Good evening, thank you for joining us tonight for our public comment session.

Uh it is Wednesday, November the twelfth.

Uh Mayor Carroll and Councilmember Silver are absent and excused this evening.

Um before we get started, we would like to acknowledge the uh Boy Scout Troop 104 that have joined us this evening for a civic engagement project.

So thank you all for being here this evening.

We have 26 people that signed up to speak tonight.

Each speaker will have a total of three minutes.

When it's your turn to speak, um I will call your name.

Please come to the podium and speak into the microphone.

If you have materials to be distributed to the council, please put them in the basket next to our clerk.

Um a timer will be when you're three minutes are up.

And uh as you can see on the right, there's a list of uh folks who signed up to speak so you can kind of track where you are on the list.

Our first speaker tonight is Helen Kervin.

Good evening.

My husband and I built our home in 1993.

The Raleigh Parks and Rec department is proposing to condemn at least one third of our property, as well as condemn a 39-year-old conservation easement that provides trail construct that prohibits trail construction to build a greenway less than fifty feet from our house and only twenty feet from the stream bank.

For thirty-two years, we've seen what happens here after hurricanes or even just two inches of rain.

And the flooding and erosion that worsened after the city removed seven trees and vegetation in our backyard for a sewer project.

We urge you to listen to us who know this land firsthand, not to those who have only seen it on a map.

Proponents of this route say greenways are routinely built in floodplains, but that misses the point.

The city wants to build this greenway segment almost entirely within the 30-foot zone one reparian buffer, the area most critical to protecting water quality and stream bank stability.

The North Carolina Division of Water Quality explains why this buffer matters.

Quote repairing buffers protect water quality by filtering runoff, providing flood control, absorbing excess nutrients, moderating water temperature, controlling erosion, and stabilizing stream banks.

Removing trees and root systems in zone one harms these functions.

Please don't make a decision that will cause permanent harm to big branch, our neighborhood, and the city's credibility on environmental protection.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up we have Kevin Guam.

Hello everyone.

Firstly, I want to express my concern on the undercover reporting approach by some media on the DEI issue in the city.

We have thought this closing it in the video.

So this is a very important matter because things have changed since February.

The first thing I want to talk about is the new thing that you just released today in the media that about the 10,000 letters you're gonna send to Roddy Roddy's customers about the putting the one thousand dollar or four feet for the people one thousand dollars to be in the uh assembly in January and February.

I think this is a good idea, but one thousand dollar on f on four forty hours.

Do you need that much time to engage for the next comprehensive plan on transit only?

This is a lot of time.

And the second meta is that uh Radio duty customer is a good representative uh good representative, but you do not include people who ran their home from a public compasses.

They are not Raleigh customers.

So I think there's a real way for you to reach out of those people.

Um I read the Raoul news an hour ago say you have one thousand that go to people with public s when we told those people need to think about who use the transit.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Lisa Huggins.

Good evening.

I want to begin by expressing my deep disappointment with the public hearing for Z twelve twenty-five last month.

My comments tonight are not directed towards Councilmembers Jones or Harrison.

It was hard for me to process the complete lack of interest or support for the concerns repeatedly raised by residents.

Countless emails, phone calls, meetings, and petitions were met with crickets.

I'd like to know, did any of you actually visit the Glenwood neighborhood?

Did you drive down Devereaux, Tilden, or Cleveland?

Did you go to the end of the street and imagine what a 30-story wall would look like?

What views and privacy would be lost, what shadows would be cast.

Mayor Cowell at last we at last month's hearing said, what's a few shadows?

Well, for those of us who live here, it means a lot.

What I found truly baffling was staff's conclusion that a north to south three three-story step down provides an adequate downtown edge transition.

You know that doesn't make any sense.

The transition required here is east to west, not north to south.

Moreover, the modest difference in height is largely erased by the site's topography.

But here's the real issue.

You rushed this vote.

You knew our concerns, you could have asked the developer to work with the neighborhood on additional conditions.

