Raleigh City Council Regular Meeting – April 1, 2025 (Evening Session)
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Raleigh City Council Regular Meeting – April 1, 2025 (Evening Session)
The Raleigh City Council convened at 7:00 PM on April 1, 2025, to hold public hearings and vote on several zoning and development items. The meeting featured major discussion on the proposed Raleigh Sports and Entertainment District at the Lenovo Center, as well as multiple smaller rezoning cases. Key decisions included approval of a business investment grant, two annexations, and several rezoning requests, with one rezoning continued for further work on pedestrian safety and traffic calming.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Laura Ford (Alliance for Reedy Creek Trenton Corridor) expressed concern about traffic and environmental impacts from the Lenovo Center development. She requested annual traffic mitigation reports, simultaneous road access development, and turbidity monitoring during construction.
- Tim Thronson (Chair, Cardinal Gibbons High School Board) voiced cautious support for the Lenovo development but stressed the need for pedestrian safety improvements, particularly at East Stephen Stroud Way and Edwards Mill Road. He requested a formal condition requiring the developer to collaborate on safety solutions.
- Gene Spooner (Chair, MStech Coalition) urged protection of Richland Creek during construction, monitoring of turbidity, maintenance of the Lobley Trailhead parking lot, and incentives for multimodal transportation (e.g., 25% non-vehicle trips for two events, increasing to 50% over 20 years).
- Lola Holderness (student, Cardinal Gibbons) supported the Lenovo development and asked for safe pedestrian access with sidewalks, crosswalks, and signals.
- Austin Govey (student, Cardinal Gibbons) supported the development and requested coordination to avoid construction traffic conflicts with school drop-off/pickup times.
- Tanya Orr (resident on Princess Curry Way) opposed the rezoning at 4349 & 4353 Pearl Road (Z-46-24) because a required street connection would create a through road from her dead-end street, increasing traffic and safety risks for children.
Discussion Items
- Business Investment Grant – Ralliant Corporation (Item Y.1): The grant of $36,000 over five years was presented by Kyle Touchstone (Raleigh Economic Development) to recruit the company’s headquarters, representing a $2.12 million investment and 180 permanent jobs with an average salary of $190,858. Staff explained that the grant is tied to state JDIG requirements. The council approved the grant unanimously.
- Petition Annexation AX-02-25 (5000 & 0 Louisburg Road): A 11-acre contiguous annexation inside the ETJ for a 330-unit multifamily development. Staff noted existing water/sewer connections and a floodplain constraint. Council approved the annexation unanimously.
- Rezoning Z-38-24: 1400 Edwards Mill Road (Lenovo Center) – Raleigh Sports and Entertainment District: This major rezoning seeks to rezone an 80-acre state-owned site from CX-12(CU) to a Planned Development (PD) district, allowing up to 4,200 dwelling units, 3.8 million sq ft of non-residential space, and heights up to 40 stories across four subdistricts. Jamie Schwedler (Parker Poe) and Brian Fork (Gale Force Sports and Entertainment) presented, highlighting a 10% affordable housing requirement (80% AMI) and payments in lieu of taxes (ad valorem) that are binding on the developer. Council members and staff discussed traffic and pedestrian safety, especially regarding Cardinal Gibbons High School and the nearby intersection at Trinity Road and Edwards Mill Road. Carter Roberson (Transportation) noted that signalization at Stephen Stroud and Edwards Mill is not feasible due to spacing (400 feet), but improvements at Trinity Road and Edwards Mill (a funded NCDOT project) will add high-visibility crosswalks and pedestrian signals. The applicant offered to add a condition for annual meetings with neighbors. Councilor Patton recommended creative off-site pedestrian improvements and multimodal access. Council voted to continue the item to the April 15, 2025 1:00 PM session for further discussion on pedestrian safety and collaboration.
- Rezoning Z-45-24 (7015 & 7019 Litchford Road): A request to rezone to R6 conditional use, allowing up to 8 dwelling units with conditions on materials and landscaping. No public comment. Council approved unanimously.
