[music] Good evening. Thank you for joining us tonight for our public comment session. Uh it is Wednesday, November the 12th. Uh Mayor Cowell and Council Member Silver are absent and excused this evening. Um before we get started, we would like to acknowledge the uh Boy Scout Troop 104 that have joined us this evening for a civic engagement project. So, thank you all for being here this evening. [applause] Um we have 26 people that signed up to speak tonight. Each speaker will have a total of three minutes. When it's your turn to speak, um I will call your name. Please come to the podium and speak into the microphone. If you have materials to be distributed to the council, please put them in the basket next to our clerk. Um, a timer will beep when your three minutes are up. And, uh, as you can see on the right, there's a list of, uh, folks who signed up to speak, so you can kind of track where you are on the list. Our first speaker tonight is Helen Kervin. Good evening. My Anderson Forest neighbors and I are here to speak about the so-called streamside route that city staff is proposing for segment 1B of the Big Branch Greenway. My husband and I built our home in 1993. The Raleigh Parks and Recck Department is proposing to condemn at least one-third of our property as well as condemn a 39-year-old conservation easement that provides trail construct that prohibits trail construction to build a greenway less than 50 feet from our house and only 20 ft from the stream bank. For 32 years, we've seen what happens here after hurricanes or even just two inches of rain and the flooding and erosion that worsened after the city removed seven trees and vegetation in our backyard for a sewer project. We urge you to listen to us who know this land firsthand, not to those who have only seen it on a map. Proponents of this route say greenways are routinely built in flood planes, but that misses the point. The city wants to build this greenway segment almost entirely within the 30-foot zone 1 repairarian buffer, the area most critical to protecting water quality and stream bank stability. The North Carolina Division of Water Quality explains why this buffer matters. Quote, "Reparium buffers protect water quality by filtering runoff, providing flood control, absorbing excess nutrients, moderating water temperature, controlling erosion, and stabilizing stream banks. Removing trees and root systems in zone one harms these functions." End quote. The city claims stream bank stabilization is the answer, but the city admits that this does nothing to reduce flooding and worse, construction within the buffer will actually undermine their stated goal of protecting the stream bank. The city points to older greenways built in zone one as justification, but environmental science has evolved and we now know better. The city's own greenway master plan now prohibits building trails in this buffer for good reason. Please listen to the parks board which voted 9 to5 against this route and please heed this warning from NCDWQ. Impacts to the inner 30foot buffer must be avoided and impacts associated with green trail greenway trails are permanent. Once the trees are gone and an asphalt trail is built, there's no going back. Please don't make a decision that will cause permanent harm to Big Branch, our neighborhood, and the city's credibility on environmental protection. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, we have Kevin Guan. >> Hello everyone. Firstly, I want to express my concern on the undercover reporting approach by some media on on the DEI issue in the CTE and I think uh it raised ethical issue in media because it the media journalists use undercover reporting mix up the video from February to maybe September and and they make the audience think that those two video are of the same time period without disclosing it in the video. So this is a very important matter because things has changed since February. The second thing I want to talk about is that while you have those people coming in the city to do those things, uh a better way to do it is to just to be open and transparent with what you do so that it discern uh of other it would dissuade people from doing those thing when you're open and transparent. The fifth thing I want to talk about is the new thing that you just released today in the media that about [gasps] the 10,000 letters you're going to send to value to these customers uh about the paying the $1,000 or paying 40 people $1,000 to be in the uh assembly in January and February. I think this is a good idea. But $1,000 on on 40 hours. Do you need that much time to engage for the next comprehensive plan on transit only? This is a lot of time. And the second matter is that uh value utility customer is a good representative uh good representative but you do not include people who rent their home from apartment compasses. They are not value utility customers. So I think there should be a way for you to reach out to those people. Um and I read news an hour ago say you have 1,000 that go to people with permanent address. So when you talk to those people need to think about who use the transit. Thank you very much. >> Thank you Lisa Hugat. Good evening. I want to begin by expressing my deep disappointment with the public hearing for Z1225 last month. My comments tonight are not directed towards council members Jones or Harrison. It was hard for me to process the