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Partners for Environmental Justice Community Project Expo
Partners for Environmental Justice Community Project Expo
SW Raleigh Community Engagement Holiday Social
SW Raleigh Community Engagement Holiday Social
Neighborhood Rezoning Meeting: 8020 Litchford Rd.
Neighborhood Rezoning Meeting: 8020 Litchford Rd.
District E Meeting in conjunction with RPAC
District E Meeting in conjunction with RPAC
Neighborhood Rezoning Meeting: 4601 Creedmoor Rd.
Neighborhood Rezoning Meeting: 4601 Creedmoor Rd.
Voice Your Ideas for a More Accessible Raleigh
Voice Your Ideas for a More Accessible Raleigh
District D Neighborhood Alliance (DDNA) meeting
District D Neighborhood Alliance (DDNA) meeting
Read up on our latest news…
Don’t Ban Video Presentations
when I have used presentations, they have allowed me to better show the orientation of a townhome development proposed in the single family neighborhood of Woodcrest. I have used presentations to show where mixed-use development would be beneficial along major traffic arteries.
January 30, 2024 City Council Meeting Highlights
A. 7:00 P.M. EVENING AGENDA B. MEETING CALLED TO ORDER BY THE MAYOR C. MATTERS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING 1. Comprehensive Plan Amendment CP-7-22: New Bern Station Area Planning 2. Rezoning Z-92-22: New Bern Station Area Planning, 744...
Z-92, a truly deceptive, destructive plan
Please, ask yourself why staff is proposing to put the TOD overlay in place and then, head fake! Wipe it out in the same rezoning case with a totally unrelated and massive up-zoning of 744 properties. Ask yourself why Mayor Baldwin thinks that’s a good idea.
Property valuation increases come with a cost
A neighborhood is most fortunate when it is somewhere in the middle: Prosperous enough that residents can live in safety, and find it worthwhile to maintain their homes, but not so prosperous that residency is determined only by income, and the soul of the neighborhood is lost.
CITY COUNCIL RETREAT – JANUARY 26 & 27, 2024
HIGHLIGHTS Typical issues with transparency. Meeting start time initially reported at 1pm, then 12noon, then livestream was supposed to start at 12:40. It actually started at 1:18pm. Apparently a panel discussion occurred when they weren’t filming and no details were...
New Bern TOD – Redo the map – apply it strategically
On January 30th, City Council should vote against the current rezoning case and send City Planners back to the drawing board to redo the map. Wide support of the TOD can be accomplished by strategically applying it to commercial properties and open lots. You cannot reduce the displacement pressure on the existing neighborhoods when you include those very neighborhoods in the TOD!
Video from our New Bern Ave Forum is Available NOW!
Video from our New Bern Avenue Public Forum is available! If you weren’t able to attend, you can watch the video here NOW!
The Planning Commission recommends denial; you should take their advice
There are no changes or tweaks to the language that will make it acceptable. This change request by the Planning Department, not property owners, has the flavor and appearance of a public taking. If you vote in favor of this, you will be remembered as a partner in Urban Renewal.
Locals gather to hear Community Leaders discuss mass upzoning plans for New Bern Ave
An overflow crowd turned out Sunday afternoon for Livable Raleigh’s public forum to discuss a proposed upzoning of more than 700 properties along the New Bern Avenue corridor. The resounding message was to ask City Council to deny the rezoning request (Z-92-22) and to put the TOD (Transit-Oriented Development) into committee for modifications. Panelists and audience members alike expressed concern about the displacement of an entire minority community. Attendees were encouraged to attend the upcoming public hearing on January 30 at 7pm at the Raleigh Municipal Building.
Official Raleigh survey – residents OPPOSE 4-Year City Council terms
Despite having received two surveys showing lack of support for 4-year terms, council wants to ask the residents again. No District, No Age Group and No Racial or Ethnic Group show majority support for 4-year City Council terms. What part of NO are you having trouble with? Are you just planning to keep taking votes until you get the results you want?
January 16 City Council Meetings Highlights
HIGHLIGHTS Mayor Baldwin absent from Work Session and absent and excused for portion of afternoon session and for evening session. City Council Retreat will be held on Friday, January 26, from 1-5pm at the WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary and on Saturday, January 27,...
US Marshals Weigh In as Crime Escalates in Raleigh
Raleigh should not have needed the US Marshals help. Raleigh should not be where it is today. But, Baldwin took pride in wanting to be Mayor of Drunktown.
No timeline for parades to begin again in Raleigh
Raleigh city staff is now entering Year 2 of not knowing how to allow a real parade — that is, a parade like those held in every major city in America. Not only do we not have anything concrete from the City Manager, she doesn’t even have a timeline for bringing something forward for Council to consider. Meanwhile, our parades are limited to walkers and horse-drawn wagons.
UPDATE – City Council Retreat – Still No Details
it’s possible the details for the Council Retreat may NOT be published until Thursday, January 18, 8 days before the first day of the Council Retreat. We believe the fact that the Council Retreat has been published on the City’s Events Calendar with the dates and identified as both the City Council Annual Retreat and a City Council Meeting qualifies as formal notice of the meeting and it is past time for the details of time of day, location and virtual attendance opportunities to be given to the public so interested parties can have adequate time to make plans.
Follow Planning Best Practices: Use BRT to Revitalize Neighborhoods, Not Remove Them.
Livable Raleigh’s position is that while adding density along BRT corridors is a desirable goal, the impact of the $97M New Bern Avenue BRT project alone will create a tremendous incentive for dense organic redevelopment that incentivizes economically viable affordable housing height bonuses up to 5 stories – and not above. The effect of the proposed 744 parcel upzoning, Z-92-22 (which ironically leaves out the zero-density Raleigh Country Club) will not only eliminate most opportunities to incentivize and negotiate affordable housing units, but will also accelerate the displacement of all low wealth and Black households in the corridor – in direct conflict with the city’s adopted ETOD vision to reverse displacement.
Gun Violence Higher in Gentrifying Neighborhoods
One of the solutions to the problem proposed by the authors is to support policies to reduce the displacement of longtime residents, which would include affordable housing. Instead, along the New Bern Avenue BRT, our developer-friendly city planners have increased the height threshold for affordable units from three stories to five, which guarantees that no affordable units will be built because of the increase in cost of construction materials when height exceeds the five stories allowed under stick building.
Raleigh City Council Retreat, who knows where, who knows when?
We’ve been waiting patiently for the details to appear on the City’s Events Calendar so we can add the information to our calendar and publicize this important event. With less than three weeks to go before the retreat is scheduled to occur, the City’s Events Calendar still does not give us the time, the place, the agenda or even an indication as to if the event will be live-streamed or recorded for those who cannot make it to the undisclosed location.
Create an Area Plan for New Bern Avenue
The solution is simple. You are half way there. You have exempted one and two story homes from the TOD. Well done! Now, fix the core of the problem by amending TC-17A-20 so that NCODs, HODs and residential properties take precedence over the TOD! You amended this ordinance once. Let’s send it back to the drawing board, amend it again, and put equity and neighborhood protection back in.
January 2, 2024 City Council Meeting Highlights
Highlights from the January 2, 2024 City Council afternoon and evening meetings
Baldwin’s Council Cronies Erect Housing Hurdles
This gentrification–cruelly forced to be funded by the council’s constituents through taxes and fees–is not done with respect to or value for the history, culture, and communities of Downtown. It’s for the investors; for the migratory wealthy who seek new investments for their capital in an expanding city.