Raleigh City Council Regular Meeting - April 1, 2025 (Afternoon Session)
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Raleigh City Council Regular Meeting - April 1, 2025 (Afternoon Session)
The Raleigh City Council met on April 1, 2025, at 1:00 PM in the City Council Chamber. Mayor Janet Cowell presided, with Councilor Mitchell Silver arriving late. The meeting included a consent agenda, a rezoning case, a text change authorization for stormwater regulations, citizen-initiated street closing petitions, a bequest to the police K9 unit, a strategic plan update, a comprehensive classification and compensation study update, and committee reports. Several items were voted on, while others were referred to committees for further discussion.
Consent Calendar
- The council approved the consent agenda (items B-G, I-J, K.1, L.1) except for item H.2. Items included bond issuances for affordable housing (Burrell Lofts and Tryon Flats), petition annexations, public hearing requests for the FY2026-30 Consolidated Plan, grants, easements, contracts, bids, and traffic amendments. Councilor Patton noted that the public hearing for the consolidated plan was set for April 15, 2025.
- Item H.2 – Bid Rejection: Pullen Park Lake Howell Retaining Wall Repairs was pulled for discussion. Adam Foreman from Parks explained that the current contractor was inexperienced and the project would disrupt summer operations and revenue. Staff recommended rejecting the bid and rebidding in June for a January start, expecting simpler logistics and more bidders. The council voted unanimously to reject the bid.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public spoke during this session. (Public comments referenced for Willow Street were from a prior meeting.)
Discussion Items
- Rezoning Z-39-24 (Honeycutt Road): Hannah Reckau of Planning and Development presented a request to rezone approximately 14 acres from R-1 to R-6 conditional use with the Falls Watershed Overlay District. The Planning Commission recommended approval 4-2 with amendments to resolve a condition conflict with the UDO (a condition seeking a design alternative, which is prohibited). Council members expressed concerns about pedestrian safety on Honeycutt Road, water quality, and the loss of a planned street connection, which would impede emergency access. Councilor Branch noted the area is difficult to access. The council voted to set the public hearing as a special item on April 15, 2025, to allow condition revisions.
- Council Contingency Item: Michelle Millette presented a request from Councilmembers Jones and Patton for $8,190 to the Raleigh Council of the Blind for Braille education. Councilor Jones explained the purpose. The request was approved unanimously.
- Text Change Authorization – Stormwater Regulations: Eric Brown of Planning and Development requested authorization for two text changes to align city code with state statutes. The first change would tie stormwater requirements for one- or two-unit dwellings on parcels over one acre to land disturbance area (rather than parcel size), affecting about 1,000 properties. The second change would treat decks, artificial turf, and gravel as pervious surfaces per updated state definitions. Councilor Jones asked about workload; Brown said it would not increase. The council voted unanimously to authorize the text change and send it to the Planning Commission.
- Citizen-Initiated Street Closing Petitions – Special Cases: Daniel King of Transportation presented two non-conforming petitions. For Woodside Drive (Farrier Hills subdivision), the petitioner wanted to acquire right-of-way to subdivide for high-end homes; staff found it inconsistent with the comprehensive plan and of primarily private benefit. For Willow Street (near Conn Elementary), the application was incomplete and the adjacent property owner opposed closure. Councilor Patton recommended updating the process and referred both cases to the Transportation and Transit Committee meeting on April 24, 2025. Councilor Branch suggested considering fair-market purchase for Woodside. The council voted to send the topic to committee.
- Acceptance of Gift – Police K9 Unit: Deputy Chief Lachetti was absent, but Mr. Gorman, executor of Virginia Lee Parker's estate, presented a bequest of $50,000 to the Raleigh Police Canine Unit. He noted additional funds would follow. The council accepted the gift unanimously.
- Strategic Planning Update: Christina Leos presented proposed changes to the strategic plan’s key focus areas, expanding from six to seven (adding Community Safety and Housing, renaming Growth & Natural Resources to Environmental Resilience, and renaming Arts & Cultural Resources). Council members discussed aligning the seven areas with four council committees and naming the arts/resilience cluster. Councilor Harrison suggested merging Economic Development & Innovation with arts/sports. Councilor Patton proposed sending a poll to gauge consensus. The city manager noted the final plan will return in June.
- Employee Classification and Compensation Study Update: Patrick Bracken of Siegel Consulting presented final results. Key findings: Raleigh's pay ranges are below market (minimum: 86% of market midpoint: 91%, maximum: 93%). Proposed changes include moving from step-based to open-range pay structures with five pay plans (non-exempt, exempt, police, fire, ECC), reducing the number of pay grades, and using at least 5% midpoint differentials. Three implementation options were presented: 1) bring employees below minimum to new minimum; 2) option 1 plus a general wage increase of 8-12%; 3) option 2 with a cap. Council members asked about costs, compression, and employee feedback. The city manager stated that final cost projections and a comprehensive memo on benefits will be provided before the FY26 budget presentation on May 20, 2025.
