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BREAKING NEWS: LiveableRaleigh’s attempt to force onto the 2024 ballot Raleigh City Council’s ordinance implementing the Council-appointed Study Group’s recommendation to move to 4-year staggered terms starting with the 2026 election has failed. The group needed to collect 5,000 signatures by June 13. According to the State Board of Elections, they collected just 2,562. The same group is also seeking to expand the size of Council from 8 to 11 by adding 3 additional district seats. They have until May of 2025 to collect 5,000 signatures. To date they have collected 1,514. If they collect the required 5,000 signatures, the question will go on the ballot sometime in 2025. RaleighForward opposes this effort. City Council considered a Resolution to add 3 district seats in May. RaleighForward was the only group that appeared before Council asking it to reject the Resolution. It also met with individual Councilors to explain the risks of upsetting the balance between at-large seats and district seats. Those arguments are set forth in a recent “Open Letter to Council” delivered to Council in May. Those efforts succeeded as Council declined to adopt the proposed Resolution. If you want to share your thoughts on this important issue, please reach out to eric@raleighforward.org. MISSING MIDDLE MAY BE UNDER ATTACK: There is a Missing Middle item on Council’s June 18 agenda. The Planning Director will present a report on how many units the Missing Middle ordinance has created since enactment in 2021 and 2022. According to the agenda, the Planning Director will also present “areas of potential revision.” Given that there is pending litigation challenging the current set of Missing Middle ordinances, that several of the newest Councilors campaigned against Missing Middle and that the election is approaching, it seems likely that some of the new Councilors see this as their last opportunity to try and address Missing Middle before the election. RaleighForward urges anyone that supports Missing Middle housing to pay attention to this agenda item. If a majority of Council directs staff to roll back some or all of the Missing Middle reforms, it’s going to take a significant mobilization effort in a short amount of time to convince Council not to reverse this significant win for “gentle density” across the City. If you are interested in helping preserve the Missing Middle reforms, please reach out to eric@raleighforward.org.
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