Robert Russotti has been a South Park resident since 2006. He is a local business and property owner who cares deeply about thoughtful development, neighborhood preservation, and ensuring that residents have a meaningful voice in decisions affecting their community.
South Park neighbors deserve to know what we are being asked to give up before we know exactly what will replace it.
The official Z-22-26 request covers approximately 0.93 acres at Bragg Street and South East Street. It would keep the underlying R-10 zoning but remove the South Park Neighborhood Conservation Overlay District requirements from the site – including the existing height restriction.
There is no specific site or development plan included with this rezoning request. In the applicant’s neighborhood-meeting report, the project was described as being at an early stage, with rezoning establishing the rules for future development rather than final designs.
At the Planning Commission meeting, the developer mentioned the possibility of approximately 50 residential units. That does not mean Z-22-26 itself approves a 50-unit project. But when development of that potential scale is being discussed, we should pay close attention to the protections being removed.
This is about scale. South Park’s existing homes, lots, setbacks and building heights create a recognizable neighborhood fabric.
The NCOD was designed to help new development fit that established pattern rather than overwhelm it.
We support new housing. We support responsible density. We support continued investment in South Park. But we believe growth should be thoughtful and should respect the scale, streetscape and historic character of the homes and community already here.
Removing the overlay first – without a specific development plan showing our neighbors what will actually be built – asks our community to surrender protections now and evaluate the consequences later.
Once these protections are removed from these parcels, what prevents the next property owner from asking for the same exception?
If Raleigh believes South Park’s conservation standards need to change, we believe that deserves an open, transparent, neighborhood-wide discussion.
The future of South Park should be considered together – not through the gradual removal of the NCOD one assemblage at a time.
Progress and preservation can coexist. We can welcome new housing and responsible growth without losing the human scale that makes South Park our neighborhood.
Robert Russotti
City Council email – CityCouncilMembers@RaleighNC.gov
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