Well, we're going to be able to do that.

Well, we're not going to be able to do that.

Well, we're not.

What are we doing?

Well, we're not going to be able to do that.

Public comment, period.

And we have 10 speakers tonight signed up.

Octavia Rainey is number one.

Good evening, everyone.

I would like to talk about four things.

We couldn't hear you.

Can you hear me now?

That's much better.

Can you hear me now?

Okay.

Quickly, I would like to speak about four things.

The first thing I would like to speak about is Glenwood South.

I'm very concerned about Glenwood South because I think it has become an Apple Hall haven't.

There's too many ABC ABC permits in Glenwood South.

I have had the opportunity to study in LA when they had the rise of Rodney King, and we were studying one thing, but when we went to the minutes, we found out all they talked about was the ABC permits.

And I think there's too many ABC permits there.

And two, the city have changed Glenwood South from what it used to be.

I remember when Glenwood South first came on, and it was a beautiful place to be, but now it has turned into something that even I don't know.

The second thing I want to talk about is the youth summit.

Under Chief Dolan, we had a youth summit.

We had two.

And we had over two thousand kids at the youth summit.

Y'all need to hear from kids.

When you have parents working two to three jobs, they're not dealing with their kids.

They're too busy working, providing a roof over their heads.

And y'all really need to think about that.

The issue y'all had with Riley North with those kids throwing rocks and throwing bricks.

Y'all are not listening to our kids.

Y'all are not paying attention to our kids.

So I understand y'all are doing the curfew thing, but let's not have a one-sided situation where we look at it from one side.

Let's hear from our kids.

I'll put the chief the opportunity to work with him on the youth summit.

I worked with Chief Dolan on the youth summit.

We had over 2,000 kids.

Why are y'all not doing that?

Why are y'all not doing that?

You've got to hear from our kids.

Our kids are very important to the city of Raleigh.

They are the future of tomorrow.

You got to hear from those kids.

You got to get those kids involved.

And they need to be, they have a very important voice when it comes to housing.

Half of the kids are left out.

When their parents are left out, they are left out.

But you call yourself doing missing middle and all of that crap.

But those kids are not seeing it.

They pick up other behaviors.

Their parents are not home with them.

So let's take this from an overall view that.

Thank you.

Emmett Clark.

Mr.

Clark here.

Okay.

Horace Clemens.

Thank you for the opportunity to come speak to you.

I came here two or three times last year to talk on the same subject.

So I talked about noise issues from Pratt Industries on Departure Drive.

And I thought that when you did the new ordinance that some of that would be addressed, but you left it all out.

So you in the new ordinance, you eliminated everything associated with commercial next to residential.

So I mean, you may have addressed the problem that was the squeaking wheel, but you cut everything out from commercial next to residential.

So I have given you a draft that I worked up to try to add that back in so that we can get some relief from commercial noise adjacent to residential.

So I'd like for you to give it serious consideration and try to give me some feedback as soon as possible if you intend to do something or not.

If you decide not to do anything, then I'll have to rethink how I present my case so that you can see the logic behind what I'm trying to say.

The noise affects residential property, it affects your tax income.

So and that subdivision I live in is in the process of tear down and build multi-million dollar homes, and it's not going to happen as long as that noise continues the way it is.

Any questions for me?

I believe that some staff are working on this issue.

City attorney, did you have any other can is there somebody here tonight that he should talk to, or is this gonna be?

No, we will we will have someone reach out to.

Okay.

Okay.

All right, thank you.

Appreciate it.

All right, uh Miss Alicia Drees.

Hi.

Um I live in the same neighborhood as Horace, and I wanted to talk about the noise on the effect on our everyday lives.

The sound behind my house, we have we're in one of those secret special neighborhoods in Raleigh that's still left from the olden days.

Our houses are very small, 1,200 to 1,500 square foot houses on acre lots.

It's quiet, it was built in the early 1960s, out when nobody went that far up north on Capitol Boulevard.

It was out in the middle of nowhere.

It wasn't until the early 1980s that Departure Drive was extended to Oak Forest Road, and that is when Pratt Industries and a bunch of other warehousing was built on the road.

And at the time it was a very controversial thing.

There was a lot of fighting here at City Council between the neighborhood and Pratt Industries in particular, and a lot of promises were made and a lot of supposed concessions were made that they were going to try and keep noise down so that the residents could still live.

Well, now it's 40 years later, and that equipment that they installed in the early 1980s is now noisy and broken, and it gets worse throughout the day.

They operate from 7 a.m.

to 11 p.m.

for a month almost a year and a half until we started harassing them.

They were operating from 5 a.m.

until 11 30 p.m.

For some reason, during the day, I've used a decibel meter.

I can stand in the back of my house and I'm they're a building way over and down.

I'm the one of the furthest houses from them that's having an issue with noise.

And the decibels during the day are at about 55, which is what you would consider if you live on a very busy highway.

And I can understand that it's a warehouse, there's a manufacturing facility, I can accept it.