There was potential for collaboration and compromise.

Nowhere else downtown is there a 30-story, eight hundred foot long building.

Yet you deemed this was the perfect site for it.

I'm beginning to nickname it the Great Wall of Raleigh.

Had he been here, I would have addressed my next con my next comments to Councilmember Silver.

I rewatched the hearing this week and was struck again by how fiercely and vigorously he defended this case.

There was no need to rush a vote after the first public hearing.

In my opinion, council was misled, partly by a planning department analysis that failed to identify any policy inconsistencies, and partly by Councilmember Silver's one-sided defense that dismissed legitimate concerns raised by residents.

Next time I hope you do better.

And I did want to say we spend valuable time preparing and coming here.

It would be nice if staff and all of council members did the same.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Elizabeth Scott.

Good evening, everyone.

My name is Elizabeth Scott, and I'm here to speak against the city's proposal to run a greenway trail through Anderson Forest.

In 1986, the city accepted a conservation easement.

That easement prohibits tree removal, signage, and greenway trail construction in Anderson Forests along the Big Branch Creek.

That easement was drafted to protect green space, preserve riparian buffers, and control stormwater runoff.

Running a 10-foot-wide asphalt trail through a 35-foot-wide riparian buffer will destroy tree canopy, increase runoff, violate environmental regulations, and the very terms of this easement.

The proposed greenway will look nothing like the streamside trail shown in the city's phase two survey, which was a photoshopped image of my backyard.

That image left out the safety rails and privacy fencing required for this route.

It hid the flash flooding that occurs along this path and the tree removal that will be required for it for it.

Five mature maples in my yard alone.

It even blurred out children's swing sets in the background.

How convenient.

So when the City staff touts the phase two survey results, you need to keep one thing in mind.

Public manipulation is not valid public engagement.

The proposed stream streambanks stabilization plan will not repair the damage from the clear cutting in the sewers, sewer in the city sewer replacement project, or that will result from additional tree removal for the proposed trail.

It will not prevent flooding.

The city staff has already admitted as much.

And if the purpose is to keep the trail from collapsing into the creek, well, that should be a huge red flag that this stretch of Big Branch Creek is the wrong place for a greenway.

Stabilization will require more tree removal than needed for just the trail construction alone.

That greenway provides a natural privacy buffer for our neighborhood.

It should not be disturbed for a greenway path that was never supposed to go here in the first place.

If you get bridge funding, Anderson Forest will connect pedestrians and cyclists to three gas stations, an oil chain shop, a tire shop, and a used car lot, and that's after risking life and limb to cross Six Forks Road.

If not, this route will be a greenway to nowhere.

With over a hundred and twenty miles of existing trails, condemning a conservation easement and private property for a half-mile blunt budget-blowing stretch agreement way will cost millions of dollars, but simply makes no sense.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Cabin Curtain.

Good evening.

Ever since the residents of Anderson Forest learned the Brawley Parks and Recreation Department intended to ignore the scenic greenway stipulation in the 1986 deed of dedication, we have presented facts to the as to why Segment 1B of the Big Branch Connector Greenway project was a serious environmental, financial, and legal mistake.

Attempting to distract from those facts, Raleigh Parks and Recreation has used unproven justifications, they have manipulated details, fabricated idyllic photos, embellished a pie in the sky, and unverable unverifiable user numbers, and continues to seemingly make up rationalizations and explanations as they go along, hoping to get the City Council to rubber stamp this project.

The Parks and Recreation Department has constantly attempted to mask the problems of Segment 1B by intentionally using a smoke screen of the entire three and one-half mile project as justification.

During this process, there have been numerous outside individuals and groups that have interjected their personal opinions without any empirical evidence or relevant facts.

They have not walked the private property, nor do they have any knowledge of the impact along Big Branch Creek and the nine homes adversely affected.

Their motivation is to feel good about their participation, and they are not concerned with any of the ramifications.

Parks and recreation staff continue to double down and push funding of Segment 1B, which is grossly over budget.

