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Record of Proceedings

Winston-Salem City Council Meeting - January 21, 2025

Meeting Portal — Tuesday, January 21, 2025
BodyWinston Salem, North Carolina
SessionMeeting Portal
DateTuesday, January 21, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
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0:02

Good evening, everyone.

0:03

I'm Alan Joins, Mayor of Winston Salem, and I call to order this January 21st meeting of the Winston Salem City Council and ask the city secret, excuse me, the city clerk to call the role, please.

0:14

Councilmember Joyner present.

0:16

Councilmember Clark.

0:18

Councilmember Andrew Bowen.

0:20

Here.

0:20

Councilmember Scipio.

0:21

Present.

0:22

Mayor Peritim Adams here.

0:24

Councilmember Taylor.

0:25

Present.

0:25

Councilmember Hall.

0:27

Present.

0:28

And Councilmember Burke here.

0:30

Thank you very much.

0:31

Would you please join the City Council and me in a moment of silence?

0:47

Thank you.

0:48

Would you join the City Council meeting the Pledge of Allegiance?

0:53

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

1:01

One nation under God with liberty and justice for all.

1:09

Thank you.

1:10

Our Sergeant Arms tonight is Lieutenant Brian Ashley.

1:13

Thank you for being with us and our the fire marshal with us tonight, Bradley Watson.

1:18

Fire Marshal orders here over there.

1:21

Thank you for being with us tonight.

1:23

I'd like to call on Ms.

1:24

Pat Pate for City Manager's update.

1:28

Thank you, Mayor.

1:29

A couple things tonight, but I wanted to start first by uh asking uh transportation director uh Jeff Fansler to come up and give a brief uh update on some actions that we've been taking along Brewer Road, which has gotten some uh publicity lately.

1:45

Okay, Ms.

1:46

Fansler.

1:47

Thank you, Mr.

1:47

Mayor, Mayor Pro Tim, uh members of City Council, Jeff Fansler, Director of Transportation.

1:52

Um, real briefly, I wanted to just highlight a couple things along this corridor.

1:56

And as you may have all been aware, or you may have seen some communication back and forth, our department has received a number of inquiries about pedestrian accommodations improvements around Parkland High School indicated on your screen by the Parkland Mustang logo just to orient yourself.

2:10

Um just just a high level, I wanted to highlight just a couple things that we're working on.

2:15

And I'll start kind of uh plan right.

2:17

Well, what is project BL 0018?

2:20

One to highlight that project as a funded sidewalk project that was funded through our MPO, and that project we are currently, we being staff are developing the scope for that project.

2:29

It will be a five-foot sidewalk on the uh on the east side, um excuse me, on the west side of Brewer Road, and it will go from that roundabout there at Buchanan Street down to West Clemensville Road.

2:38

It's about three quarters of a mile worth of sidewalk.

2:41

That project gets funded, and we're working we're starting work on that project now.

2:44

The two other sidewalk projects I wanted to highlight really briefly are shown there in purple and in orange.

2:49

Both projects have been uh developed by our staff at the city of Winston Salem DOT and submitted to the MPO for funding consideration for a number of years.

2:58

Um, as noted by the note, they're unfunded.

3:01

These routinely are uh they score well, uh, but as we all know, um funding for pedestrian improvement projects is limited, um, and that's based on the SGI law.

3:10

But um, and the just the funding availability from the state and federal government in each call for projects.

3:15

But at large, we have for many years uh produced and provided these two projects as high scoring projects from our city uh to be considered for funding, and we'll continue to do so as a documented need for pedestrian uh uh improvements uh along this corridor, both Brewer Road and Peters Creek, highlighting briefly that BL 1916 eight nine shown in purple would include would uh install sidewalk there from the pool right there at the park, uh across Parkland High School frontage, out over across Peters Creek to South Park Boulevard, and then uh excuse me, old Salisbury Road, I apologize.

3:49

And then shown in orange, that project would of course install install sidewalk on the east side of Peters Creek Parkway, there from Brewer Road south to South Park Boulevard.

4:00

Those two projects as noted are currently unfunded.

4:02

But I'll highlight one project that we are currently working on and coordinating with NC DOT.

4:07

That's shown in yellow.

4:09

So notice the sheets there that I've highlighted in green as well.

4:12

That's a new development that's that's going in on the uh the west side of Peter Street Parkway, and as part of that site plan development process, that they are including some sidewalk infrastructure and ADA uh curb ramps at the intersection.

4:25

That opens the door for the connectivity of sidewalk where we do have uh a sidewalk there right at the intersection and along Peter Street Parkway on the east side of Peters Creek Parkway.

4:34

So, long story short, what this allows us to do is to do an intersection improvement project, a small-scale targeted pedestrian accommodation that would provide protected pedestrian traffic signals, push button actuated, where you could cross Peters Creek Parkway at the protection of a traffic signal.