complete lack of interest or support for the concerns repeatedly raised by residents. Countless emails, phone calls, meetings, and petitions were met with crickets. I'd like to know, did any of you actually visit the Glenwood neighborhood? Did you drive down Devo, Tilden, or Cleveland? Did you go to the end of the street and imagine what a 30story wall would look like? What views and privacy would be lost? What shadows would be cast? Mayor Cowell at last week at last month's hearing said, "What's a few shadows?" Well, for those of us who live here, it means a lot. What I found truly baffling was staff's conclusion that a north to south three three-story step down provides an adequate downtown edge transition. You know, that doesn't make any sense. The transition required here is east to west, not north to south. Moreover, the modest difference in height is largely erased by the site's topography. But here's the real issue. You rushed this vote. You knew our concerns. You could have asked the developer to work with the neighborhood on additional conditions. There was potential for collaboration and compromise. Instead, and I cannot emphasize this enough, you approved a project that will create a wall. Nowhere else downtown is there a 30story, 800 ft long building. Yet, you deemed this was the perfect site for it. I'm beginning to nickname it the Great Wall of Raleigh. Had he been here, I would have addressed my next con my next comments to Council Member Silver. I rewatched the hearing this week and was struck again by how fiercely and vigorously he defended this case. His gestures, his tone, his delivery left no doubt that he was arguing for the developer, going as far as graciously thanking the applicant for being our partner. This case seemed predetermined from the start. There was no need to rush a vote after the first public hearing. You could have sought additional community benefits or pursued further compromises, but you didn't. In my opinion, council was misled, partly by a planning department analysis that failed to identify any policy inconsistencies and partly by council member Silver's one-sided defense that dismiss legitimate concerns raised by residents. Next time, I hope you do better. And I did want to say we spend valuable time preparing and coming here. It would be nice if staff and all of council members did the same. Thank you. Thank you, Elizabeth Scott. Good evening everyone. My name is Elizabeth Scott and I'm here to speak against the city's proposal to run a greenway trail through Anderson Forest. In 1986, the city accepted a conservation easement. That easement prohibits tree removal, signage, and greenway trail construction in Anderson Forest along the Big Branch Creek. That easement was drafted to protect green space, preserve riparian buffers, and control storm water runoff. Running a 10- foot wide asphalt trail through a 35 foot wide riparian buffer will destroy tree canopy, increase runoff, violate environmental regulations, and the very terms of this easement. The proposed greenway will look nothing like the streamside trail shown in the city's phase 2 survey, which was a photoshopped image of my backyard. That image left out the safety rails and privacy fencing required for this route. It hid the flash flooding that occurs along this path and the tree removal that will be required for it for it. Five mature maples in my yard alone. It even blurred out children's swing sets in the background. How convenient. So, when the city staff touts the phase 2 survey results, you need to keep one thing in mind. Public manipulation is not valid public engagement. The proposed stream waist stream bank stabilization plan will not repair the damage from the clear cutting in the sewers sewer in the city sewer replacement project or that will result from additional tree removal for the proposed trail. It will not prevent flooding. The city staff has already admitted as much. And if the purpose is to keep the trail from collapsing into the creek, well, that should be a huge red flag that this stretch of Big Branch Creek is the wrong place for a greenway. Stabilization [snorts] will require more tree removal than needed for just the trail construction alone. That greenery provides a natural privacy buffer for our neighborhood. [snorts] It should not be disturbed for a greenway path that was never supposed to go here in the first place. If you get bridge funding, Anderson Forest will connect pedestrians and cyclists to three gas stations, an oil change shop, a tire shop, and a used car lot. And that's after risking life and limb to cross Six Forks Road. If not, this route will be a greenway to nowhere with over 120 miles of existing trails condemning a conservation easement and private property for a halfmile blood budget blowing stretch of greenway will cost millions of dollars but simply makes no sense. Thank you. >> Thank you, Captain Curran. Good evening. Ever since the residents of Anderson Forest learned the Raleigh Parks and Recreation Department intended to ignore the scenic greenway stipulation in the 1986 deed of dedication. We have presented facts to the as to why segment 1B of the Big Branch Connector Greenway project was a serious environmental, financial, and legal mistake. Attempting to distract from those facts, Raleigh Parks and Recreation has used unproven justifications. They've manipulated details, fabricated idealic