When one half mile, 2600 feet of Segment 1B costs more than the entire three and one-half mile project, how does Parks and Recreation pay for the remaining three miles of the project?

Are they hoping to get City Council to go along to get along with the project and once started come back with hat in hand to finish the project with tax increases or another bond?

How does one simply ignore the significant legal implications, the serious environmental damage, violating the North Carolina DEQ repair and buffer regulations, violating the City's Capital Area Greenway Master Plan, violating the City's planning and design guidelines, and the indefensible cost and waste of taxpayer money.

And this proposed route does not even achieve the stated goals of connecting people to jobs, medical, retail, mixed use, or businesses.

I urge the members of the City Council to not be pressured to approve Segment 1B of the Big Branch Conductor Greenway Project, but to uphold common sense, fiscal responsibility, and public trust we have in our leaders by voting against any funding and further consideration of Segment 1B along Brig Branch Creek.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Taylor Stewart.

Good evening.

When the City began its public engagement 16 months ago for the Big Branch Greenway Project, it presented streamside segment 1B route in a way that misled the public into believing it would be a scenic greenway experience in a wooded setting where users could enjoy nature.

The city claimed to have a greenway construction easement that it does not have.

Also, with massive development happening to our north and west, this area, one of Raleigh's most flood-prone, will see more frequent and intense flooding.

Fast rising waters will pose safety risk for users and require costly ongoing maintenance repairs and trail closures.

Because the trail would run so close to the creek, the city must install safety railings.

And because it would run so close to homes, the city plans to install private fencing just a few feet from the path.

Both will degrade the user experience, obscure views, and create a tunnel effect.

Instead of a peaceful greenway, users will feel confined walking on what looks and feels like a narrow-sided bordered by fencing and large sewer manholes.

The city claims this route is safer for users.

But that statement leaves out important facts.

To access the trail, users must cross a dangerous stretch of six forks road where the accident rate, according to the city zone traffic department, is 35 percent higher than any other comparable five-lane road in North Carolina, as well as across a daycare entrance and plantation road before descending a long ramp into our backyards.

These are verifiable facts.

Raleigh's Greenway system is something to be proud of.

But moving forward with the streamside segment 1B route would be a serious mistake, one that harms Big Branch Creek, creates a poor and unsafe experience for users, and leaves Anderson Forest owners with permanently.

Thank you.

Jane Hubbin.

Several other viable options have been presented for this segment of the Greenway, but City staff is recommending this one based on a bias survey and presentations which depicted inaccurate and misleading information.

It is not just our neighborhood that has given reasons for not choosing this option.

These reasons have been validated by nine of the 14 members of the Parks Board who voted against recommending this option to the city.

Council.

Members of this board were chosen based on their capacity to assess and advise the Council on decisions.

They are highly respected for their knowledge and competence.

I urge you to please listen to the comments by them in their October meeting.

It is vital that you do.

Many of their concerns involved environmental issues, news river repairing protection rules, CNE's conservation condemnation, undisclosed costs, and misleading public survey, which they agreed it was.

One board member came to observe when we spend experienced turbulent flood waters.

The stream rose to a level flood level in nine minutes from moderate rain, mostly upstate stream.

This area does not have a wide floodplain.

It is a narrow with our houses on the hill on one side above it and a higher embankment on the other side.

Water flows from miles upstream beyond Millbrook Road, down through the North Hills with all its impervious surface into this relatively small space.

The board member watched how powerful the waters were and how fast and furious and said in light of Texas and NC Mountain floods, he would vote against this option would expose users to danger.

In their presentation to you, City staff presented you the bias decision chart that showed the criteria they used in choosing one B streamside.

I ask you to note that the chart did not include any of the important negatives for one B, the protection by the Noose River rules, that no impervious surface would be planted in this area, and only natural plannings.

The protection by a scenic conservation easement, extensive and potentially dangerous flooding, fragile stream bank, long ramp, uh possibly 1200.

Thank you.

How can a decision be made from the chart when it does not include information?

