Fayetteville City Council Regular Meeting - October 26, 2026

The Fayetteville City Council held its regular meeting on Monday, October 26, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chamber at City Hall. The Council approved the consent agenda with four items pulled for separate votes, held public hearings on annexation and downtown municipal service district removal, and took action on a Fort Bragg micro-transit program, a sewer assessment appeal, and Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) text amendments addressing data centers. The invocation was delivered by Bishop Mark Rowden of Savannah Missionary Baptist Church.

Consent Calendar

• Approved the draft minutes from the October 5, 2026 Work Session, October 12, 2026 Discussion of Agenda Items, and October 12, 2026 Regular Meeting.
• Adopted the 2027 City Council meeting dates calendar.
• Approved consent rezoning requests: P26-32 for 9.49 acres on Gillespie Street; P26-37 for 1.61 acres at 4201, 4203, and 4207 Sweetwater Dr.; and P26-42 for approximately 0.39 acres at 582 N Reilly Rd.
• Adopted demolition ordinances for 409 Lamon Street, 1124 Southern Avenue, 1510 Bragg Boulevard, and 1514 Bragg Boulevard.
• Authorized a municipal agreement and grant acceptance with NCDOT for the Bicycle Plan Update TIP M-0580.
• Authorized issuance of Limited Obligation Bonds, Series 2026, in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $28,500,000 for the McArthur Park Sports Complex and fire apparatus reimbursement.
• Accepted the $1,000,000 HUD Automated Permitting Systems Demonstration Grant and adopted Special Revenue Fund Project Ordinance 26-0685.
• Appropriated $100,000 for a two-year Reclaiming Futures youth mentoring agreement with Cumberland County CommuniCare, Inc.
• Approved PWC contract awards: Annual Underground Distribution Boring Construction Contract to River City Construction in the total amount of $2,366,720.50, and Inventory BABA Galvanized Steel Transmission Poles to WESCO Distribution in the total amount of $3,414,390.00.
• The consent agenda was approved unanimously with the exception of items 7.0A6, 7.0A10, 7.0A12, and 7.0A14, which were pulled for separate votes.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Annexation hearing: Khalid Motorwala, co-founder of Vival Reality LLC, spoke in favor of AX26-02. He stated the company builds flex spaces in the Dallas area and selected Fayetteville as a high-growth corridor because of the military presence and federal funding, described the proposal as a mixed-use park with retail and flex space, and said they do not build tin sheds but aesthetically improved buildings.
• Downtown MSD hearing: Joseph Jackson spoke in favor of removing the Parkview condominium and townhome properties from the Downtown Municipal Service District. He stated the community is 100 percent residential, receives no additional city funding or services from the MSD, pays for its own services, and had been billed for trash services for over a decade without receiving them. He said residents would pay about $1,000 per owner per year if the assessment continued.

Discussion Items

Items Pulled from Consent

• 7.0A6 (3001 Village Dr conditional rezoning): Councilmember Hondros pulled the request to rezone approximately 2.9 acres from Community Commercial (CC) to Conditional Community Commercial (CC/CZ), citing the medical district overlay and an abundance of gas stations along corridors. The request included conditions allowing parking to the front, side, and/or rear; side parking up to 50 percent of total parking; gas pumps between a building and the principal street; and UDO-only buffering. A motion to approve the staff and Zoning Commission recommendation failed; a subsequent motion to set the matter for a public hearing carried, with Councilmembers Green and Hondros opposed.
• 7.0A10 (Human Relations Commission bylaws): Councilmember McMillan pulled the item because diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) language had been removed from the bylaws. The Human Relations director said the change was not mandated by the city, state, or federal government and that the work continues. Council voted to send the bylaws to a work session to discuss affirming city values.
• 7.0A12 (Murchison Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant): Staff presented the $25.1 million HUD grant, requiring a 5 percent city match that would be exceeded by more than $20 million in planned city investments. The Council approved the grant, adopted Special Revenue Fund Project Ordinance 26-0687, authorized the City Manager to execute grant documents, and approved a bridge loan to the Fayetteville Metropolitan Housing Authority (FMHA) to support acquisition of Elliott Circle. Staff noted 208 of 323 planned mixed-income units would be on the approximately 16.5-acre Elliott Circle site, with a $3.5 million acquisition price confirmed by appraisal, $75,000 already invested by FMHA, and a 15-year loan term expected to be repaid starting in March 2028. The vote was unanimous.
• 7.0A14 (Hay Street Parking Deck Elevator): Councilmember McMillan supported the project but requested cost and funding-source transparency. The City Manager said a design-build bid was open with a November 24 closing date and staff would return with bids and funding details after closing. Council unanimously authorized the use of design-build for the Hay Street Parking Deck Elevator Project and directed staff to proceed with procurement.