photos, embellished a pie in the sky and unver unverifiable user numbers, and continues to seemingly make up rationalizations and explanations as they go along, hoping to get the city council to rubber stamp this project. The parks and recreation department has constantly attempted to mask the problems of segment 1B by intentionally using a smoke screen of the entire 3 and 1/2 mile project as justification. During this process, there have been numerous outside individuals and groups that have interjected their personal opinions without any empirical evidence or relevant facts. They have not walked the private property, nor do they have any knowledge of the impact along Big Branch Creek and the nine homes adversely affected. Their motivation is to feel good about their participation, and they're not concerned when any of the ramifications. Parks and Recreation staff continue to double down and push funding of segment 1B, which is grossly over budget. When 1/2 mile 2600 ft of segment 1B costs more than the entire 3 and 1/2 mile project, how does parks and recreation pay for the remaining three miles of the project? Are they hoping to get city council to go along to get along with the project and once started come back with hat in hand to finish the project with tax increases or another bond? How does one simply ignore the significant legal implications, the serious environmental ch damage, violating the North Carolina DEEQ repair and buffer regulations, violating the city's capital area greenway master plan, violating the city's planning and design guidelines, and the indefensible cost and waste of taxpayer money. And this proposed route does not even achieve the stated goals of connecting people to jobs, medical, retail, mixeduse, or businesses. I urge the members of the city council to not be pressured to approve segment 1B of the big branch connector greenway project, but to uphold common sense, fiscal responsibility, and public trust we have in our leaders by voting against any funding and further consideration of segment 1B along Big Branch Creek. Thank you. Thank you, Taylor Stewart. [cough] >> Good evening. When the city began its public engagement 16 months ago for the Big Branch Greenway project, it presented Streamside segment 1B route in a way that misled the public into believing it would be a scenic greenway experience in a wooded setting where users could enjoy nature. The city claimed to have a greenway construction easement that it does not have. In the phase 2 survey, the city photoshopped an image showing a serene walk along the creek and implied this route was environmentally friendly because it would remove fewer trees, but the realities are very different. The proposed trail will run parallel to Big Branch Creek, just a few feet from the creek, almost entirely within the zone one repairarian buffer against all environmental regulations. The city plans to remove the few trees and vegetation on the stream bank left in the wake of the recent sewer replacement project in the name of stream bank stabilization. This will not only be unsightly, it's harmful. It undermines the creek's resilience, violates state and city environmental protections, and would leave the stream bank exposed and vulnerable for years until new trees and vegetation grow back. Also, with massive development happening to our north and west, this area, one of Raleigh's most floodprone, will see more frequent and intense flooding. Fast rising waters will pose safety risk for users and require costly ongoing maintenance, repairs, and trail closures. Because the trail would run so close to the creek, the city must install safety railings. And because it would run so close to homes, the city plans to install private fencing just a few feet from the path. Both will degrade the user experience, obscure views, and create a tunnel effect. Instead of a peaceful greenway, users will feel confined walking on what looks and feels like a narrowsided border by fencing and large sewer manholes. The city claims this route is safer for users. But that statement leaves out important facts. To access the trail, users must cross a dangerous stretch of Six Forks Road, where the accident rate, according to the city's own traffic department, is 35% higher than any other comparable five-lane road in North Carolina as well as a across a daycare entrance and plantation road before descending a long ramp into our backyards. These are verifi verifiable facts. Raleigh's greenway system is something to be proud of, but moving forward with the streamside segment 1B route would be a serious mistake. One that harms Big Branch Creek, creates a poor and unsafe experience for users, and leaves Anderson Forest owners with permanent >> Thank you. Jane Hubbin. Big back stream runs through my backyard where city staff is proposing a greenway. Option B. Several other viable options have been presented for this segment of the greenway, but city staff is recommending this one based on a bias survey and presentations which depicted inaccurate and misleading information. It is not just our neighborhood that is given reasons for not choosing this option. These reasons have been validated by nine of the 14 members of the parks board who voted against recommending this option to the city council. Members of this board were chosen based on their capacity to assess and advise the council on decisions. They are highly