The Raleigh City Council convened on January 6, 2026, to address a diverse agenda including routine approvals, infrastructure updates, public safety staffing, and significant rezoning decisions. Key topics included the recovery efforts following a recent fire at the Raleigh Convention Center, a status report on the new City Hall construction, the selection of a developer for the Duplex Village affordable housing project, and the authorization to sell renewable natural gas credits. The Council also engaged in public hearings regarding land use changes in West Raleigh and Downtown, committee restructuring, and tobacco control ordinances.
Welcome to the meeting of the Raleigh City Council. As always, we have our Pledge of Allegiance first. And Councillor Branch, are you willing to lead us? I also wanted to announce at the beginning of the meeting that we had arranged for the Mayor Pro Tem uh to be split between 2025 and 2026. So Councillor Fort uh has ably served as Mayor Pro Tem in 2025. We will now be passing the baton to uh now Mayor Pro Tem Harrison and just appreciate her serving in that role. And I know that Councillor Fort will provide backup for anything uh that we need, but thank you. And then I also, before we get to the consent agenda, just wanted to make a motion to reorder tonight's agenda uh the public hearing agenda to move rezoning case Z thirty-four twenty-five North Hills to the beginning of the agenda. Uh item one versus item five, um, and that is for tonight at seven o'clock. So mayor so mayor, you clarified it'll be the first public hearing this evening at seven. Correct. It'll be the first item on the agenda tonight for the public hearing. Second. Okay. And uh all in favor of that motion, aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. And we will notify all members of the public who have signed up to speak of this change so they know we'll to get there early. Okay. All right. Uh with that out of the way, the consent agenda, and uh, it's my understanding that there have been no items pulled from consent. So is there a motion? Second. Okay. All in favor of that motion, aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. All right. So eyes have it. All right. Uh next, getting to the right page. We have the report of the planning commission. Happy New Year, Mayor and City Council. It's great to be with you, Biden Walter. Planning and development. We have one item on the report of the planning commission this afternoon for your consideration. There are uh a couple of holidays of note in January for your reference. Uh there are some items scheduled for public hearing at your next meeting on the 20th in the afternoon, but nothing scheduled yet for uh no public hearing scheduled yet for your February meetings. The item coming out of planning commission is 516 North Blunt Street. This is one lot. It's uh less than half an acre. The request would go from an office mixed use district to a commercial mixed use district. The historic overlay would remain in place, and the three-story height limit would continue. The request is consistent with a comprehensive plan and the future land use map. The Raleigh Historic Development Commission recommends approval. Planning Commission did not make a recommendation prior to their deadline for review. You could extend the planning commission deadline for review before setting the public hearing, so you could give them an additional 45 days, which would allow them an additional two meetings for discussion. The item that they would have discussed on December 9th had been modified. There were revised conditions for their consideration. Alternatively, you may uh choose at this time to set a public hearing without a recommendation from Planning Commission, in which case we would suggest February 3.