Glenwood South residents fed up with vandalism, ask Raleigh City Council for action

Several residents Thursday evening near Glenwood South are requesting help from the Raleigh City Council to stop people from vandalizing their properties.

"It's tough. It's really tough," said resident Hillary Burgdorf.

Locals like Burhdorf have encountered people wandering from bars at night, damaging their properties by tossing street signs, urinating in public and stealing from porches.

Burhdorf told WRAL News the vandalism has worsened since she and her husband, Paul, moved to the area about a year ago.

"We knew there would be some noise," Burhdorf said. "There would be some occasional foot traffic but this is beyond anything we would have ever expected."

The couple wrote a letter to the city council asking for specific changes and they want the city to revisit the rideshare pick-up policy and secure parking signs.

The Burgdorfs said the city council prevented Ubers and Lyfts from picking up within the social district and now, those rides are spilling into residential neighborhoods.

"Drunk people in unmonitored, unlit areas where people do whatever they want," Paul Burgdorf said. "It makes no sense."

On Friday, a city spokesperson disputed the Burgdorfs' claim. In an email to WRAL News, the spokesperson wrote that there are large passenger-loading zones from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Friday through Sunday on Glenwood Avenue between West Johnson Street and Tucker Street. There are also loading zones on West Johnson Street, the spokesperson said.

"The city nor the city council have anything in place to prevent ride-shares from picking up on Glenwood South," the spokesperson wrote.

The spokesperson said there were occasional times Raleigh police shut down part of Glenwood Avenue to traffic, but said it does not happen regularly.

"Officers decide when to do it based on pedestrian crowd size," the spokesperson wrote. "It might happen for an hour once every two months. Or, it might happen for 30 minutes, two nights in a row. It really just depends."

The spokesperson said Raleigh police shut down a small section of Glenwood Avenue twice in the last three months.

A recent report by the Glenwood South neighborhood collaborative claims the district brings in $1.6 billion annually. However, Livable Raleigh founding member Tim Niles says it comes with a cost.

"It's an issue that seems to be difficult to handle," Niles said.

He blogs about his concerns with Glenwood South, particularly the increase in crime.

Earlier this month, three men were shot near the district in the early morning hours.

"The city council seemed to prioritize the needs of the revelers rather than the needs of the residents," said Niles.

City councilor Jane Harrison told the Burgdorfs she'd proposed a safety study for the area.

"It's part of a larger problem. We're not trying to fix everything at this point," Harrison said.

Raleigh recently decided to increase parking fines in Glenwood South starting Saturday and neighbors hope that'll help prevent more people from being in the area and ultimately reduce crime.