- Growth and Natural Resources Committee Report: Chair Harrison reported that the committee voted 2-1 to authorize a text change reducing forestation requirements in the Urban Watershed Protection Overlay District (District B) from 40% to 30% for commercial and large residential lots, with options for small residential lots (0%, 10%, or 25%). Councilor Silver argued the overlay is no longer needed as the watershed no longer supplies water. The full council voted to support the committee's recommendation and send the text change to the Planning Commission with options.
- Transportation and Transit Committee Report: Chair Jones reported on two actions. First, the committee recommended lowering Neighborhood Traffic Management Program (NTMP) approval thresholds from 70% (on-street) and 60% (neighborhood) to 60% and 50%, respectively. The council approved this change. Second, the committee recommended moving forward with the Falls River Avenue traffic calming project, which had narrowly missed thresholds; the council approved. On West Raleigh Blue Ridge traffic issues, the committee took no action after hearing public comments on pedestrian safety.
Key Outcomes
- Approved: Consent agenda (with H.2 rejected); acceptance of $50,000 bequest to police K9 unit; $8,190 council contingency to Raleigh Council of the Blind; lowering NTMP thresholds to 60%/50%; Falls River Avenue traffic calming project; text change for stormwater regulations (sent to Planning Commission); authorization for forestation text change (with options sent to Planning Commission); minutes from March 18, 2025 meeting.
- Postponed/Referred: Z-39-24 public hearing set as special item on April 15, 2025; street closing petitions (Willow and Woodside) referred to Transportation and Transit Committee on April 24, 2025.
- No Formal Action: Strategic plan update (feedback to be incorporated); compensation study (final costs to come with FY26 budget).
- Appointments: Design Review Commission (Dylan Davis); Parks, Recreation and Greenway Advisory Board (Daniel Gilligan, Jack Hilton, Linda Pearce); Planning Commission (Brian Burnett); Design Review Commission alternate elevate (Dave Toms); Human Relations Commission (Christina Espanya reappointed). Other nominations carried over.
Meeting Transcript
All right, we'll go ahead and call the meeting to order. Thank you, everybody, for being here. Um first, I'll just say Counselor Silver will be arriving late today, so I guess he has an excused absence up until that time. And um next we will do the Pledge of Allegiance, and I'll lead to the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All right. Next uh we've got the consent agenda, and there was one item pulled, which was H two on Pull and Park. Uh do I have a motion to approve the remainder? So moved. Second. All in favor of the motion, aye. All opposed, nay. All right. And then for H two, I think we just wanted to have a conversation, and I believe Nikki Jones, right, had a comment. Yeah. Oh yes. Adam Foreman from Parks. Yeah, ultimately, uh we think that uh starting this contract and this project uh in June would be disruptive to summer operations, um, and also potentially would run into holiday express uh preparations. So it'll have severe operation, operational and revenue impact. Um I think maybe it could be finished, but this is we are uh have a very inexperienced contractor. Um they haven't done work of this magnitude of this type. The largest project they indicated was about six hundred fifty thousand dollars for locker room replacement. This is a lake draining with retaining wall construction. So given the uh the time frame, given the operational impact, and given the experience of the contractor, uh, we thought it was appropriate to bid this out in June, begin in January. We'll be able to close down the park entirely. We'll just simplify the contract and simplify the logistics uh of the project so that the next the next bit is poised for success, and we think we'll get more experience and more bidders. All right. Do we have questions for Mr. Foreman? Oh yes. Um cost escalations for with the delay. It's you know, of course, uncertain. Um we think that with by simplifying the project and logistics, that will put downward pressure uh on bids. Waiting four more months might mean a rise, but we hope that that's counterbalanced by just simplifying the project. At this time, we wanted to keep the park open during the summer, and that made it very hard for bringing in materials, removing materials. Now we're just gonna close in January. We'll make it very simple, and we think based on what we've heard from the pre-bid hearing, that that will lead to more bitters and easier. So we're hoping it counterbalances. But regardless, the revenue impact of doing it now would be so significant that um on the whole, we think this will be much better, much more fiscally responsible for the city. All right. There's no other conversation, I would um make a motion to support the rejection of the bid. All right. All in favor of the motion, aye. All opposed. All right, thank you so much. The next we have the um report of planning commission. Good afternoon, Hannah Recau, planning and development. So start off with upcoming holidays over the next few months. Um currently scheduled public hearings. Uh there are four uh rezoning items scheduled for April 15th, none for May 6th.
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