respected for their knowledge and competence. I urge you to please listen to the comments by them and their October meeting. It is vital that you do. Many of their concerns involved environmental issues, news river repair and protection rules, senior conservation easement condemnation, undisclosed cost, and mis a misleading public survey, which they agreed it was. One board member came to observe when we expend experienced turbulent flood waters. The stream rose to a level flood level in 9 minutes from moderate rain mostly upstream. This area does not have a wide flood plane. It is a narrow with our houses on the hill on one side above it and a higher embankment on the other side. Water flows from miles upstream beyond Milbrook Road down through the North Hills with all its impervious surface into this relatively small fa space. The board member watched how powerful the waters were and how fast and furious and said in light of Texas and NC Mountain floods, he would vote against this option would expose users to danger. In their presentation to you, city staff presented you the bias decision chart that showed the criteria they used in choosing 1B streamside. I ask you to note that the chart did not include any of the important negatives for 1B. The protection by the Noose River rules that no impervious surface would be planted in this area and only natural plantings. the protection by a scenic conservation easement, extensive and potentially dangerous flooding, fragile stream bank, long ramp, possibly 1200. Okay, >> thank you. >> How can a decision be made from the chart when does not include time is up information? Thank you, >> Kim Hoben. When the city started the process of identifying a greenway connector, it erroneously thought it had an easement through Anderson Forest that allowed greenway construction, the city even conducted its public presentations and first survey under such assumptions. not liking the first survey results which showed 49% of respondents favoring a street side route and only 24% favoring the now proposed streamside route. A second survey was undertaken. Anderson Forest residents believe the second survey was biased both in visual and written information to induce the public to vote for a streamside route and against other options. In case you think this just my opinion, let me quote from your advisory board members after seeing the city staff's July PowerPoint presentation. Quote, "Would you go to the picture of the streamside option? I have shared this with you, the assistant parks director before, but I just want to share it with the board. That bothers me a lot. You and I have talked. That photo has been photoshopped. I think it's entirely inappropriate for a city agency to do so. The image shows no trees, no vegetation. That is an unfortunate decision and there is no discussion that this is Noose River buffer. Another member added, quote, I do have to agree that the pictures are deceiving, particularly for the streamside option. When I was looking at them before I went out there, that looked like the best option, but I don't think it is the best option. When we are looking at 62% choosing streamside alignment, that seems really big. But if we know that the picture and the inperson is different, it's hard to take that as seriously. The chair interjected and asked, "Just to be clear, were the people voting in the poll looking at those pictures?" The answer was yes. Another member added, "I agree that the imagery changed when you got there. I mean, it was a pretty dramatic change." Then later, a month later at the October meeting, it is not very transparent to put out pictures that don't look like the actual site and then say we had 62% of people. It's a very different image when you go there in person. And it's hard for a citizen to make a decision based on a picture that is not accurate. I think that taints some of the public engagement responses. And finally, from another member, what wasn't in those images were the sewer enhancements. the first thing I saw when I walked in those backyards and that threw me off as far as [snorts] the survey results. If you are into surveys, you look for bias and that was now I have been very impressed with the quality and the knowledge of the advisory board and appreciate their dedication advocacy for greenways and the time spent in their review of options. I urge the council to respect their decision and vote and their vote against >> Thank you. Thank you, Octavia Rainey. >> Good afternoon. I would like to address the city council concerning the the SNAP and what's going on with SNAP. I would like to say to you that city employees receive SNAP because everybody isn't paid the same. They are not. They are not. And I remember when I used to work with the city during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, we did way back then, that was a long time ago, we did 200 baskets for Christmas, but we made sure that we got into those departments that was underpaid and make sure that if they needed a basket, they could sign up for a basket. and we always had about 35 or 40 of those city employees. Now, I don't know whether y'all still do Thanksgiving baskets, Christmas baskets. I don't have a clue, but I know that I do 15 baskets and two of my baskets is going to city employees. That's how I know there's a problem here. And I'm working with some of the city employees to get churches