Thank you.

When the city started the process of identifying the Greenway Connector, it erroneously thought it had an easement through Anderson Forest that allowed greenway construction.

The city even conducted its public presentations and first survey under such assumptions.

Not liking the first survey results, which showed 49 percent of respondents favoring a street side route, and only 24 percent favoring the now proposed streamside route.

A second survey was undertaken.

Anderson Forest residents believe the second survey was biased, both in visual and written information to induce the public to vote for a streamside route and against other options.

In case you think that's just my opinion, let me quote from your advisory board members after seeing the city staff's July PowerPoint presentation.

Quote, would you go to the picture of the streamside option?

I have shared this with you, the Assistant Parks Director before, but I just want to share it with the board.

That bothers me a lot.

You and I have talked.

That photo has been photoshopped.

I think it's entirely inappropriate for city agency to do so.

The image shows no trees, no vegetation.

That isn't an unfortunate decision, and there is no discussion that this is Noose River buffer.

Another member added, quote, I do have to agree that the pictures are deceiving, particularly for the streamside option.

When I was looking at them before I went out there, that looked like the best option.

But I don't think it is the best option.

When we are looking at 62 percent choosing streamside alignment, that seems really big.

But if we know that the picture and the in-person is different, it's hard to take that as seriously.

The chair interjected and asked, just to be clear, were the people voting in the poll looking at those pictures?

The answer was yes.

Another member added, I agree that the imagery changed when you got there.

I mean, it was a pretty dramatic change.

Then later, a month later at the October meeting.

It is not very transparent to put out pictures that don't look like the actual site, and then say we had 62 percent of people.

It's a very different image when you go there in person.

It's hard for a citizen to make a decision based on a picture that is not accurate.

I think that taints some of the public engagement responses.

And finally, from another member.

What wasn't in those images were the sewer enhancements.

The first thing I saw when I walked in those backyards, and that threw me off as far as the survey results.

If you are into surveys, you look for bias, and that was.

Now I've been very impressed with the quality and the knowledge of the advisory board and appreciate their dedication advocacy for Greenways and the time spent in their review of options.

I urge the council to respect their decision and vote and their vote against the Octavia Rainey.

Good afternoon.

I would like to address the City Council concerning the SNAP and what's going on with SNAP.

I would like to say to you that city employees receive SNAP because everybody isn't paid the same.

They are not.

They are not.

We did 200 baskets for Christmas.

But we made sure that we got into those departments that was underpaid and make sure that if they needed a basket, they could sign up for a basket.

And we always had about 35 or 40 of those city employees.

Now I don't know whether y'all still do Thanksgiving baskets, Christmas baskets.

I don't have a clue.

But I know that I do 15 baskets, and two of my baskets is going to city employees.

That's how I know there's a problem here.

And I'm working with some of the city employees to get churches to give them baskets.

I would like for the city, then again, I don't know what y'all do, because that was a long time ago when I worked with the city, but I would like to see you step up.

I mean, seriously step up.

When I work with the city, we were a family, and we took care of each other.

Now I don't know whether y'all do that or not.

I don't have a clue.

But I am concerned when I pick up two city employees.

I'm working with ten others to get them adopted.

I want to know what are y'all really doing for the city family.

Everybody don't make the same at the city.

They really don't.

You have some who's making good salaries, some mediocre, and some barely making it.

So I would like to know what are you doing to help the city family, our less fortunate employees, because they really need help.

And we have city employees who also receive child care assistance who don't make enough to pay their own child care.

So I think as a city, we need to take another step back, and we need to look at those things that we're not doing for our city employees.

So please step up to the plate.

I don't have a clue.

But I know in my day, because I help, we did 200 baskets.

So I don't know what you do now.

But please help our city employees who are not as fortunate as everyone else.

Thank you.

Uh I don't see Hannity Ali.

Is she here?

Okay.

And I don't see my sorry.

All right.

Uh Alexis Kennedy.

Matthew Brown.

Good evening.