But at 6 30 at night, at 8 30 at night, when it gets exceptionally bad, that's the time that we call the grinding of the bones.

I'm not sure what they're doing in their processes, but that's when they put the most product through their whatever grinder, and it's it's jolting.

It's nothing you want to live near.

What's happening is it goes on for hours and hours and hours.

It's starting to affect, you can't have anybody outside.

You don't, I don't cook out.

We don't own a grill.

What would be the use?

Because to have a conversation, you have to yell like this to someone right here.

And I'm one of the further houses.

Now, some of the other houses that are closer, the value of these houses is in the tank.

Nobody's gonna want to buy them.

Someone had called me about a lot that was empty, because it was a house where someone passed the way and the kids knocked it down, and someone wanted to buy it, and I said my best advice is come at 8 a.m.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Richard High.

Good afternoon, Council and Mayor.

I represent Oberlin in West Raleigh.

And what I wanted to do today was to uh make you guys aware that Obland community was founded in 1858.

My posse back here, Colonel Joe Hope and Brandon Brown.

Colonel Hope, his family was the one who initiated integration in the city of Raleigh.

And what we want to do is what I'm asking from the council is on July the 18th, Saturday from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m., we're having our community cookout.

Um we are expecting a whole lot of people who grew up in Oblin, who lived in Oberlin, and who frequent Oberlin uh to come out and share in our festivities.

Also, what I'm talking about, this the second oldest African-American community, which is uh Method, they're doing theirs in August.

So I just wanted to let you guys make you guys aware that we're doing this and if we could um get a proclamation for the city to go and tour the historical black churches there, Obland Baptist Church and Wilson Temple, United Methodist Church.

Um the cookout is scheduled at JC Park, which is off Wade Avenue and Tower Street in West Raleigh.

Now I grew up in Oblyn, and Colonel Hope was my hero growing up.

Um, and I'm glad that he could make it today to back me if I come out here to uh ask for you guys' assistance.

Are there any questions from me about it?

Well, I would just say um Wilson Brown in my office, um, if we can get your information, we can work on a proclamation for you for the 18th and we can work on methods too if you have their contact information.

Well, I have their contact methods because we all are one community.

It's just that Oakland is the biggest and the best.

Thank you all so much.

I can go see later.

Okay, okay, okay.

Okay, thank you.

Daniel Lamar Grant King.

Mr.

Grant King here.

Okay.

Mamakai Sanders.

Do you get any ears?

Good evening, y'all.

It's another amazing day in paradise.

Thank you for your service.

I appreciate y'all being willing to listen, investing your time here with us tonight.

I also hope the rest of your summer is exactly as you desire it to be in prepar in preparation for the election season that's coming afterwards.

I honestly wasn't planning on signing up to speak tonight.

I know that's shocking.

But I sent a couple of emails that have gone unanswered, so I'm here to find out who will answer me.

I know you're probably not going to respond to me directly tonight.

I'm just hoping someone will.

My first question is about the budget, actually.

I'm just wondering if it can be amended once it's passed, and if so, what other circumstances which can cause the change?

Um the other question I have is more personal.

Before I get to the point to that point, I wanted to say that I mentioned Denny and the proclamation the governor signed last month.

I need to give her more credit because she actually wrote the proclamation.

The government good governor just liked it, and so he signed it.

Um, if you recall, I spoke about June being proclaimed whole child health and well-being month.

And I want to say thank you to Ms.

Rainey for highlighting the importance of listening to our children.

Perhaps you'll remember one spoke to you last month.

In my remarks, I introduced wisdom because he asked me to sign him up to speak.

He spoke on some incidents he he's had with city staff that were unfavorable and that I definitely did not appreciate.

Since they've been bothering him so much, he wanted to speak about them.

And since we're housed now and no longer in those spaces with those people, I have time to dedicate to getting those situations responded to.

A few days after we spoke, I sent a follow-up email providing more details of several incidents that were totally uncalled for.

I sent the first email, waited a week, then bumped it, and haven't heard anything from anyone.

Usually someone will at least acknowledge what I've written or direct me to the person who can help, but it's been nothing but silence.

And this is where I have a huge problem because to me that feels like you collectively think city staff shouldn't be held accountable for their less than desirable behavior.

If they behaved in the ways I detailed toward an adult, I'm pretty sure there would have been some movement.

Yet you had a child be brave enough to stand before city leaders, staff, and community to declare how he's felt, and it seems to be ignored.

Y'all clearly have no clue how powerful it was for him to stand up here.

How many youth do you see doing that?

Wisdom did, because he's been in this building almost every month for the last three plus years hearing me speak on a number of things.

I'm not going to detail what happened, but I'm going to say that families should be able to rely on park staff to provide safe environments for their children.

That's not just physically.

That's emotionally too.

And wisdom and I have made it clear that not all park staff, not all park spaces.

Thank you.

Larissa Green.

I'm here again.

A healthy neighborhood is a vital resource.