to give them baskets. I would like for the city, then again, I don't know what y'all do cuz it was a long time ago when I wor with the city, but I would like to see you step up. I mean, seriously, step up. When I work with the city, we were a family and we took care of each other. Now, I don't know whether y'all do that or not. I don't have a clue. But I am concerned when I pick up two city employees. I'm working with 10 others to get them adopted. I want to know what are y'all really doing for for the city family. Everybody don't make the same at the city. They really don't. You have some who's making good salaries, some mediocre, and some barely making it. So, I would like to know what are you doing to help the city family, our less fortunate employees because they really need help. And we have city employees who also receive child care assistance who don't make enough to pay their own child care. So I think as a city we need to take another step back and we need to look at those things that we're not doing for our city employees. So please step up to the plate and I like I said I don't know how y'all do y'all baskets this year. I don't have a clue but I know in my day cuz I help we did 200 baskets so I don't know what you do now but please help our city employees who are not as fortunate as everyone else. Thank you. Uh, I don't see Hannity Ali. Is she here? Okay. And I don't see Misa Satari. All right. Uh, Alexis Kennedy, Matthew Brown. Good evening. Thank you for your service and thank you for letting me speak. This Halloween, my neighborhood, historic Oakwood, welcomed over 6,000 visitors, according to Raleigh police. Uh neighbors worked for months putting up scary displays all through the neighborhood. Some neighbors spent over $1,000 on uh candy to give away, and one neighbor spent $3,000 hiring offduty police for security. It was a magical, amazing evening, and everybody had a wonderful time. Most of our guests were children from all over Raleigh, especially Southeast Raleigh. And we also collected over a,000 pounds of food for the food bank. This December, we will welcome 4,000 people for the Oakwood Candlelight Tour of Homes, and thousands more will just walk or drive through to look at our holiday decorations. And in the spring, thousands will attend the Oakwood Garden Tour or just walk through looking at our gardens. And every day we get tourists looking at our old houses that we work so hard to take care of. We have uh guided tours several times a week and even horse and buggy tours and most of uh Raleigh's charity races and walks come through Oakwood. We work so hard to make our neighborhood an amenity for the whole city. If you want a vibrant city, we are vibrant. But this is only possible because we are a neighborhood with people living in these houses. The planning department has been gradually reszoning our homes into offices and commercial use. At each h home that becomes an office or hair salon or what have you. Nobody gives out Halloween candy. Nobody decorates for Christmas. Nobody plants trees or flowers. the backyard becomes a parking lot. It's no longer vibrant. It's dead most of the time. Uh two two reasonzonings will come before you soon, reszoning three more of our homes into offices. These three have always been homes. Two of them have long been affordable apartments. The planning department is encouraging one of these resonings and has actually initiated the other one. uh the landlords are for it, but it's very sad for the residents and very sad for the city. Uh and besides, aren't we trying to increase our housing supply, not decrease it? Please uh deny this these resonings, and please ask our planning department to stop turning our neighborhood into an office park. Thank you. >> Thank you, Chris Crew. Thank you, Mayor Prom. Ladies and gentlemen, you know, it was almost 50 years ago tonight that uh historic Oakwood was recognized as the first historic district in the city of Raleigh. So good evening and I've come before you almost monthly now for the last three years to cajul and plead with you for consideration of preservation principles in your decisionmaking and tonight I'm pleased to congratulate you and thank you for taking a positive action to ensure the future of two of Raleigh's iconic structures, the Hillsboro Street Holiday Inn and the fabulous Dr. Myan and Carol Carol care Care House. Well done on that. I appreciate that. the these are small victories, but they do demonstrate that that you're thinking about preservation. I also plead for your assistance in preserving one of Raleigh's greatest cultural events, the Raleigh Christmas Parade, bigger than Atlanta's parade. Christmas and Christmas parades are for children. I've participated in this since I was a cub scout. I was a choir boy. I was a school safety patrol member. I've not missed participating with the civic group in this organiz in this parade for the last 40 years. I sat next to Haley Brook's father in 2022 as he pleaded that you not eliminate the parade following his daughter's tragic death. I'm here to ask you to reconsider the banning of participation by under eight children that are not riding on vehicles. By doing so, you've effectively closed the opportunity for many children to participate who don't have a ride. Let these kids participate because if we lose this youngest set, we lose the seed of the future parades and our historic tradition