I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongue. This is not about what is, it’s about what can become. A vibrant tree canopy to grow 24,000 strong. City of Oaks, Grow them with care. Give them clean water. And feed them fresh air. This is the future we ask you to share.
I am asking this Council to direct staff to implement a case-by-case evaluation process for TOD projects in established neighborhoods. Density bonuses should be contingent upon: Infrastructure Alignment, Public Benefit and Safety Verification. Raleigh needs smart growth, but blanket policies that ignore physical infrastructure risk displacing the very communities they intend to serve.
Eight neighbors from Litchford Forest spoke at the Public Comment Session asking City Council to uphold the decision of the Planning Commission which voted 8-1 to DENY rezoning case Z-43-25.
We told you this would not work. And then you did it anyway. And what you installed was not just dismissive of our concerns, It was incomplete. You placed these bike lanes without clear roadway markings. No clear direction. No clear separation. Just confusion on a street where confusion can cost someone their life. So let’s call this what it is: That’s negligence.
The choice is not between density everywhere anywhere and slow growth. The answer lies in responsible growth.
Why does “the greater good” so often require loss from the same communities? Why are the people who already rely on transit the ones most at risk of being displaced from it? What does it mean to build a transit corridor that the current riders might no longer be able to afford to live near? if the greater good keeps requiring that the same communities lose everything, perhaps we need to ask ourselves what “good” really means.
You have heard us speak about the potential exorbitant cost of choosing this route. Now more than ever costs are so important because of the city budget shortfall. This project has grown from 4 million to over 11 million largely because of the chosen route.
When you just announced a $13 million budget shortfall and probable property tax increase, it is irresponsible to spend money on a poet laureate.
A good planning process starts with defining a planning area and noting its features. We’ve got that —in a Comprehensive Plan whose interpretation and use should remain stable through the update cycle.
When public funds, private interests, and historic institutions intersect—transparency is not optional. Neutrality is not optional. Accountability is not optional. And right now, the public deserves answers—not silence, not side conversations, and not decisions made in whispers.