[Music] It's public comment. It is 7 o'clock. Uh we of course will just hear public comment tonight. So we won't necessarily respond. And when I call your name, just come on down. I think uh everybody's here. Woody Biggs is first on the list. Okay. I have complained about Glenn with South for years. So tonight I would like to share two weekends ago, Glenn South residents had two great nights of sleep. Not because you as city leaders did anything. Not because RPD enforced the noise ordinance properly, but because God brought us two nights of two weekend nights of rain that shut down the live outdoor concerts and the DJs pumping music into the open air. This past weekend, I was at a um it was business as usual. I was at a dinner party Saturday night and a couple who own a Paramount condo as a second home said how bad it was for them Friday night. The wife said she did not call in a noise complaint as she says RPD does nothing with the calls. The consensus at the dinner was they should only come to Raleigh Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. But mind you, they own pay expenses, pay taxes on that condo seven days a week. With the revised ordinance, the city has put RPD in a bad spot regarding judgmental reasonable level of noise. A couple of examples. RPD has started wanting to come into our homes and that's not in the ordinance. An officer came into my home and said, "It's really loud in here." But then said, "Is it unreasonable?" Officers went into a Paramount condo and told a couple, "It is loud in here, but you can have a conversation over the level of the music pumped into your condo." So, he deemed it reasonable. As ridiculous as this sounds, this is what RPD is doing. Having officers come into resident's home and pull what I call this stunt is not a good idea. It is not building goodwill with Raleigh residents and it makes the responding officers look foolish. Glennwood South is the epicenter for noise terrorism, but noise is a citywide issue. I'm aware of noise terrorism issues around the Five Points area with residents up to half a mile away calling about a bar's noise. We can't get RPD to address noise issues 150 to 300 ft away in Glennwood South. So the fivepoint area residents don't have a prayer. There needs to be a moratorum on amplified sound from Raleigh businesses until you can come up with a solution to this neverending citywide problem. In closing, the report the city commission from the responsible hospitality institute was just released. In both of the Raleigh resident roundt discussions, the facilitator mentioned a lot of cities limit the number of a particular type of business in an area wanting them to spread out around the city. She mentioned Glimmer South being many, many bars. I found it odd that that wasn't in her report today. Thank you'all. Thank you, Mr. Biggs. Next, we have Miss Octavia Rainey. Good afternoon. I'm here to talk about fourth ward. I want to remind you that we did come to council and ask council for $300,000. That $300,000 is a star to get us started. I have called HUD in DC to find the records of Fourth Ward when it was demolished, when it was destroyed by the Raleigh Development Commission. So, I'm going to DC and they have agreed to meet with me to this council. You need to put the $300,000 in the budget to Dr. Jane Harrison, the fourth world association. and I would like to meet with you to make sure it is in that budget. We must take fourth wood seriously. You don't wipe a black community off the face of the earth. I have asked HUD, tell me what properties, all the properties that the city did buy in fourth ward. How much of that property do the city stills own still own? Do you own it to do what you want to do with it? That's crazy. Fourth W need to be brought back at a redevelopment committee. I'm also asking Hood, did Fourth Ward ever sunset? And Mitch, you ask this question all the time. I don't know because it's been such a long long long time ago. So, I don't know whether it's sunset or not. But my trip to DC is to ask those questions. I'm hoping to meet with the director of of of housing and urban development. I met with him seven years ago. So I'm hoping to get that meeting as well. I am serious about fourth board. I have never seen this in my life that you walk away from it and you never look back for 40 years. Never ever. That is absurd to me. So, my trip will be strictly business to talk about that. Dr. Harrison, we need you to advocate for us for that $300,000. We need that in the budget. We need to start work. And there are certain things that we can do with $300,000. $300,000 is no money, but it is a start. Under the consolidated plan, under the citizens participation plan, you can do it. You can really do it. So, I want to make sure that we are going to do it. And I want to make sure that I got the documentation that was sent to Hood back when you had created the Raleigh Redevelopment Commission and the Raleigh Housing Authority. The RA housing authority have no records. So don't even ask me. They don't have any. Thank you. All right. Miss Machai Saunders. Good evening, y'all. I didn't expect a mini me with me. Um, it's another amazing day in paradise. I'd like to thank you all for your service. A happy belated Mother's Day to those of you who celebrated, but also to those of you who celebrated um those