away to give us a cleaner and more visible green space.

The success of these projects hinges on our ability to rally volunteers for these projects.  Will each of you please start talking about this to your neighbors and friends?

The clean-up of the Railroad St/Steele St woods is scheduled for Saturday March 9th. Volunteers need only SHOW UP between 9 am and 12 noon, with gloves, sturdy shoes or boots, and if they would like to bring any loppers or other landscape tools, this would be appreciated.  The City and the HSF will provide other heavy-duty brush removal equipment.

We additionally discussed the potential to add some street~scaping to the old Duke Power building in our small commercial section on the bend roughly between 12th and 14th streets.

The plant and/or paint day is tentatively scheduled for April 27th....but please stay tuned for confirmation and more details.

Thank you in advance for helping to support these improvements to our neighborhood!

Salisbury's Historic Grant Program Suspended This Year!

For close to ten years, the City of Salisbury has been able to offer matching grants to help historic district property owners with basic exterior maintenance and repairs.  In addition to Historic Preservation Incentive grants for residential areas, two additional grant programs have been available for commercial properties.  This year, faced with budget constraints that meant the possibility of cuts to vital services, The city Council was not able to fund these important programs.  However, we are hopeful that funding can be reinstated in the next city budget. 

The Historic Preservation Incentive Grants were offered to those historic districts within Salisbury city limits that fall under a local historic designation.  There are five local historic districts in Salisbury:

• Brooklyn South Square
• Ellis Street Graded School 
• North Main Historic District
• West Square
• Downtown Salisbury

Not all of the North Main neighborhood (NOMA) is in the North Main Historic District.  The neighborhood is bounded by the Norfolk Southern Railway at its east and south boundaries, N. Jackson Street to the west, and the Spencer Town Line at the north border.  The North Main Historic District lies along both sides of N. Main Street from the 600 block to the 1700 block, and one block to the east.  The North Main Neighborhood Association supports ALL of the interests of the neighborhood, historic or otherwise.

Watch city updates for whether the Historic Preservation Grant Incentives will be reinstated in 2013.  You can also contact:

Janet Gapen 704.638.5230
jgape@salisburync.gov

Community Appearance Representative to Meet with NOMA Representatives!

At the City's September Community Appearance Commission meeting, held the first Wednesday of each month at 4PM in City Council Chambers, letters from two Salisbury citizens were read to commissioners that offered complaints about how the North Main section of the city, the main residential corridor and entry to Salisbury,  has been ignored by the City and is in need of attention.  We tend to agree!  We were pleased and proud to benefit from new sidewalks on W. Miller and N. Jackson Streets as a part of the Fit Community Grant, and we were especially grateful when the City used use that same block to plant flowering crab apple trees as part of the Arbor Day celebration two years ago....but since then the interest seems to have fallen by the wayside.

Due to this communication the City recently received about our neighborhood, Barbara Perry, Chairperson of the Community Appearance Commission, will soon be interested in talking to a small group of representatives from NOMA for our input.  Ms. Perry was unaware but reminded that an entire North Main Small Area Improvement Plan had been approved by City Council in July of 2007 that indeed was a product of the voice of the community.  Many of you may have participated in that plan through a series of meetings that were held at the City Park Recreation Center through 2006 and 2007.  The North Main Plan, that included pocket parks, crosswalks, landscaping, and street parking, has never been implemented, even incrementally, due to reported lack of funds.

If you are interested in being a representative of NOMA when Ms Perry approaches us, please contact NOMA at themainneighborhood@gmail.com, or call Sue McHugh at 704.577.9965. If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the North Main Small Area Improvement Plan, please contact Diana Moghrabi at dmogh@salisburync.gov.

Salisbury's New “One-Stop Shop” for Development Services

The Development Services division of the City of Salisbury's Community Planning Services (the “Planning Department”) has successfully completed its move to the first floor of the City Office Building at 132 N. Main Street! 

This new “One-Stop Shop” for development services combines several functions of the development process into one location, including planning, zoning, business licensing, FOG coordination/compliance/inspections, Fire Marshal coordination/compliance/inspections, as well as a satellite office for Rowan County Building Code Enforcement.