Thank you for your service, and thank you for letting me speak.

This Halloween, my neighborhood, historic Oakwood, welcomed over 6,000 visitors, according to Raleigh Police.

Neighbors worked for months putting up scary displays all through the neighborhood.

Some neighbors spent over a thousand dollars on uh candy to give away, and one neighbor spent $3,000 hiring off-duty police for security.

It was a magical, amazing evening, and everybody had a wonderful time.

Most of our guests were children from all over Raleigh, especially Southeast Raleigh.

And we also collected over a thousand pounds of food for the food bank.

This December, we will welcome 4,000 people for the Oakwood candlelight tour of homes, and thousands more will just walk or drive through to look at our holiday decorations.

And in the spring, thousands will attend the Oakwood Garden Tour or just walk through looking at our gardens.

And every day we get tourists looking at our old houses that we work so hard to take care of.

We have a guided tours several times a week, and even horse and buggy tours.

And most of uh Raleigh's charity races and walks come through Oakwood.

We work so hard to make our neighborhood an amenity for the whole city.

If you want a vibrant city, we are vibrant.

But this is only possible because we are a neighborhood with people living in these houses.

The planning department has been gradually rezoning our homes into offices and commercial use.

At each house home that becomes an office or hair salon or what have you, nobody gives out Halloween candy.

Nobody decorates for Christmas.

Nobody plants trees or flowers.

The backyard becomes a parking lot.

It's no longer vibrant.

It's dead most of the time.

Two rezonings will come before you soon, rezoning three more of our homes and offices.

These three have always been homes.

Two of them have long been affordable apartments.

The planning department is encouraging one of these rezonings and is actually initiated the other one.

The landlords are for it, but it's very sad for the residents and very sad for the city.

And besides, aren't we trying to increase our housing supply, not decrease it?

Please uh deny this these rezonings, and please ask our planning department to stop turning our neighborhood into an office park.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Chris Crew.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem, ladies and gentlemen.

You know, it was almost fifty years ago tonight that uh historic Oakwood was recognized as the first historic district in the city of Raleigh.

So good evening, and I've come before you uh almost monthly now for the last three years to cajole and plead with you for consideration of preservation principles in your decision making.

And tonight I'm pleased to congratulate you and thank you for taking a positive action to ensure the future of two of Raleigh's iconic structures, the Hillsborough Street Holiday Inn and the fabulous Dr.

Mori and Carol Carroll Care House.

Well done on that, and I appreciate that.

These are small victories, but they do demonstrate that that you're thinking about preservation.

I also plead for your assistance in preserving one of Raleigh's greatest cultural events, the Raleigh Christmas Parade, bigger than Atlantis Parade.

Christmas and Christmas parades are for children.

I've participated in this since I was a Cub Scout.

I was a choir boy, I was a school safety patrol member.

I've not missed participating with a civic group in this organism in this parade for the last 40 years.

I sat next to Haley Brooks' father in 2022 as he pleaded that you not eliminate the parade following his daughter's tragic death.

I'm here to ask you to reconsider the banning of participation by under eight children that are not riding on vehicles.

By doing so, you've effectively closed the opportunity for many children to participate who don't have a ride.

Let these kids participate because if we lose this youngest set, we lose the seed of the future parades and our historic tradition will suffer and fade.

Finally, let's really work together hard on the update of the comp plan and its careful integration with the UDO so that we're not spending time debating three to seven profit-driven chat zoning changes every month instead of building on a comprehensive and cohesive community vision for the future of the great city that our offspring will populate.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Tonight I want to focus on crime, not the crime within Glenwood South, but in the surrounding neighborhoods.

I have plenty of examples, but I will only give you three as I only have three minutes.

In the last twelve months, I have had two instances at my house late at night.

In the last twelve months, I've had two instances, sorry, in my house late at night in the early morning hours.

Both times a single man male man banged on my door and tried to get in the house.

About two blocks from Glenwood South, a young couple with a small child had a group of guys continually coming on to and damaging their property.

