August 14: The week ahead
Here is what we will be watching this week:
City Council returns from its Summer break and will conduct a work session on August 16 at 11:30am. During the work session staff will update Council on the Wake BRT Southern Corridor preliminary design and what is needed to move the project through the federal Small Starts grant program. It’s worth noting how much time and effort goes into these major infrastructure projects from planning to delivery. For example, the BRT system was approved by voters in 2016 (after 2 years of community engagement). If all goes as planned and funding is secured, service will not start until 2028. If you are interested in more detail, here is a link to the agenda materials.
After the work session, Council will hold its regular meeting starting at 1:00 pm. There is an affordable housing item on the consent agenda that addresses a new method the City is implementing to monitor how it deploys the proceeds from the 2020 affordable housing bond. There is also an update on the City’s efforts to address housing affordability.
Council will consider a proposal to allow residents to make public comments remotely. Staff will present an option used by the City of Asheville that allows residents to record a comment over a dedicated phone line and those comments are then transcribed and provided to Council before each meeting. Here is a link to the full recommendation.
Council will consider several significant rezoning requests. Rezoning Z-18-22 was deferred during Council’s July 5 meeting to allow for further community engagement and so staff could gather information about Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (“NOAH”) within the corridor. The case involves rezoning land along both sides of the Western Blvd. BRT corridor. This rezoning was initiated by the City and is part of the implementation process for the City’s planned BRT system that was approved by voters in 2016. For more information, including the staff report on the NOAH issue, click this link.
The other rezoning case is Z-67-21 and involves increasing the allowable density on the existing North Hills development along Six Forks Road and Lassiter Mill. The public hearing was continued from Council’s July 5 meeting. Revised conditions were submitted that include additional detail related to the dedication of land for a regional transit transfer station, as well as land for an upgraded fire station. Other conditions relate to the construction of bike and pedestrian infrastructure along Six Forks Road and Lassiter Mill. For more information, here is a link to the full agenda materials.
Planning Commission’s Text Change Committee meets on Friday, August 19 at 9:00 am. The Committee will consider Text Change (TC-18-21). The text change simplifies the requirements for building Accessory Structures and Accessory Dwelling Units. This is a continuation of the City’s regulatory reform efforts designed to reduce the barriers to permitting and building “gentle density” throughout Raleigh. Here is a link to the agenda and backup materials.