The Winston-Salem City Council met on August 18, 2025, at 6:00 PM. The meeting included a consent agenda, public hearings, and general agenda items covering annexations, zoning changes, a contract award, and appointments. The council also held a public comment period and a closed session. Key outcomes included unanimous approvals of most zoning petitions, a denial of one rezoning, and continued discussion on the proposed downtown amphitheater.
Good evening, everyone. I'm Alan Jones, Mayor of Winston Salem. It's my pleasure to call to order the meeting of the Winston Salem City Council and ask the city clerk to call the roll, please. Councilmember Joyner. Present. Councilmember Clark. Here. Councilmember Andrew Bowling. Here. Councilmember Scipio. Here. Mayor Pro Tim Adams. Councilmember Taylor. Present. Councilmember Hall, present. And Councilmember Berg. Here. Thank you very much. Would you please join the City Council meeting a moment of silence? Thank you. Would you join the City Council meeting the Pledge of Allegiance? Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and the Republic for the United States. Underground with Liberty and Justice. Thank you very much. Our Sergeant in Arms tonight is Lieutenant Victoria Art. Lieutenant, thank you for being with us and our assistant fire marshal Corey Lambleth. Thank you for being with us. Now I recognize our city manager for his uh regular update of city items. Uh thank you, Mayor. Uh just a few things tonight. Uh first, the Winston Salem Department of Transportation has been leading a campaign to adopt a formal name for the Salem Parkway Multi-Use Path. The campaign was launched by seeking assistance from the city's bicycle pedestrian active mobility advisory committee to engage citizens and the community groups in seeking ideas on naming pathway. The committee's outreach resulted in a list of approximately 30 proposed trail names. From this list, committee members and department of transportation staff voted on their preferred names. The top four trail names move forward to a community poll, which was shared by the city's marketing and communications department on social media. After 740 votes, the new trail name for the formal designation of the multi-use path is, and I'm supposed to wait for a drum roll, but I hope we're going to get one. The Twin City Trail to celebrate the completion of the historic project and formally open the new Tren City Twin City Trail. North Carolina, I mean Weston Salem DOT invites City Council and members of the community to a ribbon cutting celebration on Thursday, August 28th at 10 o'clock, located at the eastern end of the newly constructed bridge. Parking would be available adjacent to the bridge at 226 South Liberty Street. The Liberty and Main Streets Two-way conversion project is moving northward in the coming weeks. The areas that will be impacted are Liberty, Main, and Third Streets. This work will continue through the end of October pending weather to keep that project moving forward. That'll be a big help when we can get it completed. For a couple of other events, the planning and development services department will host a series of public input sessions as part of an effort to update the current housing ordinance. Throughout the development of the Ford 2045 Comprehensive Plan, residents voice concerns about the rising costs and diminishing availability of housing in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. One of the key elements of the regulation of housing supply and choice is a unified development ordinance, or we call it the UDO, which determines the type and quantity of housing allowed. Making changes to the UDO is one of the most effective ways to address the community's housing challenges. But public input is needed to better understand what changes to prioritize and the extent to which changes should be made. So again, the end of this month and 1st of September. The City of Winston Salem also in partnership with some other nonprofit organizations will host Project Homeless Connect on Tuesday, August 19th, from 11 to 3 p.m.