One of the group was particularly so focused on the property that they were finally able to get identify him and get a restraining order against him.

Again, about two blocks from Glenwood South.

A couple had two instances in the last three months.

Three months ago, about 3 a.m., a young woman was banging on their door.

Police were called.

Two weeks ago, the same couple had another incident.

Around 2 a.m., a man was banging on their door, yelling, let me in.

They yelled down and said he was at the wrong house.

He yells, let me in, or I'm breaking in.

They call 911.

While on the phone with 911, he yells, If you don't let me in, I'm busting in your window.

Next, he busts in the window and climbs in the house.

They are relaying the play by play to the police.

Just imagine for a moment, you or this couple in their 80s, praying the police get here before he makes it to your upstairs bedroom in which you are cowering.

After decades of living in their house, after the second incident, the wife said, Maybe it's time we move.

This is the vibrancy.

Nearby neighborhoods endure, resulting from the Glenwood South so-called vibrancy, Jonathan Melton has often spoken about.

Glenwood South and surrounding neighborhoods are simply not safe.

We unfortunately have to live with what former city leaders created and you have allowed to fester.

The sad shameful truth of it all, and everyone knows it, is that if any of you lived in the area and had to deal with this vibrancy, it would have ended years ago.

Thank you.

Thank you for your service.

Found my superpowers being the mom and student of a young black male superhero.

And I consider myself not only one of Raleigh's next big ideas, and y'all should know it, right?

The t-shirts, but also one of Raleigh's or Raleigh's most um famous unhoused person, me and Wisdom, because we have struggled with gaining um stable housing here, and I want to be clear that the reason for that is because we have no programs that actually provide opportunities for upward mobility.

They'll move you from one level of poverty to another, but they do not provide opportunities for upward mobility.

And so that's what I've been working towards.

And so my dream was that I would just get into a space for two weeks to be able to just rest a little bit and then focus on building my business, which you know, when you're unhoused and you realize that you have the potential to generate a viable um lifestyle, um, just that opportunity to relax feels good.

And so when I secured an Airbnb for two weeks, I thought I was in my dream space until I went to look in the drawer and there was no silverware.

And I was curious as to why there was no cerebrar, because there was all these, you know, this I knew the person who um who was on the face of the of the um of the ad, and I was like, this is really odd.

And so I started looking around, and one of the places I looked, obviously was the dishwasher, right?

So I opened the dishwasher and there's mold over the entire inside, standing water and black mold.

There's gray mold on every surface of the baskets except for the utensil.

Um there was also mold in the shower.

Um on the shower curtain, I had to wash the shower curtain twice.

Um there was uh um one room that they ran as a um it's a master bedroom with the ensuite, and there was a bridge I when the person who was in there left, I was like, Well, maybe I can move into this one, right?

So I went in there and I looked in the refrigerator uh there was a refrigerator, but it was like kind of locked, and I was like, why is this kind of locked?

And I kind of pulled it open, there's mold growing in there.

And so I'm just wondering if there is any regulations that we have on Airbnbs.

Do we have anybody checking out facilities like that to see if they're safe?

Um there was one night there was one of the other residents, he came to sit down on the bench and he heard it crack.

And it wasn't that the um he was heavy or anything, it was just that the bench had gotten loose and was it was kind of rickety, and I was like, uh I let somebody know and they were told to just glue it.

No kind of thing to hold it together or anything like that.

So any help.

All right, thank you.

Richard, hi.

Can we bring him a microphone?

You want us to bring you a microphone?

Okay.

Okay.

Thank you all for having me.

My name is Richard Hahn, known as Coach High.

I'm a prostrate cancer sufferer.

I have metastatic prostate cancer.

I wanted to address the council to invite y'all to a ceremony we have in November 21st and 22nd at Southeast Raleigh High School.

Friday, we're going to do a credit 101.

And Saturday, we're going to have prostate, breast cancer, um, blood pressure, uh, diabetes.

All these maladies affect our communities.

