OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Raleigh City Council Meeting – June 2, 2026: Proclamations, Public Hearing, Heat Resilience, Traffic Calming

City Council — Tuesday, June 2, 2026
BodyRaleigh, North Carolina
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, June 2, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 3:05:34
Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

So these are some of the accomplishments from the fiscal year 2021 through 2025 federal reporting period.

0:06

This is a subset of what's available on our website on our affordable housing dashboard.

0:11

So we have over 2,000 affordable rental units created, over 200 down payment loans provided, and over 5,300 individuals provided shelter.

0:21

And these are the federal and local resources that our plan has grounded in.

0:26

It's about 16.6 million dollars total.

0:29

And this is an annual allocation.

0:32

So these are some of the goals for fiscal year 26 through 27 under increasing affordable housing options.

0:39

We have housing rehab, home buyer assistance, rental development, and site imprisonment.

0:44

And that is a total of about 12.76 million.

0:49

Preventing and reducing homelessness, homeless service grants, tenant-based rental assistance and emergency shelter support at about 4.4 million.

0:59

And then increasing housing stabilization and supportive services, and these are where our grants, community enhancement grant, human service agency grants, as well as home buyer counseling fall.

1:10

So to conclude, I just want to briefly outline our timeline.

1:14

We're currently in the comment period phase, which includes a combination of in-person and virtual meetings as well as a 30-day comment period.

1:22

The next step is to incorporate the feedback that we receive into the plan that'll come back to council for adoption in May.

1:30

That concludes my overview, and we just ask that council over the public hearing.

1:34

Great.

1:35

Thank you.

1:36

Uh we will go ahead and open the public hearing, and we have two uh members of the public signed up, Octavia Rainey is the first, and we have uh three minutes per speaker.

1:52

Good afternoon.

1:53

I'm gonna start off and I'm gonna stick to my three minutes.

1:57

First of all, the NRSA, the plan sucks.

2:03

It really sucks.

2:05

Larry did not follow any fair housing guidelines.

2:09

Number two, the city don't enforce the fair housing act.

2:13

So I don't even think how you can move forward with any of your policies and housing without enforcing the act.

2:19

It's terrible.

2:21

Number three, this is a report from North Carolina State University on Newban Avenue.

2:28

I was the co-chair of the Newman Avenue Alliance.

2:32

So I know what went on and I know what happened to the city.

2:36

So it was Edison Street and College Park.

2:40

I went through my storage and bought this personally tonight because I wanted you to know that you didn't follow any of the guidelines in this either.

2:50

Something is wrong with that picture.

2:53

Third, I'm hot.

2:56

Here is the document from 2007, and it was the Southeast Raleigh Assembly that we did with the City of Raleigh Planning Department.

3:08

The NRSA was not a part of that plan.

3:12

As a matter of fact, Eileen Brazil, Julian Prosser, Dempsey Benton said they would not do the NRSA.

3:21

But what happened, you did it anyway.

3:25

Fourth, you know, I call myself being famous, but when they did the policies, I was talked about, but that didn't bother me, because that's what the council did.

3:39

It was half Republican and half Democrat.

3:42

And they really talked about me.

3:43

But do you think I care the hoolie fruit?

3:45

I didn't care at all.

3:47

But my point is, you did college parking injustice.

3:53

You really did.

3:54

You let Cliff Zenna build a $500,000 house.

3:59

You did that.

4:00

You turned around and let them put infrastructure on the new homes, then on the black homes.

4:08

They didn't even put the wiring on the ground.

4:11

That wasn't fair at all.

4:14

What I am asking, because y'all got to make up for the fairness in this project.

4:20

What I am asking, and I gave to Corey, I'm asking for a $500,000 project on Newman Avenue and the property that you bought with the bond dollars to do for College Park and Ottawa and Memorial Garden.

4:39

You gotta make up for that.

4:41

You got to make up.

4:43

You can't continue to go around and treating black communities like their stepchildren.

4:49

Second, I want to see the consolidated plan on the citizen participation plan that talks about relocation.

4:59

Okay, next we have Kimberly Wright.

5:11

Not seeing her, I will go ahead and close the hearing.

5:16

Anything else, Miss Tucker?

5:18

Is that okay?