With this recent move and consolidation of services, the following individuals can now be found at this location:

·        Rick Barkley, Fire Marshal
·        Teresa Barringer, F.O.G. Coordinator
·        Trey Cleaton, Senior Planner
·        Dale Drye, Rowan County Building Code Enforcement
·        Judy Jordan, Sr. Administrative Assistant
·        Preston Mitchell, Planning & Development Services Manager
·        David Phillips, Zoning Administrator
·        Patty Shuping, Business Licensing Officer

Please feel free to check out the newly remodeled space. The new “One-Stop Shop” is a consolidated office for development services and the processes involved in development permitting and inspections - only the staff/services mentioned above operate within this new location.

NOMA Not Selected for BlockWork 2012

We were deeply disappointed not to have the North Main Neigbhorhood (NOMA) selected for this year's BlockWork program offered by the City of Salisbury and United Way.

NOMA submitted the 1200 block of N. Church Street and the 900 block of N. Jackson Street.  Knowing that both blocks meet the requirements of a mix of owner occupied and rental homes, in an area that was safe for a number of crews to work in the area, we thought these blocks represented the type of work that was done on Make a Difference Day in the 200-300 blocks of S. Shaver Street in 2011. Neither block was located in the North Main Historic District, and therefore would not be limited by Historic Preservation guidelines.

The BlockWork Committee received 12 applications for the BlockWork program, and chose the 1000 Block of South Fulton Street, saying it was a feasible mix of rental and owner-occupied homes, has a good deal of commercial presence, and has a strong support system from the neighborhood. We believe this is the main reason this block was selected...that and it's visibility along the Fulton Street corridor, which is in a National Historic District but not in the local Fulton Heights historic district.  The committee will come up with a unifying theme, and will do a walk of the S. Fulton block to see what the project might include and what materials might need to be required.

BlockWork is scheduled for Saturday October 27th, which coincides with United Way's Make a Difference Day. The City of Salisbury was awarded a national honor for the BlockWork program in 2011.

We hope to see many volunteers out on Fulton Street on BlockWork Saturday.  We'll submit again next year and keep our fingers crossed that it will be NOMA's turn!!

Neighborhood Leaders Alliance meeting ~ Thursday, Sept 27th ~ 4PM

The City of Salisbury's Community Appearance Commission invites NOMA residents to the next Neighborhood Leaders Alliance meeting on Thursday, September 27th, at 4PM in City Hall Council Chambers at 217 South Main Street.

Among other items, the Neighborhood Leaders Alliance will discuss the upcoming BlockWork project, the work plan for the new Housing Advocacy Commission, and the proposed task force to address nuisance animals.  If you are interested in serving on the task force, you mail fill out an online application byt going to the Boards and Commissions tab at www.salisburync.gov.

We hope to see a big turn-out of NOMA neighbors at this meeting!

See you then!

Free Workshop on Housing and Legal Issues

Want to learn more about landlord and tenant laws, rights and responsibilities?  What kind of actions constitute housing discrimination?

Please consider attending this free informative workshop 4:30 – 7:30 p.m., Thursday, September 20, 2012, where officials from state and regional agencies will discuss these issues and respond to questions. Dinner will be provided. Please call to RSVP as seating is limited.

The workshop is appropriate for members of civic boards and commissions, organizations that work to provide housing, bankers, neighborhood groups, real estate agents/brokers, property owners or managers & tenants, persons with disabilities and advocates, or anyone who wants to learn more about these complex issues.

With any questions, please contact:

Janet Gapen

Senior Planner

Community Planning Services - City of Salisbury

PO Box 479, Salisbury, NC  28145-0479

PH: 704-638-5230

www.salisburync.gov

  

What's Been Happening!

Friends and Neighbors!  The NOMA blog has not been active, but this does not mean that NOMA has been asleep!  Many activities have been going on 'behind the scenes':

Did you know that the City of Salisbury instituted an award~winning neighborhood improvement program called BLOCKWORK?  The first BLOCKWORK project took place in October 2011.  NOMA applied for this project, where neighborhoods would select a street that could use some TLC.  

BLOCKWORK  was designed to bring residents together with city staff and other support groups to work on building cleaner and safer neighborhoods, block by block. 

Neighborhoods that have concerns about the appearance and maintenance of a specific block were to apply to have the block evaluated and an action plan developed to help improve conditions on the block. Only exterior conditions were to be addressed by the BLOCKWORK program.   For instance, certain houses on the block may need exterior repairs, paint or landscape improvements.   Or, the sidewalk or storm drains may need repair.   The BLOCKWORK program organizers evaluated needs and scheduled work, which was then to be carried out by the neighborhood participants as well as outside support groups.  Residents and property owners within chosen blocks were recruited to help with the design and implementation of the action plan.