Prostate cancer is one of the biggest things, and breast cancer is one of the biggest things coming.

Whip me with my team.

Uh Coach Graves.

He's the coach of Southeast Raleigh.

John Baker the third.

He has a legacy in the city.

His son, John Baker the Fourth.

This is the team that's what we put this stuff on.

I also have Duke Oncology coming to try to give these brothers PSA tests on site.

You guys know about prostate, brothers and anybody that's a man don't want nobody violating a lower section.

But now the stuff is better.

So I'm asking you guys to support us in this effort.

This is the first ever coaches versus cancer at Southeast Raleigh High School in Southeast Raleigh.

So I need you guys to help us out with this.

Thank you for your time.

All right.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I don't see Joshua Bradley.

Okay.

Mark Spankate.

Good evening, and thanks for your time.

My name is Mark, and my wife and I have been raising our family on the southern edge of Oakwood for the last 10 years.

Here to discuss a zoning case on your agenda for next week, Z25 for 101 North Bloodworth Street.

Um South has been zoned residential R 10 like the rest of our block for the last 20 years.

And it was recently purchased by an interior designer who wants to upzone the parcel to neighborhood mixed use so they can use the house as a showcase for their business.

The neighborhood sentiment for this request has been overwhelmingly negative.

Many of our neighbors left public comments highlighting how opening up Oakwood homes to business interests would threaten the family-friendly nature of our neighborhood.

They cited the dangerous precedent that would be set, emboldening other homeowners to try to rezone their own properties.

They also noted how approving Z25 would set the stage for additional upzoning if the property were sold again.

Upzoning is often a slipper slippery slope.

And as proof of that, I can point to an existing case recently heard by the Planning Commission, Z31 for 516 North Point Street.

That beautiful brick house next to Merriman Wynne served as a residence for at least 50 years before being upzoned by the city in 2016 to office mixed use.

Now a business is attempting an additional extreme upzoning to commercial mixed use, aiming to make it an event space with up to 75 people per event.

Amplified music until 10 o'clock at night on a property right in the middle of a residential neighborhood similar to ours.

The Z31 case is a prime example of what others would look to do if cases like Z25 are approved.

I do believe our neighborhood would support the business at 101 North Blood if, like other design businesses in Oakwood, they chose to live in the home they purchased and run their business out of it, maintaining residential zoning, which they could very easily do.

But they've said time and again, living in our neighborhood is not part of their business plan.

This home, as well as four others on the 400 block of East Edenton Street, are represented in the future land use map as neighborhood mixed use.

These proposed upzonings were, I believe, put forth in the spirit of supporting the transit overlay district.

But this request does not do that.

The business has most of its customer interactions off-site, and any prospects who wish to view this showcase home would require an appointment.

It will not be useful to the vast majority of Oakwood neighbors.

It will not serve the vast majority of BRT riders.

It won't provide live work opportunities.

It won't reduce vehicle miles.

It will, however, remove a perfectly good residence from an already tight housing supply.

It will increase parking problems, and it will leave our neighborhood vulnerable to additional upsoning requests like Z31.

When Z25 comes before you next week, we're asking you to please reject the request and help us preserve our thriving family friendly neighborhood.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Laura Harris.

Paul Geigel.

We're a faith-based community-driven effort that believes community is the cure.

Our mission is to bring structure, dignity, and opportunity to our own house neighbors through work, leadership, and fellowship.

Earlier this year, uh we received $8,030 in contingency funds.

Tonight I'd like to share what that small investment accomplished.

So those funds directly help three individuals transition in from homelessness into stable housing and family support.

A veteran who had been homeless for 27 years is now housed and rebuilding his lives, his life.

A third individual found purpose through community service and successfully entered stable housing through peer support.

Each of these lives represent a return on investment that goes far beyond dollars.

It's a return of human dignity.

Out of the structure and peer leadership uh emerged.

Participants began to organize themselves, set schedules, maintain shared areas, and hold one another accountable.

From that came peer leadership and structure.

Individuals taking pride in their surroundings and each other's successes.

