Litchford Forest Neighbors Plead with City Council

PUBLIC COMMENT EXCERPTS

TeeJay Lanspery

Before moving to Raleigh in 2015, I biked from my house daily to downtown Boise, Idaho for my job for more than five years. Since moving to Litchford Forest, however, I have not felt safe riding a bicycle beyond my own street because of the lack of bike lanes, sidewalks, crosswalks and safe roadway connections. Because of these conditions, I drive my teenage son the short distance to Millbrook High School rather than have him walk or bike along  unsafe roads.

Raleigh’s Planning Commission voted 8–1 against this rezoning. This reflects the serious concerns residents have regarding traffic, safety, infrastructure limitations, environmental impacts and compatibility with the  surrounding neighborhood. Approving additional density in an area that already lacks basic pedestrian infrastructure undermines Raleigh’s adopted goals for thoughtful, connected and balanced growth. Our community is not opposed to growth. However, infrastructure, environmental protections and safety improvements should come before — not after — additional development intensifies existing problems.

I respectfully ask that you deny  Rezoning Case Z-43-25 until meaningful and safe infrastructure, mobility and environmental improvements are in place.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Larissa Greene

I am speaking today about the rezoning of 6309 Litchford Rd, Z-43-25. Over-populating this parcel will have ripple effects through our neighborhood which will place a burden on every Raleigh taxpayer.

This application is not compliant with the future land use map. This area calls for low intensity residential use into the future because Johnsdale Road still functions on rural standards today. To bring Johnsdale Road to a city standard it will cost the city of Raleigh multi-millions of dollars. 

This proposal creates infrastructure demands. We are looking at road widening requirements, sidewalk installations, curb & gutter, drainage improvements, creek erosion control, utility relocation, mailbox relocation, fiber  lines relocated, right of way acquisitions, tree removal & retaining walls, driveway culverts brought to code, sewer capacity increases and tree disruption along the sewer line and more. This is a cost burden to all taxpayers, not just individual landowners. The impacts of development should be mitigated. The disparity between UDO codes and existing conditions on Johnsdale and Litchford Road is massive.

As we think about city budget short falls, how many of Raleigh’s other streets have already been pushed past the brink of sustainability? We heard from Yolanda earlier tonight whose road is also too narrow for the safety of added residents.

Good planning should respect the limits of the land and surrounding context, not simply test how much can fit.

Eva Verlinden

My name is Eva Verlinden. My husband Matt and I were both born and raised in Raleigh and have lived on Johnsdale Rd in Litchford Forest since 2009.

This is not just about changing a map, it’s about safety. On May 7th, traffic forced a school bus off Johnsdale Road and it destroyed our mailbox and post. Thankfully the bus hit the mailbox rather than a pedestrian or car, and
no one was injured. The accident will go on record as another “side-swipe” for the Johnsdale collection. This is the 3rd time a vehicle has taken out our mailbox during the time we have lived here.

A school bus is 9.5’ wide including the mirrors, which is more than half of our 17 foot wide road. There are no lines on the road for inexperienced drivers, or people unfamiliar with the road to know they need to yield their space to a wide vehicle coming.

The city of Raleigh is already years behind in infrastructure updates on our major adjoining roads. Please deny this rezoning, as the existing Johnsdale Road is clearly at its limits.

Elizabeth Polizzo

My name is Elizabeth Polizzo. I live on Johnsdale Road, and I am here in opposition to zoning application Z-43-25. You are meeting a number of us this evening – please take note of how we have come together to speak against this rezoning. I’m a mother of a young child, and I’m here tonight with serious concerns about what this proposed development means for the health and safety of our families, specifically regarding our water supply and  potential land disturbance impacts.

We already experience standing water on our property; this is not a hypothetical. It is our current reality. When I think about the scale of land disturbance this project would bring, and I look at the water that already pools on our land, I have genuine fear about what happens to the water my family drinks. Standing water near wells and septic systems creates real contamination risk. The potential impacts of significant land disturbance on an already wet site could push that risk to a level no family should have to accept.

I have a little girl. The water coming out of our tap is not an abstraction to me…it is what I give her every single day. Clean water is a human right, and right now, that right feels very much at risk. In addition, the loss of mature tree canopy compounds these concerns. Those trees are not just shade, they are a natural filtration and absorption system. They slow runoff, reduce standing water, and protect the groundwater we drink. Removing them  increases both the volume and speed of stormwater reaching our wells and septics. My daughter plays in our yard. I should not have to worry about what’s in our water, which is why we purchased a property with a well in the first place. 