you love. Um because we're all affected by moms, right? Um I want to I the last time I was here, I began to talk about um the All-American Cities Award. I've talked to Jonathan. I've talked to Megan. Um I'm hitting you up tomorrow potentially, Miss Christina. Um because I think this is something that we can rally around. Our city really needs to focus on something positive that we can get people around. Um when I was here, I didn't mention that it's America's most prestigious award, community award, and it recognizes a community's ability to um leverage um community engagement or civic engagement, collaboration, inclusiveness, and innovation to solve our problems. and we know that we have many. Um, I feel like I mentioned before that I would love to see us rally around Raleigh becoming the most compassionate city that we're addressing people's needs, we're meeting people's needs. Um, but specifically, I would love to target our youth. Um, there's an organization that's called the National Prevention Science Coalition to Approve Lives. I know it's a big long name, but Dr. Dr. Diana Fishbane at the Frank Porttogram Institute at UNC. She is one of the co-executive directors of it. And there is just so much information that's coming about coming out about just the importance of just the first 60 days of life for a child. It's called neuro nurturing and how important that time frame is. And what we have I as a having studied to be a parent coach I'm at parks and things of that nature because we're unhouse so we spend a lot of time there and I see a lot of things from in different communities from different demographics that could be potentially harmful to a child. I was watching a video um by Dr. Vanessa La Point. There was a real on Instagram that said 30% children only need about 30% for connection with another parent and about 70% of that time of their relationship is spent in rupture and repair. The damage is done when there's no repair or the repair is limited. And so we have a community with people who are not understanding of brain development, nervous system regulation, trauma, nutrition. We see it in all aspects of our community. There's the Netflix movie, I haven't seen it, just heard about it, called Adolescent and the Manosphere and all these things. And we have the capacity to stop that because we have the resources to support our youth and especially parents. So, I just wanted to throw that out there for now. I'll be back next Tuesday. Thank you. Thank you. Right. Next, we have Miss Donna Bailey. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. I want to talk tonight about trust and transparency regarding the comp plan and UDO. Back when the new comp plan and UDO were being developed, the city spent a lot of time and money as well as many people who participated in um as residents. The planning commission did a great job of thinking ahead and trying to accommodate the special city that Raleigh is. Steve Schuster said that historic properties give character and that is what makes Raleigh a local and national treasure. It gives us balance to all the new growth that is here and more coming. He said building too high next to historic neighborhoods will threaten their existence. Building 30 stories or even 20 stories next to historic neighborhoods will devalue them for no good reason. Sensitivity to downtown edge neighborhoods must be seriously considered before any decisions are made. Rodney Swink said context matters. The proposed 30story building at Peace and West makes no sense. This property was already reszoned from 5 to 12 stories. 12 stories is the recommended height there um for the downtown transition area which is this parcel is part of that is not outdated since you it was just added last year for more clarification. Some of you may not like the restrictions but just because you don't like some laws doesn't mean that you should break them. So this was voted on it by a majority I believe it should be followed. The comp plan 2030 was planning for a population of 600,000 when it was envisioned. We are not close to that. Mitchell Silver was hired to see the comp plan and UDO completed. Mitchell said that this would streamline development and get rid of spot zoning. Councelor Silver, how many times did you say just follow the plan? That's what I'm asking you to do. Just follow the plan. This project is a worst-case scenario for spot zoning. Raleigh does not need more luxury housing. So, this offer, this project will do nothing for the biggest need. In fact, their offer of only 1.2 million for affordable housing is a joke. And it won't even be offered until after the 500th unit is sold. What happens if they only build 499 units? Again, they are offering just $40,000 per unit built somewhere else. The public and re residents deserve transparency in the decision-making process. This proposed project will only serve the owners and a few hundred luxury apartment dwellers and of course, whoever they hired to help them. Nothing has changed from the previous application that was already denied. I would say that more clarity was given when this parcel was added to the transition zone. You have a duty to consider the impacts of what a project like this will have on Raleigh. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Next, we have Mr. Matthew Brown. Good evening. Thank you all for your service and thank you for letting me speak. Trees are wonderful amenities for a city. They clean our air. They cool the atmosphere. They're beautiful. They provide shade. They provide habitat for birds and other urban wildlife. They are among the trees are among the things that people love most about Raleigh. A family just moved to my neighborhood from Houston because Raleigh has so many more trees and Houston has a whole lot of pavement. That's what they told me. Studies show that areas with fewer trees and more pavement have hotter and more polluted air than areas with trees. And studies show that downtowns and lowincome areas tend to have fewer trees than wealthier areas. This is true in Raleigh as well. In the 1990s and early 2000s, the city was continually planting trees, but now it seems that we're cutting down more trees than we plant, especially in downtown and lower income areas. When developers knock down a house, they usually cut down all the trees as well. The uh new houses, especially the town houses, tend to have mostly concrete front yards instead of trees. Soon we will be cutting down hundreds of big trees along Newurn Avenue for the bus rapid transit. And now I hear that there is a move to cut down trees in Nash Square to build a playground. That would be tragic. Nash Square has so many wonderful specimen trees. It is downtown's arburetum. It is also downtown's lung, cleaning and cooling our air. You step into that 4 acre paradise and you feel 10° cooler. Meanwhile, there are over 100 acres of surface parking in the downtown. Let's build the playground on some of that. Or let's build it on more square. The city already cut down most of the trees seven or eight years ago. They were supposed to build a playground. Then the park planner showed us schematics with all these amenities, but most never got installed. Basically, we spent $13 million to cut down the trees and put in a whole lot of pavement. Some people call it frying pan park because it's just a big open area. More square would be a great place for a playground. The children's museum is right across the street. It's closer to more residential areas than Nash Square. A large mixed income project is uh about to be built right across Person Street. Please save the trees in Nash Square and all across Raleigh. Thank you. Thank you. Next we have Jeff Durkin. Uh good evening. Um I want to talk about housing today. Um, I watched Emily Sutton's excellent presentation from a few weeks ago on the city of Raleigh's vision for affordable housing. One of the things that left out at me was the apparent scale of our housing crisis. There was a statistic very early in that presentation that said that Wake County has a 60,000 uh unit shortage of housing. 60,000 units. That's a pretty immense number. Um, and I think it reflects a problem that is decades in the making. When I say that, I'm referring to the fact that Raleigh has historically placed a lot of limitations on housing. There have been limits on what types of homes can be built and where they can be built. And of course, there have been limits on who has been allowed to live in those homes. When you have restrictive housing policies like that for decades and decades, you dig a very deep hole. That's how we can have a shortage that's that big. That's how high housing costs are the legacy of those policies. the things that the city is doing to encourage affordable housing and I'm talking about things like public private partnerships and uh LITC gap financing. These are much needed. They are what we owe the most most vulnerable people in our society. At the same time, we need to think about whether those tactics are going to be enough by themselves because $60,000, excuse me, 60,000 units is a yawning gap. And it's very hard to close that solely with projects that the city sponsors and solely by um uh prevailing upon developers to set aside a few units here or a few million dollars there. But the fact is you don't have to. Um there is a misperception that market rate housing doesn't do anything for the people who don't move directly into that market rate housing. The research shows otherwise. Uh when you add market rate uh you pull high income residents into those units that would otherwise be bidding up housing in other places. So in our city building uh market rate downtown pulls high income earners away from more vulnerable areas. Once they stop bidding up the prices in those areas, those areas prices will they will see eventually falling prices and they'll be able to house other residents who otherwise might be displaced. So, if you want to close the 60,000 unit housing gap, it follows that not only um the affordable housing projects and the public private partnerships are part of the solution, but also the market rate development. And so, we've got to work to allow that. When we see those projects, it's important not to look at how they might conflict with a past comp plan, how they might offend someone's sensibilities about how housing is supposed to look or what a particular neighborhood is supposed to look like. It's important to look at how we can get to yes, so we can add to our housing stock and stop digging that hole that we've been digging for decades. Thank you. Thank you. Next, we have Miss Nikki W. Good evening. I hope all are