There is something priceless about the childhood many of us remember.

The freedom to ride bikes until the street lights come on, to chase flightning bugs, climb trees, and laugh with neighbors long after dinner.

Today, that way of life is increasingly rare.

It is sought after.

Families search for places where children can still experience the simple gift of growing up outdoors and build their confidence through everyday adventures.

Neighborhoods shape resilient, independent, and compassionate adults.

When a community succeeds, it builds a legacy that our elected city council ought to protect.

When while growth is necessary for Raleigh, it should not come at the expense of any community's well-being.

I look up many site plans and see concerning focus on short-term profit overlivability.

No yards, no internal sidewalks, inadequate driveways, insufficient common areas, and lack of safe pedestrian access to basic amenities.

High density housing requires complete infrastructure, not just the approval of houses to go up.

Why are we packing 10 extra houses into a space that could be used for a garden, a place that a dog run, a lawn, a forest, a pond of turtles, a community clubhouse, a pool, in communities exchange for maximizing density profits?

Raleigh is subjecting these future construction projects to limited community access, allowing neighborhoods to be built at a disadvantage by design.

I am here to protect my existing neighborhood, but also for success for our new neighbors.

Show us how 47 units will function on 3.79 acres in a healthy way for the school community, the new residents, and the existing homes.

If we allow development to prioritize profits over community, our neighborhoods will fail.

People are coming to petition from all over the city making comments about city growth, affecting trees, street parking, overwhelming density projects, historic neighborhoods, demolition of affordable homes, and poorly designed traffic calming.

Something is seriously wrong with the balance we are supposed to maintain.

This is the 19th and 20th public comment speech delivered for Z 4325.

Should we be suspicious if compliant policies listed were changing?

Public meeting agendas, PowerPoints from city planning were changing after the original uploads, deadlines were manipulated over intent, and public hearings were canceled three hours before and not rescheduled.

Does Raleigh's public engagement need to be contentious?

My favorite podcast always ends with the host asking what their guest's favorite childhood memory is.

So I ask you, Raleigh listening, what is your favorite childhood memory?

Thank you.

Philip Brown.

Good evening, Council and uh Mayor.

Uh my name is Philip Brown.

I'm a multi-generational Raleigh native.

My three sons are fourth generation in our home on Lichford 4Z4325.

I grew up believing Raleigh was a city that valued neighbors thoughtful planning and fairness, and that's why this process of rezoning has been so disappointing.

This isn't just about one rezoning, it's about whether ordinary residents still have a meaningful voice when the future of their neighborhood is being decided.

My neighbors and I aren't developers, we're not attorneys or planners, we're homeowners.

We've simply spent months learning the comp plan, transportation policy, zoning regulations, simply to understand the process that most residents don't even know how to navigate until it's happening in their own backyard.

That raises some important questions.

Why are residents expected to weigh in on a rezoning before seeing a binding date site plan that shows exactly what is proposed?

Why are only nearby home property owners formally notified when the impacts extend well beyond 500 feet?

Why do residents receive only a few minutes to speak while applicants have months to prepare with reports and presentations and a whole staff behind them helping them?

Why does it appear that when deadlines of procedural requirements become obstacles for applicants, the process can be adjusted while residents are expected to meet every deadline without exception?

If the rules are meant to ensure fairness, shouldn't they apply equally to everyone?

We're also still waiting on public records, our neighborhood requested more than a month ago.

These records could help us understand how this case has been handled, yet they've still not been produced.

And every day those records are delayed or another day taken away from our ability to meaningfully participate.

Transparency delayed is transparency denied.

If this process has been fair, why are residents still waiting off for this information needed that we need to see for ourselves?

And at its core, our neighborhood on 3.79 acres with 47 homes.

And that's not a small adjustment.

That's a complete transformation of an established long-standing neighborhood.

Johnsdale Road is approximately 17 feet wide with no curb, gutter, sewer, sidewalks, lacks the infrastructure expected to support this level of development in the school zone of Millbrook High School, where students, parents, buses, faculty, and afternoon activities already generate significant daily traffic.

Growth should follow infrastructure as the comp plan states, not preceded.

And if Johnsdale's required to spend millions, or if Johnsdale Road requires millions of dollars of capital improvements to meet modern standards, then those improvements should come before additional density, not afterwards.

We're not asking for Raleigh to stop growing.

We understand growth is inevitable, but growth should respect the comp plan.

Existing neighborhoods and infrastructure needed to support it safely.

Tonight I ask you to remember this isn't just another parcel on a zoning map.

It's our homes, it's our families.

It's our life savings.

It's our legacy.

It's the trust in the city that we love.

I ask that you choose transparency.

Please choose compatibility, please choose infrastructure before density.

Most importantly, please choose your residence, and I ask that you respectfully deny this rezoning.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Jerry Espy.

Jerry was us.

He's not here tonight.

Okay.

Thank you.

All right.

Well, that concludes the public comment for this evening.

Thank you for coming, and we are adjourned.