- Rezoning Z-46-24 (4349 & 4353 Pearl Road): A request to rezone 3.8 acres to R10 conditional use for up to 40 townhomes, with a required street connection from Princess Curry Way. A resident expressed concern about cut-through traffic. Council discussed traffic calming and asked the applicant to consider a voluntary condition. Council voted to continue the item to April 15, 2025 1:00 PM to allow the applicant to propose a traffic calming condition.
- Rezoning Z-49-24 (3716 & 3800 Pearl Road): A request to rezone 4.5 acres from R4 to R10 conditional use for townhomes, near the realigned Barwell Road/Pearl Road intersection. Worth Mills presented, noting the improved intersection. No opposition. Council approved unanimously.
- Text Change TC-8-24: Townhouse Building Type Clarifications: Justin Rometta (Planning and Development) presented a minor text amendment clarifying that multiple townhouse buildings can be placed on a single lot, without changing dimensional standards or ownership types. Council approved unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- Approved unanimously: Business Investment Grant for Ralliant Corporation; Petition Annexation AX-02-25; Rezoning Z-45-24; Rezoning Z-49-24; Text Change TC-8-24.
- Continued to April 15, 2025, 1:00 PM session: Rezoning Z-38-24 (Lenovo Center) to allow further work on pedestrian safety and collaboration with Cardinal Gibbons and community groups; Rezoning Z-46-24 (Pearl Road) to allow the applicant to consider a traffic calming condition.
- Next steps: Staff and applicants will address safety, connectivity, and multimodal access concerns before the council reconvenes on April 15.
Meeting Transcript
For coming out to tonight's public hearing. First item on the agenda is the business investment grant for Reliant Corporation, and we have uh Evan Raleigh from the City Manager's Office and Kyle Touchstone with Raleigh Economic Development. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Before you is the business investment grant for or Kyle Touchstone Raleigh Economic Development. Before you is the business investment grant for Rallyant Corporation. Under the state matching grant provision. This grant is for $36,000 over five years. This is in the recruitment of their headquarters, which represents a $2.12 million investment in real estate and equipment, 180 permanent full-time jobs with an annual average salary of 190,858. Recommended action is following the hearing. Make a determination that the incentive will increase the taxable property employment and business prospects of the city and authorized finalization and execution of an incentive agreement by appropriate city officials. Great. Thank you. Questions. And since there's no one signed up, close the public hearing. Any other questions? Sorry, Kyle, I ask you this every time, but we don't do these a ton, and so I always assume there's someone tuning in for the first time. When we offer these grants, the uh recipients do have to meet a certain set of standards, right? Correct. Uh thank you for the question, uh, Councilmember Patton. For the uh business investment grant, um, the state matching grant provision, it is required that they qualify for the state's job development investment grant. In order to meet the provisions of the local of our incentive, they have to meet the minimum hiring requirement, which is the um 180 full-time jobs. Um then we pay that out over five years, but they have to meet the requirements of the J Dig in order to then and fulfill our requirements to receive that payment. And if for any reason they did not fulfill these requirements, they would not receive this incentive. Correct. All right. Any further questions or discussion? I'll make a motion. Second. All right. Uh that we make a determination that the incentive will increase the employment and business prospects of the city and authorize finalization execution of an incentive agreement by appropriate city officials in the amount not to exceed 36,000. Second. Okay. Any other discussion? If not, all in favor of the motion. Aye. Aye. All opposed. Thank you. Thank you for coming down. Okay, next we have petition annexation AX025 5,000 and zero Lewisburg Road. And we have Matt Bailey. Good evening. Uh Madam Mayor and Council. My name is Matt Bailey. I am planning manager for long-range planning and development, and I'm standing in this evening for Christopher Gold. So the petition that you have in front of you is for a contiguous petition annexation within the ETJ. It is currently a residential mixed use, seven-story conditional use. It is just under eleven acres. The proposed applicant is looking to build a 330 multifamily apartment unit. There is water uh connection alongside uh Lewisburg Road and sewer site, uh sewer connection on the site.
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