Tim Niles is a founding member of Livable Raleigh and has been a resident of Raleigh for over 30 years.
At the May 13, 2025 City Council meeting he delivered these public comments:
Good evening Mayor and Council Members,
Mayor Cowell was quoted discussing the 30-story tower proposed for West St which is located in a designated Downtown Transition Area at the very edge of the Central Business District. She said:
“Residential neighborhoods should have a buffer between them and very tall buildings, but Raleigh has an acute housing shortage and can’t keep turning down projects that would provide hundreds of units.”
I checked the numbers.
The facts show that of the 303 zoning applications submitted and resolved from 2020 to today, only 5 have been denied including the previous version of the 30-story tower.
298 have been approved. An approval rate over 98.3%.
In the same time council has approved cases for over 110,000 housing units.
I don’t think a serious claim can be made that Raleigh keeps “turning down” projects when only 5 have been denied in 5 years.
This doesn’t even take into account all the additional ‘By Right’ entitlement* created with the Missing Middle policies.
The case in question could have supplied 770 housing units. The current 12 story zoning allows for 549 units.
It’s a difference of 221 units, a miniscule 2 tenths of one percent of the over 110,000 units already approved.
The Mayor also said:
“You want to have a serious conversation and give it a good effort to find something that works for the city, provides housing and adds to the property tax base but also honors the Comprehensive Plan.”
That serious conversation took place in 2015 when this property was upzoned from 4 stories to 12.
The Comp Plan is very clear about this location and the only zoning that honors it is 12 stories.
It doesn’t make sense to violate the plan for an extra 221 units out of 110,000 when you can build 549 units under the current zoning while honoring the plan.
What is clear is that Raleigh does not suffer from a lack of entitlement to build housing.
Your newly appointed Planning Commissioner is quoted in INDY Week saying, he’ll focus on allowing housing to get built.
Who’s stopping it? You approved over 98% of requests, over 110,000 units. BUILD THEM!
Maybe you should consider including conditions in rezonings that construction must commence within a time certain or the zoning reverts back to its previous entitlement. This would stop the cases that are speculative and simply intended to raise the value of property for resale with no intention to build anything.
Thank You
* By Right Entitlement is what is legally allowed to be built on a specific property based on its current zoning in the city’s code. Recently implemented Missing Middle policies increased the By Right Entitlement for nearly every property citywide without requiring any new zoning.
Livable Raleigh covered the topic of growth & housing two years ago. You can read it here: Population Growth & Housing Deficits
NOTE from Livable Raleigh – In the same N&O piece Mayor Cowell says she is keeping track of her email on the issue of the proposed 30-story tower at West St. If you are opposed to it and want to see Raleigh honor the Comprehensive Plan as Mayor Cowell said we should, then please email the Mayor and ALL the City Council to express your concerns. This email address will send your message to all council members: citycouncilmembers@raleighnc.gov or you can find complete contact information for each councilor and their social media accounts here: City Council Contacts
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
West St Tower Neighborhood Meeting – All Stand!
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