Z-12-25 and the Decision-Making Process

November 30, 2025
To: Raleigh City Council
Re: Z-12-25 and the decision-making process

At the October 7, 2025 public hearing at 7 PM there were a few comments made during the hearing on rezoning request Z-12-2025 to which I would like to respond, in addition to general comments on the overall procedure of the public hearing process.

One of the speakers supporting the rezoning request stated that the neighbors who are in opposition to this request feel that people in apartments do not deserve to live next to a park. This statement of course is not only ridiculous, but illogical as well. The neighbors were not opposed to a 12-story building, so it makes sense that they are happy with renters living next to a park. Someone on Council should have pushed back on this illogical comment. Since none of you did push back, some folks might think you agree with this notion. Silence is not always the best option.

Councilor Silver mentioned that the Planning Commission voted to approve Z-12-2025. That is rather insubstantial reason to use to justify your vote. When I was on the Planning Commission there were times I disagreed with the majority and voted no. I remember one time when I wrote a letter to the City Council expressing my disagreement with my fellow Planning Commission members. You might ask if my fellow Planning Commissioners were upset with me for doing that. I hardly think so, because they elected me as their chair for the last four years of my total six years on the Commission. I never thought that shrugging my shoulders and going with the flow was ever a good option. Councilor Silver also mentioned that it is confusing for citizens when the Comprehensive Plan says one thing and the UDO says something else. I do not think it is just the public that is confused. Using this confusion as a reason to abandon the Comprehensive Plan is no excuse at all. Councilor Silver also mentioned that during the 2009 and 2019 Comprehensive Plan updates that the public provided a lot of input. I do not see why this has anything to do with this case and why the use of this public input as a justification for voting to approve Z-12-25.

You may be of the opinion that the neighbors who opposed this rezoning request or similar requests might be having a challenging time with change. The question that should be asked about coming changes is this: do you bulldoze your way across the comprehensive plan and adjacent neighborhoods, or do you take a more moderate approach that brings about change but also takes into consideration some characteristics of Raleigh’s past development decisions that made this city the pleasant place that it has been?

Mayor Cowell mentioned the City of Atlanta, and that buildings faced the greenway and leveraged off the greenway. That is true, but in my research, and photo examination of buildings along that greenway I did not see any buildings over 18 stories tall. A question you may ask then, why are these buildings not taller than 18 stories even though they are next to a greenway? Whether or not there is a greenway or even a planned park is not at all relevant to the rezoning request due to a multiplicity of more important factors.

After your decision on Z-12-2025 I called a friend who lives near Atlanta to ask him about life in that area. He moved there in 1991 and said that at that time Atlanta had a wonderful treescape. Now, he said, it looks like a war zone with trees having come down left and right over the years. Strip malls multiplied around the beltway, and all those strip mall owners wanted entrance and exit ramps to service their developments. He also stated that traffic is a nightmare, and that it is so bad that attendance at Atlanta Braves baseball games dropped significantly because fans were tired of putting up with the ridiculous traffic. His son lives in Garner, and he thought about moving to Raleigh, but he abandoned that idea because of traffic here as well. Traffic in Raleigh continues to get worse, and I suspect that Raleigh drivers might soon arrive at the opinion—if they have not already–that stopping for some refreshments in Dante’s Ninth Circle of Hell might be better than sitting still in Raleigh traffic.

In public hearings the petitioners state their arguments for their development proposals, and then councilors have the opportunity to question them and staff about their proposal. Note that all of the extra time that is given to the petitioner is in response to council. The opposition does not get equal time to respond. I have never heard councilors ask any member of the opposition probing questions about the points they are making. For example, Mr. Roy Attride—who lives in the Glenwood-Brooklyn Historic District—made some very insightful and cogent arguments against approving this rezoning request. Yet none of you—if you truly disagreed with his analysis—took the time to poke holes in that analysis or dismantle his arguments. Why not? Maybe his approach was unassailable, and no one was willing to take the time to go there? In an important case like this one that sets the tone for future decisions, all of you need to take the time to engage the opposition in a thoughtful debate. If you do not do this, you are foregoing the opportunity to get to the heart of the matter, and your decision will be based on a lack of adequate information. The Comprehensive Plan has been recklessly tossed aside, and this means that there is no predictability to City Council decisions as to what a citizen can expect to happen. There is also a lack of due process, and in the case of Z-12-25 it should have gone to committee for further discussion and analysis.

Lastly, if a developer tells you that the project will not be built unless you approve their request, then I would argue that that is not your problem. It is not your job to make sure that the financial projections (Proforma) of a developer come to fruition. Your job is to thoroughly analyze and understand the ramifications of any development proposal and how it relates to adjacent neighborhoods and the Comprehensive Plan.

Sincerely,