A is for Appearance Commission, B is for Board of Adjustment, C is for Certificate of Appropriateness — isn’t that how the ABC’s go? If that’s not how you learned the alphabet in school, then you may not know what the public notice yard signs posted across Raleigh mean.

Never fear, RALtoday is here to teach you the ABC’s of civic engagement in Raleigh.

The public notice signs have a large green letter, representing what project or public meeting is happening in the area. They also feature a QR code on each sign, that when scanned by a smartphone or device will take you to the Current Development Activity page for the city.

There, you can match the type of project with the case number listed on the sign to find more information about it.

Here’s a few examples of signs you might see around Raleigh:

A: Appearance Commission

This sign notifies that a Design Alternate request has been filed — meaning a developer has proposed a design that doesn’t meet the city’s standards for building, yard + street designs. An evidentiary hearing is required, and the date will be listed on the sign.

P: Zoning Public Meeting

This indicates that a public meeting has been scheduled regarding a rezoning request near the sign’s location. The sign will include the meeting date + the project case number. More information on rezonings can be found using the city’s Rezoning Engagement Portal.

S: Subdivision Evidentiary Hearing

This means that a developer has filed an application for a subdivision in a historic overlay district near the sign’s location. The sign will include the hearing date, the project address, the case number, and a description of the proposed subdivision. The final decisions on these projects are made by the Certificate of Appropriateness Committee of the Raleigh Historic Development Commission.