Raleigh City Council Regular Meeting - March 18, 2025
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Raleigh City Council Regular Meeting - March 18, 2025
The Raleigh City Council convened on March 18, 2025, for a work session at 11:30 AM and a regular session at 1:00 PM. The meeting covered consent agenda approvals, public comments, planning commission reports, a special item on Brookside Drive safety, a discussion on advisory boards and commissions, a downtown progress report, several public hearings on rezoning and nuisance abatement, and appointments.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the consent agenda en bloc, including utility service extensions, bond programs, petition annexations, grants, contracts, budget amendments, bids, and traffic items.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Josh McIntyre (resident) thanked the council and encouraged them to ride GoRaleigh buses to see the city.
- Matthew Brown (resident) expressed strong support for maintaining school diversity through magnet programs and urged the city to provide low-income housing throughout the city rather than large concentrated projects, citing the planned demolition of Heritage Park over 1,000 units.
- Nikki W. (resident) criticized the treatment of disabled and homeless individuals, citing specific incidents at the Helen Wright Center and the White Flag shelter, and requested mandates for safe shelter evictions and grievance procedures.
- Monica Sanders (resident) shared a community fundraising success through the Pandemic of Love platform, raising $21,000 in 48 hours, and proposed a "Revolutionary Act of Love" to partner with the city on funding sidewalks and separation allowances.
- Octavia Rainey (resident, 52 years fair housing experience) accused the council of violating contracts with homeless agencies by not addressing complaints, and requested moving the RTO pavilion to the Dix campus and asking Live Nation to fund a new community center.
- Athena Wallen (resident) expressed frustration with the Brookside Drive redesign, urging the council to prioritize multimodal safety over private parking, and criticized the proposed compromise as insufficient.
Discussion Items
- Planning Commission Report: Director Vinham Walter presented three items: rezoning Z-35-24 (4409 Creedmoor Road, from office to commercial mixed use), rezoning Z-53-24 (John P "Top" Greene Community Center, removing neighborhood conservation overlay), and text change TC-8-24 (townhouse building type clarifications). All recommended approval. The council scheduled public hearings: text change on April 1, rezonings on April 15. Unanimously approved.
- Brookside Drive Safety Initiatives: Councilmember Branch introduced a revised cross-section alternative with a two-way cycle track on the east side and on-street parking on the west side, responding to resident concerns. Staff (Bradley Kimbrell) presented the option, estimating $40,000 cost and summer implementation. Councilmember Lambert-Melton questioned the viability of the two-way cycle track, noting it was previously rejected. Councilmember Harrison and Patton expressed concerns about safety at the Glasscock intersection and the narrower cycle track width. Patton argued the council should stay the course with the previously approved bike lanes on both sides. No motion was made; the council decided to maintain the earlier decision.
- Advisory Boards and Commissions Retreat Follow-Up: Taisha Mosley (Community Engagement) reviewed board structures, bylaws, and nominating committees. Council discussed potential consolidation, board efficiency, and the role of nominating committees. Councilmember Lambert-Melton raised concerns about nominating committees becoming self-perpetuating. Mayor Cowell moved to rescind the defunct Mayor's Committee on Compassion – passed. The council created a temporary subcommittee (Lambert-Melton, Jones, Branch, and Forte) to study restructuring and report by July 1.
- Downtown Progress Report: Assistant City Manager Michael Moore and Chief Rico Boyce presented. Highlights: net gain of businesses, 10 new openings on Fayetteville Street, retail promotion, free parking pilot, tree lighting, shade structures, and Activating the Core streetscape plan. Chief Boyce reported violent crime down 3% and property crime down 29% year-to-date, attributed to bike patrols, ACORNS unit, strategic warrant team (100 warrants in 56 days), foot patrols, and camera registry. Councilmember Patton asked about Neighbors Home program vouchers for downtown – Emily Sutton (Housing) confirmed households are being identified. Councilmember Jones requested citywide crime stats by district. Councilmember Harrison asked about Glenwood South noise – Chief Boyce said noise remains the main issue.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Agenda: Approved unanimously.
- Public Hearings:
- Public nuisance abatement liens for 1310 and 1312 Pool Road (over $3,000 and $4,000 respectively) – approved.
- Rezoning Z-31-24 (901 Nowell Road) – continued to April 15 to allow applicant discussions.
- Rezoning Z-40-24 (2340 Compassionate Drive) – approved with conditions (max 200 units, 55-ft height, stormwater mitigation, signal warrant analysis). Unanimous.
- Text change TCZ-41-24 (3616 Louisbury Road) – continued to April 15 for applicant to meet with neighbors.
- Appointments:
- Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission: Sean Fernandez appointed.
- Historical Resources and Museum Advisory Board: Wanda Cox-Bailey reappointed; Emily Grant carried over to next ballot.
- Raleigh Convention and Performing Arts Centers Authority: Peter Byers, Sherat Nagaraj, Gaurav Patel reappointed.
- Closed Session: Entered and adjourned, no reportable actions.
- Next Steps: Subcommittee on boards to meet by July 1; Downtown safety initiatives to continue; Further discussion on mixed-use development conflicts scheduled for May 27 in Safe, Vibrant and Healthy Committee.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, that's the picture of the thing. As uh Counselor Silver is got an excused absence, so uh we'll mark that for the record. And then as always, we start with a Pledge of Allegiance, and I'm asking Counselor Lambert Melton to lead us. Liberty and justice for all. Then we start with a consent agenda, and it's my understanding that nothing has been pulled. Move to approve. Second from Counselor Patton. Any other discussion? If not, all in favor of the motion. Aye. Aye. All opposed. All right. And then I believe, right? That takes us all the way up to public comment. And we've got eight folks for public comment. And I will uh just call you up as as you know with public comment. Uh this is uh the city council's time to hear from you, so we will not respond uh directly to your commentary. Um, but it is possible you could follow up with staff afterwards if it's an item that's you know relevant. Okay, so with that, uh Ricardo Fuentes Ricardo here. Okay, next we have Josh McIntyre. Uh hi. My name is Josh McIntyre. I live at seven two seven Gas and Street Apartment H. Um, and I'm mostly here actually just to thank uh the mayor and counselors for your service to our community. Um I feel like you give a lot of your time to this, and uh I appreciate it. Um I also want to say that uh I I'm really pleased to see go Raleigh system. Uh getting more amenities on the street. And I wanted in particular um to invite those of you uh on this council to uh give yourself the opportunity to ride the bus if you have it. I really um would strongly encourage it. We'd love to have you on the number twelve method. Um I speak just for myself. But uh one of the busier routes, also like the number one and number twenty-one. Um I think you will see uh some things in the city that you might otherwise miss. And uh with that, I do have to apologize. I may have to leave to get the bus back to work, but thank you all for your service. Thank you, Mr. McIntyre. Matthew Brown. Thank you for your service, and thank you for letting me speak. Perhaps the most important element in Raleigh's success is its good quality public schools. You can live anywhere in Raleigh and send your children to a safe, healthy school with good teachers. This is not the case in most cities. A key to maintaining our good schools is our magnet program and diversity policy, which ensures that no school has too high a percentage of disadvantaged students. Research is unequivocal that such schools tend to suffer from poor academic outcomes, poor discipline, overworked faculty, and middle class flight. The disadvantaged students who remain receive a second class education. Research also indicates that a diverse student body is better for all students. Our magnet program is funded in part by grants from the U.S. Department of Education. These grants will soon be eliminated because they have the purpose of promoting diversity, which is anathema to the recently elected president.
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