4:50

NC DOT has approved that project.

4:52

We are developing that scope right now and coordinating closely with Sheets Development to make sure that their infrastructure can accommodate the future improvements that we'll make, and that will provide a very distinct protected traffic signal to cross Peters Creek Parkway.

5:00

And that will provide a very distinct protected traffic signal to cross Peters Creek Parkway.

5:04

There's a lot more detail I can provide, and we're still looking at ways to make this more safe and more efficient, and there's a lot of work still to do ongoing, no doubt about that.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Engagement███████████████████19%
Procedural██████████████14%
Transportation Safety██████████████14%
Zoning██████████████14%
Affordable Housing█████████████13%
Racial Equity███████████11%
Personnel Matters█████5%
Sustainable Development█████5%
Active Transportation███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Winston-Salem City Council Meeting - January 21, 2025

The Winston-Salem City Council met on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, at 6:00 PM at City Hall. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Allen Joines with all nine council members present. The agenda included honorariums, a consent agenda, seven general agenda items (annexations, zoning changes, and Unified Development Ordinance amendments), and a public comment period with 12 speakers. All votes were unanimous (8-0).

Consent Calendar

  • Approved the summary of minutes from January 6, 2025.
  • Renewed Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity for four companies: Carolina Custom Transportation (two limousines), Express Cab Company (five taxicabs), Hook and Ladder Entertainment, LLC (one trolley pub), and Safe Ride Transportation (eight taxicabs).
  • Issued a new Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to HyLyfe, LLC for one trolley pub.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Quamekia Shavers (3850 Heather View Lane): Requested a resolution instructing the city manager to disclose disciplinary actions involving Police Chief William Penn Jr., citing personnel policies and alleging abuse of power.
  • Carol Hoover (515 Archer Road), Chair of the Bicycle Pedestrian Active Mobility Advisory Committee: Presented three recommendations for the 2025 strategic plan – increase maintenance budget for sidewalks/trails/bike lanes, increase funding for transit safety improvements, and expand staffing for a livable streets coordinator and greenway program coordinator.
  • Meaquan Evans (990 East 2nd Street), member of Housing Justice Now and Crystal Towers United: Urged the city to fulfill a three-year-old promise of $10 million in funding for repairs at Crystal Towers, citing plumbing issues, mold, and health hazards.
  • Samuel Grier (625 West 6th Street), Crystal Towers resident: Described poor living conditions, including mold and plumbing problems, and felt targeted by false charges.
  • Rhonda Robinson (625 West 6th Street), Crystal Towers resident: Reported ongoing plumbing issues and mold since moving in two years ago, leading to frequent ambulance calls.
  • Gwendolyn Hay (625 West 6th Street) and Dan Rose (1332 Pleasant Street): Hay yielded time to Rose, who noted a 2017 needs assessment showing $7 million in needed repairs, now estimated at $10 million, and urged the city to provide funding and oversight.
  • Matthew Mayers (2844 Wesleyan Lane): Encouraged the council to prioritize sustainability in strategic planning, increase funding for the sustainability director, and consider zoning reforms to address housing affordability.
  • Olivia Doyle (112 West Devonshire Street): Requested immediate short-term pedestrian safety measures at Parkland High School (crossing guard, school zone markings, full stop crosswalk) and encouraged the city to hold commercial businesses accountable for student safety.
  • Miranda Jones (405 Corona Street), educator at Parkland High: Called for an oversight committee for the police department, urged the council to respond to emails, and supported pedestrian safety improvements for students.
  • Cynthia Herston (1200 Willie Davis Drive): Complained about an $85 parking ticket from a private company based in Florida, asked the city to keep parking revenue local, and urged better communication from city officials.
  • Abigail Lightfoot (2129 Storm Canyon Road): Supported short-term pedestrian safety solutions at Parkland High School and also advocated for fixing plumbing at Crystal Towers.
  • Sharri Williams (1900 Queen Street): Reported issues with bus operators denying transfers after paying fare, requested a marketing campaign to educate riders about transfer policy, and called for attention to Crystal Towers.

