March 12: The week ahead in Raleigh
Here is what we will be watching this week:
City Council met on Tuesday, March 7. During the afternoon session, Council discussed several items of interest.
It approved several additional positions requested by the Police Department for the City’s ACORNS program. Those positions include an additional supervisor and 3 social workers. This is a substantial expansion of the ACORNS program which helps police deal with residents experiencing a mental health crisis.
Council agreed to schedule a work session in April to discuss possible changes to how City Council is elected. Specific topics to be included were not discussed but might include moving to 4-year staggered terms, moving to a primary, returning to a runoff and expanding the size of Council election. We have heard that the 4 newest Council members are receptive to moving to a primary election but would need a 5th vote to make it happen.
Rezoning Z-75-22 was back before Council after a month's delay. The request seeks to rezone approximately 2.3 acres from Residential-4 to Residential-6. Under the current Residential-4 zoning, the owner could build 16 houses while the requested Residential 6 Conditional Use district would allow no more than 25 townhouses. Recall District E Councilor Christina Jones asked that the case be deferred on February 7 to get more information on traffic impacts. The case came back before Council on March 7. Instead of acting on the rezoning request, Councilor Jones again asked for the case to be deferred until staff completes additional analysis. Council deferred the case to April.
While seeking additional information regarding traffic and pedestrian safety is reasonable, linking this analysis to a rezoning case seeking only to add 9 additional townhouses is not. It’s hard to imagine any traffic increase caused by 9 additional homes could justify facility improvements like installing a traffic signal, turn lane, etc. Also worth noting, the case is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, the Future Land Use Map and received a 7-0 vote recommending approval by the Planning Commission. These delays for such incremental additional density add to the costs for badly needed housing units.
Along those same lines, Council deferred Z-55-22 to “encourage” additional negotiation between the applicant and the neighbors because the neighbors desire that one of the proposed structures be reduced from 8-stories to 12-stories. This comes despite the fact that the applicant agreed to a neighborhood demand to wrap a proposed parking deck on another part of the development with active uses. This additional request to reduce building height by 4-stories will eliminate a substantial number of proposed residential units. As the discussion proceeded, Councilor Melton expressed a desire for the applicant to allow outdoor seating on the site and also to consider increasing the height of a proposed parking deck (located on another street) to offset the potential loss of residential units on the other building. This delay and the loss of a significant number of potential residential units will do nothing more than exacerbate the City’s ongoing housing affordability crisis.
Rezoning cases Z-61-22, Z-65-22, Z-74-22 and Z-81-22 were approved by Council, while Z-43-22, Z-75-22, Z-55-22 and Z-82-22 were deferred.
Continuing on the housing affordability theme, the City is seeking input from Raleigh residents on its 5-year Consolidated Plan. The Plan addresses how the City will use funding to support affordable housing and community development initiatives. There will be several community engagement opportunities in March and a Public Hearing on the report is scheduled for April 4. Ultimately, the approved plan will be submitted to HUD. For more information, click here.
The City’s annual budgeting process is in full swing. Council’s March 13 work session will include staff presentations from the following departments:
Planning and Development Services
Stormwater Management
Solid Waste Services
Raleigh Water
These presentations typically involve information relating to the setting of fees for each of each department. The Office of Community Engagement will also present the findings of the City’s resident survey asking about budget priorities for 2023.
The City is sponsoring a workshop for small-scale homebuilders on March 31st. There is a registration requirement for participation. Additional information is available here.
Raleigh’s Planning Academy is set to launch this Spring. Are you interested in learning more about the community planning process? Do you want to understand what guides land development or how to navigate a rezoning case? This is the program for you. Click here for the application materials. The deadline to apply is March 20th.
For the first time in a while, there are ZERO rezoning applications on the Planning Commission agenda for Tuesday, March 14. PC will be considering a significant stormwater text change driven by changes in state law. For more information about TC-1-23, click here. PC will also review the results of a survey of PC members about the Equity and Climate Change section of the standard rezoning staff report. Based on the survey results and discussion during the meeting, changes to the standard staff report may be suggested.
Planning Commission’s Text Change Committee will review the Mobile Retail Ordinance (TC-1-22). The intent of the Text Change is to reduce the regulatory burden, particularly by reducing spacing and seating requirements, while also allowing limited signage for food trucks and other forms of mobile retail.