August 13: The week ahead in Raleigh
City Council meets on August 15. Here are a few agenda items of interest:
During the work session at 11:30, staff will present Council with a general overview of Raleigh’s Historic Overlay ordinances and process, along with a more specific discussion of the Prince Hall Historic Overlay District. The discussion was triggered by a recent rezoning case. Click here for the agenda backup materials.
Council will consider providing an additional $500,000 for an affordable housing community called Terrace at Rock Creek. The project received City funding previously, but like several other projects that have come before Council recently, the developer is requesting additional financial support due to increased construction costs and rising interest rates. Click here for the agenda backup materials.
Council will resume the public hearing for rezoning Z-16-20. The case involves approximately 526 acres in the eastern part of Wake County. The property is currently outside of Raleigh’s municipal boundaries and is zoned under the County’s zoning ordinance for low density residential. The developer is seeking approval of a Planned Development Zoning District that will allow for a phased development that will include greenways, public open spaces and various infrastructure improvements required to support the proposed development. It will include a variety of housing types along with a relatively small amount of retail. While these kinds of large, mixed-use master plans were common in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, as land has been consumed by development, there are relatively few large tracts left to be developed like this. Click here for the agenda backup materials.
The public hearing for rezoning case Z-88-22 will be resumed as well. It involves approximately 6.7 acres located at 130 Kindley St. near the intersection of S McDowell and Martin Luther King Blvd. The applicant is requesting a zoning change from Downtown Mixed Use 20-stories to Downtown Mixed Use 40-stories with Conditions. The conditions relate to bike and pedestrian access, along with on-street parking limitations. The case was deemed consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and Planning Commission recommended approval of the case with a 7-0 vote. A new zoning condition was added that requires the developer to contribute $40,000 per unit for 1% of the total number of units built on the property. These kinds of affordable housing fees are showing up on most rezoning cases now. But the process appears haphazard and could expose the City to legal challenges. Click here for agenda backup materials.
Rezoning Z-8-23 involves property currently operating as a car dealership. The applicant recently obtained rezoning of the adjacent property that was also a car dealership (Z-10-22). That property was rezoned to Commercial Mixed Use-20 stories Conditional Use. The current rezoning is designed to be developed in coordination with the adjacent property because they will essentially share the development intensity approved in Z-10-22. These are underutilized parcels that represent an excellent opportunity for mixed use urban development along a frequent bus route, as well as greenway connections. Click here for agenda backup materials.
The Board of Adjustment continued hearing the neighbors’ appeal of the Hayes Barton Missing Middle townhome proposal on August 9. At the end of the meeting, the Board of Adjustment requested proposed written decisions from each side and will presumably render a decision during its scheduled meeting on Monday, August 14 at 11:00.
Planning Commission’s Text Change Committee meets on August 16 to continue reviewing TC-2-23 which amends the existing Transit Overlay District. The purpose of the text change is to remove the prohibition on single-family and duplex housing options within TOD’s. It also limits the size of commercial uses allowed within apartment buildings. Click here for agenda backup materials.