Raleigh City Council Public Comment Session - June 9, 2026
Raleigh City Council Public Comment Session - June 9, 2026
The meeting began with the mayor clarifying the procedural status of the Lichford Road rezoning case (Z4325). Due to a published notice error on June 2, the council had two options: reschedule the public hearing or refer the case back to planning commission. The council chose the latter, allowing residents two additional opportunities for public comment. The remainder of the meeting consisted of public comments on various topics.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Eugene Myrick requested a traffic light on Crosslink Road, citing multiple accidents, and asked for security cameras in Biltmore Hills Park. He expressed safety concerns after witnessing an incident in the park.
- Keisha Monk criticized the installation of bike lanes in Biltmore Hills despite community opposition, stating they created dangerous conditions. She urged residents to remember which council members dismissed their concerns in upcoming elections.
- Octavia Rainey celebrated her neighborhood's first "First Night" event and criticized infill development that erases Black neighborhoods, specifically mentioning the old YMCA site at Swain and Hoggett Streets. She announced a July tour to highlight these issues.
- Lisa Hewitt called for clearer, more accessible affordable housing metrics on the city's website, noting that the current dashboards are misleading and data is buried in work sessions. She requested an update to the city's affordable housing rezoning condition to reflect current figures.
- Chris Crew opposed Missing Middle zoning, arguing it leads to demolition of naturally occurring affordable housing and erodes historic character. He cited a property on East Lane Street that appreciated dramatically after zoning changes.
- Alex Lewis presented survey results from the Roanoke Park Historic District showing that the removal of minimum parking requirements for Trophy Brewing has caused parking shortages, increased speeding, and safety hazards for pedestrians and children.
- Whitney Hill advocated for a "growth should pay for growth" policy, emphasizing the need for truly affordable housing for working families and preservation of existing affordable stock. She called for real public benefits from rezonings.
- Mama Kai Sanders thanked the council for their service and urged civility during the upcoming election season. She expressed frustration that her comments often do not lead to change but pledged to continue advocating.
- Matthew Brown criticized a development on East Lenore Street where two historic affordable houses were demolished to build condos, with only two units designated as affordable. He argued the city's density bonuses incentivize destruction of affordable housing.
- Curtis Casefang introduced Preservation Raleigh, a nonprofit offering fact-based preservation advocacy and support to the Historic Districts Commission.
- Leon Reich opposed the Lichford Road rezoning (Z4325), citing potential privacy invasion, environmental disruption, and incompatibility with the existing covenant-protected neighborhood.
- Seth Wells opposed the same rezoning, describing its proximity to his home and family, and requested council members visit the site before voting. He highlighted traffic and safety concerns on Johnsdale Road.
- Eva Ferlenden opposed Z4325, expressing concerns about stormwater runoff contaminating wells and septic systems, and the destruction of mature oak trees. She noted the high cost of connecting to city water and sewer.
- Vicki Reich opposed Z4325, quoting the city's comprehensive plan on respecting neighborhood scale and requiring adequate infrastructure mitigation. She urged denial based on policy.
- Lorraine Snyder (last public comment) opposed Z4325, emphasizing the loss of mature oak trees, increased stormwater issues, and incompatibility with the neighborhood. She stated that even the existing R4 zoning is out of scale and urged denial.
- Nikki W. complained about conditions at Junction Point Studios (studios at 2800), citing roach infestation, harassment, and lack of safety despite the city's ownership. She argued that affordable housing must include maintenance and security.
Discussion Items
- The mayor opened the meeting by explaining that the Lichford Road rezoning public hearing was invalidated due to a newspaper notice error. The council voted to refer the case back to planning commission, providing two future opportunities for public comment (planning commission and council).
Key Outcomes
- The public comment session concluded. No votes or decisions were taken during this meeting. The council is expected to schedule further proceedings on the Lichford Road rezoning after planning commission review.
Meeting Transcript
Evening, everybody. Um, before we I'll go ahead and start the meeting before we start because we have had a little bit of confusion still from the public comment on uh Lichford Road that we could not hear last time. I just want to read a little comment there, so in case anybody is here um about the process going forward on that case. So counsel could not by law open the public hearing on June 2nd due to an error in the published notice by the news and observer. At that time, counsel was faced with two legal options reschedule the council public hearing to a future date, or two refer the case back to planning commission for additional review. Given that the applicant had indicated plans to revise their conditions, council chose the second option, which is to send it back to planning commission. This option provides residents with two additional opportunities to provide public comment on the rezoning request rather than one. Um so you'll go before you, you know, have the option to go before planning commission and then again at council. As a result, residents will have multiple opportunities to review and comment on any changes the applicant may propose before a final decision is made. So just wanted to clarify that because it is understandably been very confusing. Alright, so we will go through we have three minutes each. Um first speaker is Eugene Myrick. Oh, yes, and uh Jonathan Lambert Melton is uh absent and excused. Thank you. Good evening. Um I want to start by first thanking um Council Member Ford for bringing the uh transportation uh folks to the Biltmore Hills meeting. Um just like we said to them, um, they can't do anything without coming to the city council. And one of the things that the the transportation uh departments mentioned was that there were multiple accidents on uh crosslink. They said the first option is to put up stop signs that are 300. The second option is to put up uh roundabouts that's 700. And the third option is a stop light that's a hundred thousand dollars. We're talking about life and death situations. We're talking about multiple accidents, and I'm sure some of you know because many of you probably voted for the hundred thousand dollar dog park that's downtown. Um, the gate with the mulch, 100,000. So I don't think it's too much to ask for a stoplight that's going to prevent multiple accidents on uh crosslink. Um there are several issues, and it might have been five o'clock this morning that I heard gunshots in Biltmore Hills Park. I came up here several times to say asking, can we get cameras in Biltmore Hills Park? Um nothing. There was a several a case that I saw in the news of somebody saying that someone exposed themselves. I took my garbage out, I took my neighbor's garbage out. I saw a gentleman walking down with no bottom, Biltmore Hills Park. Um, they literally sent me a subpoena. They told me I was a victim. I didn't know I was a victim because I saw somebody walking around with no bottom. And the thing is, I didn't know what to do. I didn't know to call the police or call to ask for help because I was concerned. I didn't want the police to come and hurt somebody who could have been having a mental crisis. I didn't know exactly what to do. Um, but either way, it's uh not a safe situation. And for me, as somebody with a two-year-old granddaughter who loves to run around in the backyard and play around, it's just not a safe situation. So once again, I am coming to say uh the buck got passed around a couple times in regards to us needing more cameras for safety in Biltmore Hills Park. Thank you. Thank you. Keisha Monk. Today I want to address my public comment directly to you, the public, because there's something I need for you to know. A couple of years ago, the city proposed traffic calming measures in my neighborhood, which sounded really good until we learned that they wanted to install bike lanes. You see, Biltmore Hills is a little different than most neighborhoods in Raleigh. It's a historic community, it is not a transient neighborhood. It is home to seniors, families, bus riders, school children, and people who have lived here for generations. We repeatedly explained that bike lanes are not a one-size fit-all solution in every neighborhood, and every it would not, you know, solve every traffic challenge.
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