Raleigh is growing rapidly. Where are we headed? Most Raleighites like the idea of growth that is more economical, environmental and equitable. To succeed, we’ll have to grow in ways and in locations that bring fewer cars, more trees and more equitable prosperity.
Clear-Cut Hillside above Azalea Falls FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMarch 15, 2022 Raleigh’s City Council has endorsed more high-density development projects in the last two years than at any time previously in our city. Most of these were approved with few or no restrictions...
The graph below comes from a Triangle Business Journal article contending that developers are “flooding” the current council with rezoning requests because they are confident that their requests will be quickly and easily...
After six weeks of special meetings and intense analysis, the Raleigh Planning Commission found the Downtown South Project, the largest development proposal ever in Raleigh, to be fundamentally inconsistent with Raleigh’s adopted policies for environmental protection,...
As the largest development proposal ever seen in Raleigh, John Kane’s Downtown South Project challenges all the normal processes for judging community impacts and benefits. The political pressure for quick approval is equally off the charts, so much so that the City...
Raleigh’s Comprehensive Plan makes a clear commitment to sustainability and focuses on the “interdependent relationships of environmental stewardship, economic strength and social integrity.” It emphasizes the provision of economic and housing opportunities for all segments of the population in all areas of the city… including “aging in place.” It strongly promotes protection, restoration and preservation of the environment and existing neighborhoods; “of careful infill development that complements existing character and responds to natural features” … “the conservation of urban, suburban and native forests” … “preserving its natural landscapes” … “wildlife and habitat protection” and on and on.
At the October 6 Raleigh City Council afternoon meeting, David Knight led a spurious, yet successful effort to destroy Azalea Falls, one of Raleigh’s designated National Historic sites. As usual, the development-driven Council majority voted 7 to 1 (David Cox being the lone dissenter) to perpetrate another environmental disaster in our community.
(This is the full version of the abbreviated op-ed published in the News and Observer on October 2, 2020) Azalea Falls is a hidden Raleigh gem that has recently been designated by the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources as being an ecological habitat of...
The steeply wooded hillsides above Azalea Falls are, as detailed in the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources designation of statewide ecological significance, INTEGRAL to Azalea Falls’ unique forest ecology and aquatic habitats. No wooded hillsides, no Azalea Falls.
Despite overwhelming evidence that this upzoning should not go forward, this Council seems determined to approve the destruction of our most precious environmental assets for the insignificant benefit of one of the largest construction conglomerates in North America.