5:21

All right.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Miscellaneous███████████████████████████████████████39%
Procedural██████████████████18%
Environmental Protection███████████11%
Transportation Safety████████8%
Community Engagement██████6%
Engineering And Infrastructure███3%
Affordable Housing██2%
Economic Development██2%
Public Safety██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Raleigh City Council Meeting – June 2, 2026

The Raleigh City Council met on June 2, 2026, at 1:00 PM for a regular session that included a Pride Month proclamation, a public hearing on the city's consolidated housing plan, multiple rezoning referrals, an urban heat resiliency update, and policy changes to the traffic calming program. The council voted unanimously on the consent agenda and approved two key traffic calming reforms. The meeting concluded with a closed session regarding a potential claim.

Proclamation

  • Pride Month 2026: Mayor Janet Cowell proclaimed June 2026 as Pride Month in Raleigh, recognizing the 57th annual Pride celebration and the contributions of the LGBTQIA+ community. The proclamation was presented to a representative from the LGBTQ Center of Raleigh.

Consent Calendar

  • The consent agenda, which included five annexation public hearing dates for June 16, 2026, was approved unanimously (all in favor, none opposed).

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Octavia Rainey (public speaker): Criticized the city's NRSA (Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area) plan, stating it "sucks" and that the city does not enforce the Fair Housing Act. She referenced a 2007 Southeast Raleigh Assembly plan that did not include the NRSA. She alleged unfair treatment of Black communities, citing a $500,000 house built by Cliff Zenna on Newbern Avenue and infrastructure disparities. She requested a $500,000 project on Newbern Avenue using bond dollars for College Park and Memorial Garden, and demanded the consolidated plan's citizen participation plan regarding relocation.
  • A second speaker (Kimberly Wright) was not present, so the public hearing was closed.

Discussion Items

  • Planning Commission Report:

    • Rezoning Z-46-25 (West Street): Request to increase height from 5 to 7 stories in downtown mixed-use district to finish existing mezzanine space. Planning commission recommends approval; public hearing set for July 7, 2026.
    • Rezoning for Rex Hospital (Blue Ridge Road at Lake Boone Trail): 61 acres from office mixed-use to campus special district. Planning commission recommends approval; council voted to move the public hearing to June 16, 2026.
    • Rezoning on Lichford Road (just over 20 acres to R6 with conditions): Recommends approval, public hearing July 7.
    • Rezoning Z-112-26 (Stratford Court): Less than an acre from R2 to R4 for greater density. Recommends approval, public hearing July 7.
    • Council discussion: Councilmember Jones proposed and council approved moving all rezonings and annexations on July 7 to the 1:00 PM slot instead of 7:00 PM. The Rex Hospital rezoning was moved to June 16 at 7:00 PM.
    • Councilmember Lambert Melton questioned why a rezoning was needed to finish an existing mezzanine, suggesting a code fix may be warranted.

  • City Manager's Report – Urban Heat Resiliency:

    • Megan Anderson (Sustainability) presented an update on urban heat initiatives. Key points:
      • Over 40 city departments and community organizations participated in a Heat Tabletop Exercise, one of the first in the country to include community-based organizations.
      • Objectives: shared understanding of heat impacts, stronger communication channels, long-term mitigation strategies.
      • Key takeaways: clear, accessible, culturally informed communication; immediate community needs; building long-term resilience.
    • A short video highlighted community partners.
    • Next steps: surveys for the strategic plan, informing the 2050 comprehensive plan, working with Duke University on a heat-ready framework, and continuing partnerships with Wake County on cooling centers.
    • Councilmember Silver emphasized street trees for shade. Councilmember Patton questioned cooling center resilience (backup generators) and employee heat protection. Staff clarified the difference between cooling centers (normal hours) and emergency shelters (backup power).

  • Committee Reports – Transportation and Transit:

    • Councilmember Patton reported on the committee's discussion of traffic calming policy updates.
    • Two policy recommendations:
      1. Delegate approval of speed limit reductions, line-of-sight changes, and multi-way stop sign implementations to the Transportation Director (currently done via consent agenda and neighborhood ballot). Staff noted 700 speed limit reductions with only 2 failing the ballot.
      2. Eliminate the neighborhood ballot for traffic calming projects that meet objective safety thresholds; community engagement (e.g., surveys) would still occur.
    • Council discussion: Councilmember Ford raised concerns about a three-year waiting period to remove installed devices, citing safety issues on Martin Street (temporary installations) and State Street (community not fully informed). Transportation Director Will Shoemaker clarified the three-year wait applies only to a full neighborhood ballot for removal, not to immediate safety fixes. Councilmember Branch noted communication challenges. Council requested an immediate review of Martin and State Street, and a manager's update on pros/cons of shortening the removal waiting period.
    • Motions: First motion to delegate authority to Transportation Director (speed limit, line-of-sight, stop signs) – approved unanimously. Second motion to eliminate neighborhood ballot for projects meeting safety thresholds – approved unanimously.

