Peace/West St Neighborhood meeting – All Stand!

Photo – at the close of the meeting all those OPPOSED to the plan were asked to stand

Wednesday evening, April 23, 6pm at NCSU’s McKimmon Center was the 1st Neighborhood Meeting for the proposed 30-story tower on West Street at Peace Street.

The meeting was hosted by the applicant/land-owner/developer and led by the applicant’s attorney.

The meeting was attended by more than 100 people.

At the start of the meeting the attorney addressed one of the major concerns expressed about this proposed tower. The precedent it would set to approve a 30-story tower in a location that is designated by the city as a Downtown Transition Area with a maximum height of 12 stories. This site was already upzoned from 4 stories to the 12 story maximum in 2015 with NO PUBLIC INPUT.

The attorney noted that he has never been successful by asking for a zoning case to be approved based on a precedent from a previous case. Later in the meeting he asserted this proposed 30-story tower would be appropriate at this location because there is already an approved 40-story tower nearby at the intersection of Peace St & Capital Blvd. Do you see what he did there? He says not to be concerned about the precedent this would set while trying to justify it with a previous precedent. More on this later and why the 40-story precedent is NOT comparable.

Lets go back in time 2 years when this same proposal was DENIED by City Council in a 6-2 vote. The only currently sitting councilor who voted for this 2 years ago is Councilor Lambert-Melton.

This map shows you the location of the proposed 30-story tower.

This map shows downtown in white, the gray is not downtown. Where the two meet is considered the “edge”

- The area outlined in RED is the Glenwood-Brooklyn neighborhood.
- The GREEN line is West Street
- The area outlined in BLUE is the proposed development site

The turquoise areas are designated Downtown Transition Areas designed to protect existing residential neighborhoods from the intense heights of the Central Business District. More on that later.

Here is what the Comprehensive Plan has to say about Downtown Transition Areas and the boundaries between Downtown areas and established residential neighborhoods.

The transition policy calls out the Glenwood-Brooklyn neigborhood for protection from Central Business District heights.

To make it even more clear that the Glenwood-Brooklyn neighborhood is supposed to be protected from the intense heights of the Central Business District, in February 2024, just over one year ago, the City Council voted to formally designate the West Street location as a Downtown Transition Area.

The table below, LU-2 Recommended Heights, shows the heights allowed in various areas. You should look at the “Central Business District” and note the heights allowed in different categories — specifically “General” and “Edge.”

The Central Business District is intended to taper down to 4 stories at the “Edge” to protect the nearby established neighborhoods. “General” allows for a max of 12.

Even if you believe the location in the map above is far enough away from Glenwood-Brooklyn to be considered “General” instead of “Edge” it is still only designated for a max of 12 stories. And, remember Glenwood-Brooklyn is referred to by name for this protection.

This is how the Comprehensive Plan defines the EDGE Category

This is how the Comprehensive Plan defines the GENERAL Category

This is how the Comprehensive Plan defines the CORE/TRANSIT Category

This is how the Comprehensive Plan handles a conflict between the EDGE and CORE/TRANSIT

It is clear from these defintions that at best, the property on West Street qualifies for a maximum of 12 stories and it is already zoned for that maximum.

Let’s address why the applicant’s comparison of this proposal to the existing 40-story tower approved at the intersection of Peace St and Capital Blvd doesn’t hold water.

There are three major differences between that location and the proposed location at Peace and West Streets.

- The Capital Blvd location is NOT on the “edge” of downtown while the West Street property is.
- The Capital Blvd location is not located next to a residential neighborhood while the West Street location is. The Glenwood-Brooklyn neighborhood near the West Street proposal is called out by name in the Comprehensive Plan for protection from downtown heights.
- The Capital Blvd location is where a planned Transit Station will be located while the West Street location is NOT.

All of this explains just why the additional height is appropriate at the Capital Blvd location and why it is NOT appropriate at the West Street location.

Finally, this rezoning would set a dangerous precedent that would affect ALL neighborhoods. The developer wants to build a 30-story tower in a Downtown Transition Area, 240 feet from homes in a historic neighborhood. Anything greater than 12 stories violates height guidance, 4 plans, 47 policies, and 2 tables.

There is not one single city policy or plan that supports more than 12 stories at this location.

Raleigh Neighbors United (RNU) provides links to analysis of these violations.

The neighbors support the current zoning for 12 stories. No one is trying to stop a 12 story development from being built. 12 stories is density.

More on this proposal:

West St Tower Violates Raleigh Downtown Plan

West St Tower Violates Equitable Transit Development

West St Tower Violates the Capital Blvd Corridor Study

West St Tower Proposal Violates the Comprehensive Plan

Want to know more about these signs?

Urge Raleigh to Stick to the Plan

City Council We Have a Problem