Discussion Items

  • City Manager Update: William Pate introduced Jeff Fansler, Director of Transportation, who reported on pedestrian improvements along Brewer Road near Parkland High School. Funded sidewalk projects (BL-0018, BL-1916, and an unfunded project on Peters Creek Parkway) were discussed. A targeted traffic signal improvement project, funded by the city’s traffic safety budget, is expected to be completed by August 2025. Pate also announced: community agency funding applications due January 31, 2025; a housing summit on February 27, 2025; the point-in-time count of unhoused persons on January 29, 2025; the city ranked #6 most affordable place to retire; and an update on the cyber event – City Link phone services restored and systems being rebuilt.
  • Honorarium: Resolution honoring the 2025 Martin Luther King Jr. Young Dreamers Award recipients, Reverend Angelica Regalado-Cieza and Sergeant James Singletary, was approved unanimously.
  • G-1 and G-2 – Voluntary Annexations: Mount Hope Estates (26.966 acres) and Kershaw Commons (17.14 acres) were approved after public hearings with no speakers.
  • G-3 – Zoning Petition (W-3636): Site plan amendment for an outparcel at the AMC Theater property (Hanes Mall Boulevard and Kester Mill Road) to allow retail/restaurant with drive-through, approved unanimously.
  • G-4 and G-5 – Zoning Petitions (W-3638 and W-3639): Rezoning of two parcels (Mount Hope Drive and Rink Road) from County RS-9 to City RS-9, approved unanimously. (Note: Councilmember Taylor initially misspoke the motion for G-4, but corrected for the record.)
  • G-6 – UDO Amendment (UDO-CC28): Amendment to Chapter 4 to standardize minimum lot size for single-family uses in multifamily districts to 5,000 square feet, approved unanimously.
  • G-7 – UDO Amendment (UDO-CC29): Technical corrections to align Historic Resources Commission language with NC General Statutes, approved unanimously.

Key Outcomes

  • All votes on the consent agenda and general agenda items were unanimous (8-0).
  • The council directed staff to continue work on pedestrian safety improvements at Parkland High School, with a target completion of August 2025.
  • The city manager’s office will follow up on public comments regarding Crystal Towers, police oversight, bus transfers, and parking enforcement.
  • Councilmember Regina Ford Hall offered to meet with Crystal Towers residents after the meeting.
  • The meeting adjourned at 7:07 PM.

Meeting Transcript

Good evening, everyone. I'm Alan Joins, Mayor of Winston Salem, and I call to order this January 21st meeting of the Winston Salem City Council and ask the city secret, excuse me, the city clerk to call the role, please. Councilmember Joyner present. Councilmember Clark. Councilmember Andrew Bowen. Here. Councilmember Scipio. Present. Mayor Peritim Adams here. Councilmember Taylor. Present. Councilmember Hall. Present. And Councilmember Burke here. Thank you very much. Would you please join the City Council and me in a moment of silence? Thank you. Would you join the City Council meeting the Pledge of Allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. One nation under God with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Our Sergeant Arms tonight is Lieutenant Brian Ashley. Thank you for being with us and our the fire marshal with us tonight, Bradley Watson. Fire Marshal orders here over there. Thank you for being with us tonight. I'd like to call on Ms. Pat Pate for City Manager's update. Thank you, Mayor. A couple things tonight, but I wanted to start first by uh asking uh transportation director uh Jeff Fansler to come up and give a brief uh update on some actions that we've been taking along Brewer Road, which has gotten some uh publicity lately. Okay, Ms. Fansler. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Mayor Pro Tim, uh members of City Council, Jeff Fansler, Director of Transportation. Um, real briefly, I wanted to just highlight a couple things along this corridor. And as you may have all been aware, or you may have seen some communication back and forth, our department has received a number of inquiries about pedestrian accommodations improvements around Parkland High School indicated on your screen by the Parkland Mustang logo just to orient yourself. Um just just a high level, I wanted to highlight just a couple things that we're working on. And I'll start kind of uh plan right. Well, what is project BL 0018? One to highlight that project as a funded sidewalk project that was funded through our MPO, and that project we are currently, we being staff are developing the scope for that project. It will be a five-foot sidewalk on the uh on the east side, um excuse me, on the west side of Brewer Road, and it will go from that roundabout there at Buchanan Street down to West Clemensville Road. It's about three quarters of a mile worth of sidewalk. That project gets funded, and we're working we're starting work on that project now. The two other sidewalk projects I wanted to highlight really briefly are shown there in purple and in orange. Both projects have been uh developed by our staff at the city of Winston Salem DOT and submitted to the MPO for funding consideration for a number of years. Um, as noted by the note, they're unfunded. These routinely are uh they score well, uh, but as we all know, um funding for pedestrian improvement projects is limited, um, and that's based on the SGI law. But um, and the just the funding availability from the state and federal government in each call for projects. But at large, we have for many years uh produced and provided these two projects as high scoring projects from our city uh to be considered for funding, and we'll continue to do so as a documented need for pedestrian uh uh improvements uh along this corridor, both Brewer Road and Peters Creek, highlighting briefly that BL 1916 eight nine shown in purple would include would uh install sidewalk there from the pool right there at the park, uh across Parkland High School frontage, out over across Peters Creek to South Park Boulevard, and then uh excuse me, old Salisbury Road, I apologize. And then shown in orange, that project would of course install install sidewalk on the east side of Peters Creek Parkway, there from Brewer Road south to South Park Boulevard. Those two projects as noted are currently unfunded.

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