well. I'd like to address safety on public transportation. I've been almost a daily rider since late 2021 and become fond of many drivers of Go Raleigh and Go Triangle. However, the number of concerns I've of accessibility and related issues I've had to make are greater than 10. As I've addressed these authorities and the same issues recur I am addressing the city on multiple occasions throughout the years. Many times my request for the ramp or to kneel the bus has been denied even within the past week. I've been told the ramp doesn't work. They refuse to completely kneel the bus and drivers tell tell or indicate they don't have the time. Drivers tell me I don't need to walk with a walker or ramps are only for wheelchairs. Drivers have shut the door on me, have shut the door in my face and pulled off and left me standing 30 minutes to an hour for the next bus, even in the cold pouring rain. Whenever I report, multiple drivers retaliate, and I am made a problem and efforts are made to ban me, even for refusing to sit in urine soil seats. I have pleaded with supervisors and safety personnel to communicate the policies and/or concessions made to accommodate people with disabilities to cut down confusion and ensure all are on the same page. But when I converse with parties involved, they claim they have no knowledge or they don't answer to the people who give gave the order. In the animosity of me making my own policies, travesties take place. And one night, a driver refused to allow me on the last bus to get home at 11:15 due to confusion with the construction taking place. I reported to the supervisor sitting in a car nearby immediately who could have had him circle around or take me home as the policy is when they failed to meet expectation. She told me I was going to have to find another way, knowing there wasn't one. As a result, I walked 2 and 1/2 hours after midnight in the rain to get home. Eventually, the sidewalk discontinued and a persistent stranger tried to get me to enter his car. Luckily, someone close assisted with the lift. Due to the continuous extensive walking and pains and injuries, I had to stay in for two days to recover. It would have only taken 15 seconds to allow me to board, ensuring my safety. Miss West here, who has had 10 strokes and is visibly uh visibly physically challenged, was tripped by an opening ramp and struck her head on a thick pane of glass, causing a knot and bleeding. She was immediately transported to the ED. Go Raleigh has given her the runaround on trying to file a claim on this recurring incident. Why does this keep occurring? The driver was not going to file an incident report or call help for these for this screaming woman. Things are becoming more dangerous with ambulance, police, and injuries occurring each week. Drivers are carrying weapons to protect themselves, and riders are being hurt and losing much needed jobs because of stalls. Drivers have said customer service is not their job. Riders are confused about policies which causes confrontation. Some supervisors don't effectively communicate. I ask you please review and revamp policies for riders, including for disabilities. Reconsider the use of fair cards as they they seem to be a source of numerous confrontation. and make sure transportation meetings for public comment are posted on buses for open participation. A video on driver rider courtesy may thank you. Uh next, Hannah D. Ali. Yeah. And MS Salari. Tim Niles. [Music] Tim Niles, good evening. Mayor Cowell was quoted discussing the 30story tower proposed for West Street, which is located in a downtown transition area at the very edge of the central business district. She said, quote, "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." End quote. I checked the numbers. The facts show that of the 303 zoning applications submitted and resolved since 2020, only five have been denied. 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 five have been denied in 5 years. This doesn't even take into account all the additional byite entitlement created with the missing middle. The case in question could have supplied 770 units. The current 12-story zoning allows for 549 units, a difference of 221 units, a minuscule 2/10en of 1% of the over 110,000 already approved. The mayor also said, quote, "You want to have a serious conversation and give it a good effort to find something that works for the city, provides housing, adds to the property tax base, but also honors the comprehensive plan." End quote. That serious conversation took place in 2015 when this property was upzzoned from four stories to 12. The comp plan is very clear and the only zone the only zoning that honors it here 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 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. 110,000 units already approved. Your newly appointed planning commissioner is quoted in Indie Week saying he'll focus on allowing housing to get built. Who's stopping it? You approved over 98% of the requests, 110,000 units. Build them. Maybe you should include constru conditions that construction must commence within a time certain or the reasoning 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 of ever building anything. Thank you. Thank you. All right, that's it, folks. That concludes our speakers for tonight and we are adjourned. [Music]