will suffer and fade. Finally, let's really work together hard on the update of the comp plan and its careful integration with the UDO so that we're not spending time debating three to seven profit-driven ch zoning changes every month instead of building on a comprehensive and cohesive community vision for the future of the great city that our offspring will populate. Thank you very much. >> Thank you, Woody Biggs. I have been coming here for years talking about the noise from Glenn with South Bars and talking about it until I'm blue in the face. The noise doesn't change but the calendar year does. Tonight I want to focus on crime. Not the crime within Glennwood South, but in the surrounding neighborhoods. I have plenty of examples, but I will only give you three as I only have three minutes. In the last 12 months, I have had two instances at my house late at night. In the last 12 months, I've had two instances, sorry, in my house late at night in the early morning hours. Both times, a single man ma male [clears throat] man banged on my door and tried to get in the house. About two blocks from Glennwood South, a young couple with a small child had a group of guys continually coming on to and damaging their property. One of the group was particularly so focused on the property that they were finally able to get identify him and get a restraining order against him. Again, about two blocks from Glennwood South, a couple had two instances in the last three months. 3 months ago, about 3:00 a.m., a young woman was banging on their door. Police were called. Two weeks ago, the same couple had another incident. Around 2:00 a.m., a man was banging on their door, yelling, "Let me in." They yelled down and said he was at the wrong house. He yells, "Let me in or I'm breaking in." They called 911. While on the phone with 911, he yells, "If you don't let me in, I'm busting in your window. Next, he busts in the window." And climbs in the house. They are relaying the playbyplay to the police. Just imagine for a moment you or this couple in their 80s, praying the police get here before he makes it to your upstairs bedroom in which you are cowering. After decades of living in their house, after the second incident, the wife said, "Maybe it's time we move." This is the vibrancy nearby neighborhoods endure, resulting from the Glenwood South so-called vibrancy Jonathan Melton has often spoken about. Glennwood South and surrounding neighborhoods are simply not safe. We unfortunately have to live with what former city leaders created and you have allowed to fester. The sad shameful truth of it all and everyone knows it is that if any of you lived in the area and had to deal with this vibrancy, it would have ended years ago. >> Thank you, Mama Kai Sanders. Good evening, y'all. It's another amazing day in paradise. Um, thank you for your service. Um, I wanted to take a minute to introduce myself. Um, my given name is Cara Lynn Sanders. Um, my nickname is Kai, but my superhero name is Mama Kai because I found myself um found my superpowers being the mom and student of a young black male superhero. And um I consider myself not only one of Raleigh's next big ideas, and y'all should know it, right? The t-shirts, but also one of Raleigh's or Raleigh's most um famous unhoused person, me and Wisdom, because we have struggled with gaining um stable housing here. And I want to be clear that the reason for that is because we have no programs that actually provide opportunities for upward mobility. They'll move you from one level of poverty to another, but they do not provide opportunities for upward mobility. And so that's what I've been working towards. And so my dream was that I would just get into a space for two weeks to be able to to just rest a little bit and then focus on building my business, which um you know, when you're unhoused and you realize that you have the potential to to generate a viable um lifestyle. Um just that opportunity to relax feels good. And so when I secured an Airbnb for two weeks, I thought I was in my dream space until I went to look in the drawer and there was no silverware. And I was curious as to why there was no silverware because there was all these, you know, this I knew the person who um who was on the face of the of the um of the ad and I was like, "This is really odd." And so I started looking around and one of the places I looked obviously was the dishwasher, right? So, I open the dishwasher and there's mold over the entire inside. Standing water and black mold. There's gray mold on every surface of the baskets except for the utensil. Um there was also mold in the shower. Um on the shower curtain, I had to wash the shower curtain twice. Um there was a um one room that they rent as a um ma it's a master bedroom with the on suite and there was a I when the person who was in there left I was like well maybe I can move into this one right so I went in there and I looked in the refri there was a refrigerator but it was like kind of locked and I was like why is this kind of locked and I kind of pulled it open there's mold growing in there and so I'm just wondering if there is any regulations that we have on Airbnbs. Do we have anybody checking out facilities like that to see if they're safe? Um there was one night there was one of the other residents. He came to sit down on the bench and he heard it crack. And it wasn't that the um he was heavy or