Public Hearing: Annexation AX26-02

• Planning staff recommended annexation of 9.49 acres at unaddressed Gillespie Street, owned by Vival Reality LLC, effective October 26, 2026. The property has been undeveloped since at least 1968 and is adjacent to heavy industrial, county industrial, and commercial zoning. Staff connected the annexation to the related consent zoning case P26-32. Council unanimously adopted the annexation ordinance with an effective date of October 26, 2026.

Public Hearing: Parkview Downtown MSD Removal

• The two Parkview owners associations requested removal of 49 residential units at 301 Bragg Boulevard from the Downtown Municipal Service District. Staff said removal requires a Council finding that the parcels do not need district services to a demonstrably greater extent than the rest of the city; removal would require two ordinances and take effect at the end of the fiscal year. Staff provided no recommendation. The estimated annual revenue impact is $20,000 to $25,000, about 8 percent of the approximately $360,000 annual downtown MSD budget. Council voted 8-2 to refer the matter to the November 2 work session; Councilmembers Hondros and Green opposed. A resident noted the matter must be resolved before the January tax assessment.

Fort Bragg Micro-Transit Program Overview

• Staff presented a proposed on-demand, no-cost, app-based microtransit service for Fort Bragg service members, families, and civilian employees. The program is fully funded by the Army through an existing intergovernmental service agreement with NCDOT; NCDOT would act as pass-through agency, and FAST and the city would implement the service. Staff visited Fort Carson and Fountain, Colorado to review a five-month-old program. The plan includes a soft launch limited to locations such as the new campus dining facility and Womack, then expansion to housing areas and the broader cantonment area; future connections to FAST express routes and the airport were discussed. Council authorized the City Manager to draft an agreement with USAG Fort Bragg and NCDOT and to coordinate with NCDOT's Integrated Mobility Division for federal funding through the Micro-Transit Finance Program. The motion carried.

Sewer Assessment Appeal - 1420 Hoke Loop Rd

• The appeal was on the agenda with a staff recommendation that Council determine the property owner does not have a valid defense to the sewer assessment. Councilmember Ferguson moved to table the item to the December special meeting; the motion was seconded by Councilmember McMillan and carried. The transcript refers to the special meeting as both December 6 and December 7.

UDO Text Amendments - Data Storage Facilities (Data Centers)

• Staff and outside counsel presented amendments responding to a Council directive from October 19, 2026, and to state downzoning limits. The amendments would remove a sentence used to prohibit hyperscale data centers as unlisted uses, add definitions for data storage facility/data center and utility impact statement, fold data centers into warehouse storage, apply existing warehouse storage standards including a 500-foot separation from residential districts, schools, and child care, add new data-center standards including acoustical compliance memorandum, utility impact statement, 24-hour contact, lighting and air quality compliance, and include a savings clause. A second ordinance also required conditional rezoning for warehouse storage uses containing data centers.
• Attorney Tosco explained that state law prohibits decreasing development density, reducing permitted uses, or creating nonconformities; the existing 500-foot setback was retained because a new larger setback could be challenged as downzoning. He said only 14 North Carolina jurisdictions have adopted data center regulations and that the proposed approach gives more protection than the current ordinance, which permits data centers to seek an unlisted-use interpretation. Councilmembers raised concerns about rushed process, lack of peer-city analysis, 1,000-foot setbacks, utility capacity, and vested rights.
• Mayor Pro Tem moved to adopt the revised amendment providing for conditional rezoning applications for warehouse storage uses as data centers, find it consistent with the comprehensive plan, and make it effective after the public hearing on the moratorium. The motion carried; Councilmembers McMillan, Ferguson, Green, and Jones voted against it.

Administrative Report: Economic Mobility Program Update

• The Economic Mobility Program Update was presented for information only. Council voted to move it to the January work session.

Key Outcomes

• Approved the consent agenda as modified; four pulled items received separate votes.
• Unanimously adopted annexation AX26-02 for the 9.49-acre Gillespie Street property.
• Set the 3001 Village Dr conditional rezoning request for a public hearing.
• Sent Human Relations Commission bylaws and the Parkview Downtown MSD removal petitions to work sessions; the MSD referral vote was 8-2.
• Unanimously approved the Murchison Choice Neighborhoods grant and Elliott Circle bridge loan, and the Hay Street Parking Deck elevator design-build authorization.
• Authorized the City Manager to proceed with the Fort Bragg micro-transit agreement and federal funding coordination.
• Tabled the 1420 Hoke Loop Rd sewer assessment appeal to the December special meeting.
• Adopted the revised UDO text amendment for data centers with conditional zoning, with four Councilmembers opposed, and directed that it take effect after the moratorium public hearing.
• Directed staff to confirm whether a moratorium ordinance requires Planning Commission review and to report back on scheduling.