We removed 12,000 pounds of uh waste from one camp in three cleanups.

Um, um we formed a nine-member uh peer support leadership team.

So uh we also built um relationships with the Lions Club, Boy Scouts of America, and others.

So uh on behalf of Roots, Eliza Park, I just want to thank this council for believing in us and um helping us.

Uh the $8,000 didn't just fund operations, it transformed lives, Spark leadership and forged partnerships that continue to grow.

We've seen firsthand when you give people purpose and community, they don't need saving, they rise.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I don't see Athena Wallen.

Oh she, okay.

You have another side of the room tonight, so it takes so long to walk around.

Um, my name is Athena Wallen.

Uh I continue to implore the city and its leadership to acknowledge that stormwater creek erosion is happening at a much more rapid pace than we could have anticipated.

We must acknowledge that there is a double whammy factor of development transitioning single-family homes into maximum amount of impervious surface directly along a natural waterway.

Um part of mitig part of mitigating erosion and destabilization of those stream banks is to reduce the types of drastic changes within neighborhoods like Brookside prior to infrastructure improvements.

On Brookside Drive, uh uh I'm I'm going to try to show a visual because I didn't get to send it in time.

Um Brookside Drive, this is essentially what the parcels look like to developers' eyes.

This is like a top-down view, and this is a big impervious surface going all the way to a sewer easement, and then a big green block that says it's a riparian buffer before the creek.

And this is a big impervious surface going all the way to a sewer easement, and then a big green block that says it's a riparian buffer before the creek.

Um this was able to be developed with those plans in mind, saying that this was the pervious surface in order for them to build this impervious surface to that point.

I do not believe that is a sustainable way to go about development.

This is not buildable land.

And if so, uh if we were to change something, we would reduce the structure of allowing plans of development to only consider the buildable land.

So that no longer would the entire buildable area be imperfect impervious surface.

Because now there are five of these coming in.

And you want that big block of buffer.

Well, it doesn't exist because it is deteriorating.

It is crescenting.

It is working its way towards the sewer line.

It is working its way towards the areas of which we cannot go back in and build up and repair.

So we need to work on these sorts of things with the acknowledgement that development and erosion are compounding and massive factors that we cannot keep up with right now.

Something that we can do is what I wish could have happened last year when I first came up here quivering in fear.

Please consider an advisory hold-along parcels that are creek lined because property lines are shifting.

That creek that is flooding for other neighborhoods and can get FEMA assistance.

My neighborhood cannot because it requires such ropes to jump through to even be considered.

And that creek goes through three or four different neighborhoods.

So I'm trying my hardest to get everybody on board, but I need the city's help too.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

William Harrison, uh hello everyone.

Um I'm a little nervous, but I'm honored to be here amongst you all.

Uh my name is William Hurst.

I'm a pure support leader of the Outlanders associated with Paul Gegel from uh Ruth Initiative as well as the Laza Park.

Um I'm thankful to share my story with you all here because a lot of people this is the anti don't know what a dream is.

Uh me and my wife here had a dream for the past ten years since we've been living pretty much homeless.

Uh I want people to know people who have choices.

You can either live in an apartment and you get those that choose to do this, which me and myself as well.

And my wife choose to involve us with the homeless community.

Our goal is to share the thoughts that go up with my head as well as my wife to help the city with the homeless problem.

You all we all know that there's a big, big, big, big problem.

Um I've been privileged enough to work with Paul Geg over here to help people in Raleigh as well as Member Ms.

Jones here as well.

Um I'm nervous all about thank you for the support that you have given us through the year, and I hope look forward to working with you all again.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh I don't see Nikki Debbie.

Okay.

So thank you everyone for coming out.

This concludes our meeting.

Historically, I think a lot of utilities would say that you know, as long as we weren't being talked about, that was a good thing.

And and we want to kind of change that narrative so that we are talking about the great things that we do do with the bioenergy project and and making sure that our water is great tasting and and meets all the the new EPA regulations.