anything. It was just that the bench had gotten loose and was it was kind of rickety and I was like I let somebody know and they were told to just glue it. No kind of thing to hold it together or anything like that. So any hope. >> All right. Thank you, Richard. Hi. >> Can we bring him a micro? Do you want us to bring you a microphone? >> Okay. >> Okay. Thank you all for having me. My name is Richard High. I'm known as Coach High. I'm a prostrate cancer sufferer. I have metastatic prostate cancer. I wanted to address the council to invite y'all to a ceremony we having November 21st and 22nd at Southeast Raleigh High School. Friday we're going to do a credit 101 and Saturday we're going to have prostate, breast cancer, um blood pressure, uh diabetes, all these maladies affect our communities. Prostate cancer is one of the biggest things and breast cancer is one of the biggest things coming. With me is my team. Uh Coach Graves, he's the coach of Southeast Raleigh. John Baker [snorts] III. He has a legacy in this city. His son John Baker I 4th. This is the team that's going to put this stuff on. I also have Duke Oncology coming to try to give these brothers um PSA tests on site. You guys know about prostate brothers and anybody that's a man don't want nobody violating their lower section. But now the stuff is better. So, I'm asking you guys to support us in this effort. This is the first ever coaches versus cancer at Southeast Raleigh High School in Southeast Raleigh. So, I need you guys to help us out with this. Thank you for your time. >> All right. Thank you. [clears throat] >> I finally made a big council. >> All right. Thank you. >> Uh I don't see Joshua Bradley. Okay. Mark Spank. >> Good evening and thanks for your time. My name is Mark and my wife and I have been raising our family uh on the southern edge of Oakwood for the last 10 years. Here to discuss a zoning case in your agenda for next week, Z25 for 101 North Bworth Street. Um, this house has been zoned residential R10 like the rest of our block for the last 20 years and it was recently purchased by an interior designer who wants to upzone the parcel to neighborhood mixeduse so they can use the house as a showcase for their business. The neighborhood sentiment for this request has been overwhelmingly negative. Many of our neighbors left public comments highlighting how opening up Oakwood homes to business interests would threaten the family-friendly nature of our neighborhood. They cited the dangerous precedent that would be set, emboldening other homeowners to try to reszone their own properties. They also noted how approving Z25 would set the stage for additional upzoning if the property were sold again. Upzoning is often a slipper slippery slope, and as proof of that, I can point to an existing case recently heard by the planning commission Z31 for 516 North Point Street. That beautiful brick house next to Marman Win served as a residence for at least 50 years before being upzzoned by the city in 2016 to office mixeduse. Now a business is attempting an additional extreme upzoning to commercial mixeduse, aiming to make it an event space with up to 75 people per event. Amplified music until 10:00 at night on a property right in the middle of a residential neighborhood similar to ours. The Z31 case is a prime example of what others would look to do if cases like Z25 are approved. I do believe our neighborhood would support the business at 101 North Bworth if, like other designed businesses in Oakwood, they chose to live in the home they purchased and run their business out of it, maintaining residential zoning, which they could very easily do. But they've said time and again, living in our neighborhood is not part of their business plan. This home, as well as four others on the 400 block of East Edon Street, are represented in the future land use map as neighborhood mixeduse. These proposed upzonings were, I believe, put forth in the spirit of supporting the transit overlay district, but this request does not do that. The business has most of its customer interactions off-site, and any prospects who wish to view this showcase home would require an appointment. It will not be useful to the vast majority of Oakwood neighbors. It will not serve the vast majority of BRT riders. It won't provide live work opportunities. It won't reduce vehicle miles. It will, however, remove a perfectly good residence from an already tight housing supply. It will increase parking problems, and it will leave our neighborhood vulnerable to additional upzoning requests like Z31. When Z25 comes before you next week, we're asking you to please reject the request and help us preserve our thriving, family-friendly neighborhood. Thank you. >> Thank you, Laura Harris. Okay. I don't see her Paul Geel. >> Good evening, esteemed council members. Uh, Mayor Prom. Um, so my name is Paul Geel. I represent the roots work program restoration outreach opportunity through service. We're part of the Eliza Park homeless initiative. Um we're a faith-based communitydriven effort that believes community is the cure. Our mission is to bring structure, dignity, and opportunity to our unhoused neighbors through work, leadership, and fellowship. Earlier this year, uh we received $8,030 in contingency funds. Tonight, I'd like to share what that small investment accomplished. So, those funds directly helped three individuals transition in from