Raleigh City Council Public Comment Session - May 13, 2025
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Raleigh City Council Public Comment Session - May 13, 2025
The Raleigh City Council held a public comment session on the evening of May 13, 2025. The meeting consisted solely of public comments, with no council discussion or voting. Eight speakers addressed the council on a range of issues including noise enforcement, historic preservation, housing development, tree preservation, affordable housing, public transit accessibility, and community engagement.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Woody Bix criticized the city and Raleigh Police Department for failing to enforce noise ordinances in Glenwood South, citing examples where officers entered homes to judge noise levels. He argued that a revised ordinance places officers in a bad position and does not build goodwill.
- Octavia Rainey urged the council to include $300,000 in the budget for the Fourth Ward redevelopment, alleging the city has neglected the historically Black community for 40 years. She requested a redevelopment committee and planned to meet with HUD officials in Washington, D.C.
- Mamakai Saunders advocated for the All American Cities Award initiative, urging the city to become the most compassionate city and focus on youth. She highlighted early childhood brain development and the need for community support for parents.
- Donna Bailey expressed distrust over the comprehensive plan and UDO, opposing a proposed 30-story building at Peace and West Street. She cited planning commissioners Steve Schuster and Rodney Swink, and argued the project constitutes spot zoning. She called a $1.2 million affordable housing offer inadequate.
- Matthew Brown spoke in favor of tree preservation, noting Raleigh is cutting down more trees than it plants. He opposed building a playground in Nash Square, suggesting Moore Square or surface parking lots as alternatives.
- Jeff Durkin addressed the housing shortage, citing a 60,000-unit gap in Wake County. He argued that market-rate housing helps lower prices by pulling high-income residents away from vulnerable areas, and urged the council to allow more development.
- Nikki W. detailed safety and accessibility issues with Go Raleigh and Go Triangle public transit, including denied ramp access, doors shut in her face, and retaliation after reporting incidents. She described a dangerous two-hour walk home after a driver refused her boarding.
- Tim Niles countered claims that Raleigh frequently rejects development projects, noting a 98.3% approval rate and only five denials in five years. He supported approving more housing projects to address the shortage.
Meeting Transcript
It's public comment. It is seven o'clock. We, of course, will just hear public comment tonight, so we won't necessarily respond. And when I call your name, just come on down. I think uh everybody's here. Woody Bix is first on the list. Okay. I have complained about Glenwood South for years. So tonight I would like to share two weekends ago, Glenwood South residents had two great nights of sleep. Not because you as city leaders did anything, not because RPD enforced the noise ordinance properly, but because God brought us two nights of two weekend nights of rain that shut down the live outdoor concerts and the DJs pumping music into the open air. This past weekend I was at a um it was business as usual. I was at a dinner party Saturday night, and a couple who own a Paramount condo as a second home said how bad it was for them Friday night. The wife said she did not call in a noise complaint as she says RPD does nothing with the calls. The consensus at the dinner was they should only come to Raleigh Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. But mind you, they own, pay expenses, pay taxes on that condo seven days a week. With the revised ordinance, the city has put RPD in a bad spot regarding judgmental, reasonable level of noise. A couple of examples. RPD has started wanting to come into our homes, and that's not in the ordinance. An officer came into my home and said, it's really loud in here. But then said, is it unreasonable? Officers went into a Paramount condo and told a couple, it is loud in here, but you can have a conversation over the level of the music pumped into your condo. So he deemed it reasonable. As ridiculous as this sounds, this is what RPD is doing. Having officers come into residents' home and pull what I call this stunt is not a good idea. It is not building goodwill with Raleigh residents, and it makes the responding officers look foolish. But noise is a citywide issue. I'm aware of noise terrorism issues around the five points area, with residents up to half a mile away calling about a bar's noise. So the five-point area residents don't have a prayer. Thank you, Mr. Biggs. Next we have Miss Octavia Rainey. You need to put the $300,000 in the budget to Dr. Jane Harrison. The Fourth Ward Association, I would like to meet with you to make sure it is in that budget. We must take Fourth Ward seriously. You don't wipe a black community off the face of the earth. I have asked Hood, tell me what properties, all the properties that the city did buy in Fourth Ward. How much of that property do the city steals on? Still own. Do you own it to do what you want to do with it? That's crazy. Fourth ward need to be brought back at a redevelopment committee. I'm also asking Hood, did Fourth Ward ever sense it and make you ask this question all the time. I don't know. Because it's been such a long, long, long time ago. So I don't know whether it's sensitive or not. But my trip to DC is to ask those questions. I'm hoping to meet with the director of housing and urban development. I met with him seven years ago. So I'm hoping to get that meeting as well.
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