The Raleigh City Council met on February 17, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. The meeting included a consent agenda, public comments, a text change request regarding school minimum lot sizes, approval of rules of procedure for boards and commissions, updates on the Ask Raleigh customer experience platform and hospitality tax competitive awards, the Human Relations Commission annual report, public hearings on unfit properties and nuisance liens, and the approval of five annexation petitions. Several votes were taken, and council members reported on community events.
We'll go ahead and get started since it is one o'clock. Uh first off, Mayor Pro Tem Harrison is absent and excused. And we let it do it for the whole thing. I know. Every moment we will yeah, I mean, she will be absent and excused for a while, but uh definitely for today. Uh and next we have the um Pledge of Allegiance. So uh think it's here. Pledge of allegiance. And to the Republican one nation under God, indivisible liberty and justice for all. Okay. Uh do we have special awards? None today. Okay. Then we have uh the consent agenda and nothing was pulled. So do we have a motion? Move to adopt the consent agenda. Second. Right. Uh all in favor, aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. And that is unanimous. Uh and next we have public comment. Good afternoon, Mayor and Council, uh, Rand Northam Communications Department. Uh, two very quick announcements. One uh for those who are speaking today. If you would, when you get uh to the podium, please adjust the microphone so it's uh just in front of your mouth. Um, and uh please don't turn to the side uh to try to address anyone else because uh we will not be able to hear you here in the chamber nor uh at home when people are watching either. The other thing is uh as we've had before, we're still having a little bit of technical issue with the screens in the room. They might go black, and then they will come back on just to ask that uh you give us patience. Uh it will return, and we'll be back to the presentation. Thank you. Uh first up, we have Carrie Bennington. Hello. This project takes private property, an easement does not exist, a fact that took parks and wreck 11 months to admit misleading the public. Option one B conflicts with North Carolina riparian buffer protections, as well as the city's own stated environmental policies. We are not opposed to greenways. We support connectivity and conservation. What we oppose is a decision that sacrifices a group of homeowners and their safety, violates conservation commitments and environmental protections, and increases costs when less harmful alternatives exist. To conclude, I have two personal statements. Just yesterday I had to contact the Raleigh PD after a trespasser crossed the creek behind our home, entered our backyard while my son was playing basketball and used our private driveway to reach Six Forts Road. His baby his behavior was alarming enough that my son felt unsafe and hurried inside. Neighbors have shared similar incidents with you. Creating a greenway in this location increases these encounters and makes an already concerning safety situation worse. Finally, I'd like to thank Councilmember Christina Jones for taking time speak to recently to speak with my 18-year-old daughter, now a voting Raleigh resident, for a politics assignment for which she selected the Greenway topic. I appreciate her willingness to engage directly with residents, and I thank her for voting no on placing a greenway in our backyards. We respectfully ask the council to stop streamed option one B and choose a path that reflects Raleigh's values of fairness, transparency, fiscal responsibility. Thank you. Mama Kai Sanders. Good afternoon.