homelessness into stable housing and family support. A veteran who had been homeless for 27 years is now housed and rebuilding his lives, his life. Uh, a woman suffering from a brain tumor uh was reunited with her family and is now receiving the care she needs. A third individual found purpose through community service and successfully entered stable housing through peer support. Each of these lives represent a return on investment that goes far beyond dollars. It's a return of human dignity out of the structure and pure leadership uh emerged. Participants began to organize themselves, set schedules, maintain shared areas, and hold one another accountable. From that came peer leadership and structure, individuals taking pride in their surroundings and each other's successes. Uh we removed 12,000 lbs of uh waste from one camp and three cleanups. Um more than that um we formed a a nine member uh peer support leadership team. So, uh, we also built, um, relationships with the Lions Club, Boy Scouts of America, and others. So, uh, on behalf of Roots, Eliza Park, I just want to thank this council for believing in us and, um, helping us. The $8,000 didn't just fund operations. It transformed lives, sparked leadership, and forged partnerships that continue to grow. We've seen firsthand when you give people purpose and community, they don't need saving, they rise. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> I don't see [snorts] Athena Wallen. >> Oh, she Okay, you're on the other side of the room tonight. So, >> it takes so long to walk around. Um, hi, my name is Athena Wallen. Uh, I continue to implore the city and its leadership to acknowledge that storm water creek erosion is happening at a much more rapid pace than we could have anticipated. We must acknowledge that there's a double whammy factor of development transitioning single family homes into maximum amount of imperous surface directly along a natural waterway. Um, part of mitigate [clears throat] Part of mitigating erosion and destabilization of those stream banks is to reduce the types of drastic changes within neighborhoods like Brookside prior to infrastructure improvements on Brookside Drive. Uh I'm going to try to show a a visual because I didn't get to send it in time. Um on Brookside Drive, this is essentially what the the parcels look like to developers eyes. This is like a top- down view. And this is a big impervious surface going all the way to a sewer easement and then a big green block that says it's a repairarian buffer before the creek. Um, this was able to be developed with those plans in mind saying that this was the pvious surface in order for them to build this impervious surface to that point. I do not believe that is a sustainable way to go about development. This is not buildable land and if so uh if we were to change something we would reduce the structure of allowing plans of development to only consider the buildable land. So that no longer would the entire buildable area be imper imperous surface because now there are five of these coming in and you want that big block of buffer. Well, it doesn't exist because it is deteriorating. It is crescenting. It is working its way towards the sewer line. It is working its way towards the areas of which we cannot go back in and build up and repair. So we need to work on these sorts of things with the acknowledgement that development and erosion are compounding in massive factors that we cannot keep up with right now. Something that we can do is what I wish could have happened last year when I first came up here quivering in fear. Please consider an advisory hold along parcels that are creeklined because property lines are shifting. that creek that is flooding for other neighborhoods and can get FEMA assistance. My neighborhood cannot because it requires such hoops to jump through to even be considered. And that creek goes through three or four different neighborhoods. So, I'm trying my hardest to get everybody on board, but I need the city's help, too. >> Thank you for your time. >> Thank you, William Harris. Well, hello everyone. Um, I'm a little nervous, but I'm honored to be here amongst you all. Uh, my name is William Hers. I'm the peer support leader of the Outlanders associated with Paul Gel from uh Roose Initiative as well as Eliza Park. Um I'm thankful to share my story with you all here because a lot of people this day and time really don't know what a dream is. Uh me and my wife here had a dream for the past 10 years since we've been living pretty much homeless. Uh I want people to know people have choices. You can either live in an apartment and you got those that choose to do this which me and myself as well and my wife choose to involve oursel with the homeless community. Our goal is to share the thoughts that God put in my head as well as my wife to help the city with the homeless problem. You all we all know that there is a big big big big problem. Um, I've been privileged enough to work with Paul G over here to help people in Raleigh as well as member Miss Jones here as well. Um, I'm nervous. So, all that I can sit there and say thank you for the support that you have given us through the year and I hope look forward to working with you all again. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh, I don't see Nikki W. Okay. So, thank you everyone for coming out. This concludes our meeting. Heat. Heat. [music]