Key Outcomes

  • Consent Agenda: Approved unanimously.
  • Public Hearing: Heard testimony from Octavia Rainey; no further action recorded.
  • Rezoning Schedule: Moved all July 7 afternoon items to 1:00 PM; Rex Hospital rezoning moved to June 16 public hearing.
  • Traffic Calming Policy: Two motions passed unanimously (see above). Further staff action on Martin Street, State Street, and potential reduction of removal waiting period to be reported.
  • Closed Session: Council voted unanimously (all in favor) to enter closed session to consult with the city attorney regarding a potential claim (City of Raleigh vs. Crossings Company Limited Partnership). No action reported after closed session.
  • Future Item: Mayor Pro Tem Harris proposed a discussion in August on drinking water supply, quantity/quality, including a post-incident report on the Turkey Creek wastewater spill. City Manager will determine if it should be a work session or committee item.
  • Appointments:
    • Board of Adjustment alternate: Nomination of Ralph Puccini to be considered at next meeting.
    • Police Advisory Board alternates: Clinton Jones (6 votes) and Victoria Melburn (5 votes) appointed.
    • Raleigh Historic Development Commission: Three nominees (Ian Dunn, Christian McKay, and another) for two vacancies to be considered next meeting.
    • Design Review Commission: Kate Charlin elevated to regular member (motion approved). Two alternate vacancies remain.
  • City Attorney: Welcomed summer associate Grace Anna McCray from NCCU School of Law.
  • City Clerk: Minutes of May 19, 2026 regular session approved unanimously.

Meeting Transcript

So these are some of the accomplishments from the fiscal year 2021 through 2025 federal reporting period. This is a subset of what's available on our website on our affordable housing dashboard. So we have over 2,000 affordable rental units created, over 200 down payment loans provided, and over 5,300 individuals provided shelter. And these are the federal and local resources that our plan has grounded in. It's about 16.6 million dollars total. And this is an annual allocation. So these are some of the goals for fiscal year 26 through 27 under increasing affordable housing options. We have housing rehab, home buyer assistance, rental development, and site imprisonment. And that is a total of about 12.76 million. Preventing and reducing homelessness, homeless service grants, tenant-based rental assistance and emergency shelter support at about 4.4 million. And then increasing housing stabilization and supportive services, and these are where our grants, community enhancement grant, human service agency grants, as well as home buyer counseling fall. So to conclude, I just want to briefly outline our timeline. We're currently in the comment period phase, which includes a combination of in-person and virtual meetings as well as a 30-day comment period. The next step is to incorporate the feedback that we receive into the plan that'll come back to council for adoption in May. That concludes my overview, and we just ask that council over the public hearing. Great. Thank you. Uh we will go ahead and open the public hearing, and we have two uh members of the public signed up, Octavia Rainey is the first, and we have uh three minutes per speaker. Good afternoon. I'm gonna start off and I'm gonna stick to my three minutes. First of all, the NRSA, the plan sucks. It really sucks. Larry did not follow any fair housing guidelines. Number two, the city don't enforce the fair housing act. So I don't even think how you can move forward with any of your policies and housing without enforcing the act. It's terrible. Number three, this is a report from North Carolina State University on Newban Avenue. I was the co-chair of the Newman Avenue Alliance. So I know what went on and I know what happened to the city. So it was Edison Street and College Park. I went through my storage and bought this personally tonight because I wanted you to know that you didn't follow any of the guidelines in this either. Something is wrong with that picture. Third, I'm hot. Here is the document from 2007, and it was the Southeast Raleigh Assembly that we did with the City of Raleigh Planning Department. The NRSA was not a part of that plan. As a matter of fact, Eileen Brazil, Julian Prosser, Dempsey Benton said they would not do the NRSA. But what happened, you did it anyway. Fourth, you know, I call myself being famous, but when they did the policies, I was talked about, but that didn't bother me, because that's what the council did. It was half Republican and half Democrat. And they really talked about me. But do you think I care the hoolie fruit? I didn't care at all. But my point is, you did college parking injustice. You really did. You let Cliff Zenna build a $500,000 house. You did that. You turned around and let them put infrastructure on the new homes, then on the black homes. They didn't even put the wiring on the ground. That wasn't fair at all. What I am asking, because y'all got to make up for the fairness in this project.

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