 

NOMA submitted the 800 block of N. Lee Street, highlighting necessary sidewalk repair, water-line work, and desired green-spaces.  While we submitted a great presentation and pitch, we were sadly not awarded.  The project went to the S. Shaver Street in the Brooklyn South Square neighborhood.  No matter!  We will get another opportunity to submit this year!  Perhaps you have an idea for another section of our North Main Neighborhood for us to submit!

NOMA representatives have also been very active with the City of Salisbury's forthcoming Preservation Master Plan. More than twenty stakeholder interviews and local focus group sessions have been held, providing numerous opportunities for citizen input throughout the initial phase.The master plan process is designed to incorporate a high level of community participation. Plan development will continue to offer ample opportunities for input, feedback, and contribution by our citizens. This local support and community input is vital. Interested parties may join the online dialogue by visiting the master plan website at www.salisburyplan.ning.com. The site offers citizens the opportunity to follow plan progression and to view maps and other plan-related documents as they become available. Participation in a moderated discussion allows individuals the opportunity to reply to discussion forums and to tender thoughts concerning the various aspects of the plan.

NOMA remains an active participant in the Historic Neighborhoods Alliance (HNA), whose most recent contribution to the community was the 2011 City Council Candidates Forum.  This organization meets monthly, second Wednesday at 6PM, at the Literary Bookpost.  Please feel free to attend these meetings and provide your input.  The Historic Neighborhood Alliance membership encompasses and represents each historic district in Salisbury, NC. The HNA encourages support of the continuing revitalization of Salisbury’s Historic neighborhoods; serves as an open channel of communication and education among the neighborhoods; and identifies issues of common concern among the neighborhoods ~ working to facilitate the resolution of such issues.

Lastly, NOMA president Sue McHugh and a representative from the Brooklyn South Square Neighborhood recently met with Salisbury Police Chief Rory Collins to present a proposal aimed at reducing repeat nuisance crime in our neighborhoods.  Chief Collins was grateful for the input and will get back to NOMA and BSS in the near future to let us know how we can work together to reduce crime.  We think we have a viable solution!

NOMA continues to distribute the NOMA brochure to realtors to help sell our beautiful homes and stabilize our wonderful downtown neighborhood.  Many of our homes that may have previously been empty are filled.  Be sure to say hello to your new neighbors!

Thanks to all who continue to preserve the quality of life in our North Main Neighborhood!

Spring Spruce-Up Week!! April 11-15, 2011

CITY OF SALISBURY COMMUNITY APPEARANCE COMMISSION & PUBLIC SERVICE DEPARTMENT

SPRING SPRUCE-UP WEEK & APPLIANCE AND TIRE COLLECTION APRIL 11–15, 2011

The City of Salisbury will pick up your old appliances, tires without rims and extra bagged trash the week of April 11–15, 2011.

Place the items at the curb on your regular collection day before 7 a.m. In most of NOMA this is Tuesday mornings. NO BUILDING MATERIALS (carpet, padding, sheetrock, windows, lumber, commodes, sinks, etc.) WILL BE COLLECTED This collection is for RESIDENTS living inside the city limits of Salisbury only (no businesses). If you have questions, please call Public Services at 704-638-5260.

Let's make NOMA beautiful!!!

Grant Applications Now Being Accepted for Exterior Improvements!

Got Spring repair projects planned for your home? If you live in the Historic District of NOMA, grants are now being accepted by the City of Salisbury's Historic Preservation Commission for painting, roofing, porch repairs, and other exterior maintenance work.

Grants can cover 50% of your total project cost, up to a maximum grant of $2,500. Low-to-moderate income applicants are eligible for a higher grant award. Owner-occupied homes and businesses in the North Main Historic District are eligible.

To apply for a grant, call 704.638.5207 or stop by 110 N Main Street to request a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) for your project. Most projects can be reviewed as Minor Works, with approval within a few days or less! You must obtain at least one estimate for your project. Submit your grant application, the COA, and your project estimate to the address on the grant form. Applications are due April 13, 2011 so don't delay!

It is important to note these grants are for projects that you are ready to do, and must be able to complete. The stickler is that you should be able to fund the project up front, then the City reimburses with the grant funds if you are approved. In order to receive reimbursement under the grant program, the work should not begin before the receiving notification of your grant award. Your project must be completed before the end of June 2011.