I want to preempt any suggestion that a city water or sewer connection solves this. It does not. Not for us. Johnsdale Road has unique conditions that make connection costs prohibitive. Our homes have large setbacks from  meters and sewer lines. Every sewer connection on the east side of the road requires digging up the street. Many homes sit below grade, requiring a pump. And city water must be connected before city sewer. We are  realistically looking at $30,000 or more per household. That is not a solution. That is a burden placed on existing residents to absorb the impacts of a development we did not ask for.

Jason Comparetto

My name is Jason Comparetto, and I live on Ravenhill Drive near 6309 Litchford Road. I’m here tonight to respectfully ask you to deny the proposed rezoning request for that property. 

The current character of this area is still suburban in nature. The roads, drainage systems, pedestrian infrastructure, and transit availability were not designed to support the level of density being requested here. 

The Planning Commission recognized these concerns and voted 8–1 to recommend denial, stating that the requested zoning is too intensive for the assigned Future Land Use Category.

This property can already be developed under the existing R-4 zoning. That still allows meaningful growth while remaining more compatible with the surrounding neighborhood scale, setbacks, open space, and infrastructure capacity.

Good planning is not simply about maximizing density wherever possible. It’s about matching development intensity to the realities of the land, transportation network, utilities, and surrounding community context.

Approving this rezoning would push this area toward a level of intensity that the existing infrastructure is not prepared to support today.

Nellie Taylor

My name is Nellie Taylor. I am speaking today about the rezoning of 6309 Litchford Rd, Z-43-25, and why I feel that R-4 zoning is sufficient.

The property at 6309 Litchford has always been referred to as “the farm” and I feel should be worthy of preservation as historical Southern architecture built in 1904. It has always been a reminder of what this area once was – a farming community dating back to the 1700s that protected and nourished the land. Mr. Litchford’s grandfather was a tailor for President Andrew Johnson. It is somewhat shocking that almost no buildings remain from this historical land which goes south to the Millbrook train crossing and North to 8020 Litchford Rd which was at the planning commission for rezoning this morning.

As my neighbors have said, Johnsdale Road cannot handle any more traffic. It is not safe now to try and walk on this road or even drive especially during the opening and closing hours of Millbrook High School. It is hard to imagine how it will be with 100+ more cars using the road on a daily basis. It will make the nightmare we have now even worse.

I encourage Council members to prioritize the well-being of current and future residents over profits.

Vicki Reich

I’m Vicki Reich. My family and I have lived on Johnsdale Rd for 23 years. One of the main challenges we had in raising our 5 children was when they began driving. And so as a retired teacher and parent, I have to talk about how the rezoning of 6309 Litchford road would affect the students at Millbrook High School. 

6309 Litchford road is currently vacant and no cars or pedestrians use Johnsdale Road to access the driveway. The current building entitlements of 32 units on this site adds 288 trips. But rezoning it would add 396 trips. We already have 936 trips a day, so adding 54 allowed units would increase our traffic by 42%. This excludes all the high school numbers.

In a single day, the traffic study data from 2023 reveals that 398 cars were documented speeding on Johnsdale Road at up to 50mph, with speed bumps. Imagine what their cars look like after all that. The street data  measurement tool shows Johnsdale Road measuring 16.5’ wide and the roads edges are also crumbling.

I believe part of the reason you were elected into our Raleigh City Council, is that when you make decisions, you choose to walk in someone else’s shoes. Try walking in the shoes of an inexperienced and impulsive teenage driver who causes a tragedy on Johnsdale Road. And then walk in the shoes of the child who has to go to the park in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

Leon Reich

I’m so privileged to be back here before you and speak on behalf of my community of families that we dearly love. We moved here in 2003 and have just seen in the last 5 years this community grow with about five, six, seven young couples with children because it is an area that they can buy into and so we’re really concerned about their safety and growing this community and families and children together. 

We are not anti-growth as each one has said but believe that growth must be carefully monitored and controlled, well knowing that the pursuit of developers is first and foremost the biggest and best return on their investment  and not necessarily on the quality of life. Once a project is completed they no longer have any responsibility to the community and can disconnect from whatever the long-term outcome of that development is.

You as the council have the great responsibility and the power to set limits and provide guidelines that not just provide housing for more and more people but to protect the sacred quality of life of our families in this long  established community.

Click on images below to see current conditions on Johnsdale Road. This infrastructure cannot handle any increases.

FULL PUBLIC COMMENTS

Read the full public comments by the Litchford Forest neighbors here: Litchford Forest Public Comments to City Council

You can watch the neighbors deliver their comments at the council meeting below. If the video starts at the beginning of the meeting instead of cuing up at the 1st Litchford Forest speaker, go to the 35:25 mark to begin with Teejay Lanspery’s comments:

Below, a parent walks their child and documents the unsafe traffic conditions. NO ONE STOPS at the stop sign.

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