I think it’s about time Raleigh City Council approve zoning for some buildings to build to 40 stories from there barely skyscraper 12 stories it’s very beneficial for projects like Smokey Hollow, and RUSBUS Raleigh Bus Station project, and some buildings on Fayetteville Street, John Kane and them aren’t saying 40 stories but something near it. And it will help density plans with the planned BRT or Bus Rapid Transit, growth, no single family housing nearby that what it appears to be like, it seems to check all the boxes. So lets go City council and approve it.
Especially you Kay Crowder. (I read an article about the same topics about this and your opposition).
So, that’s my opinion how about yours comment below!!!
Welcome @GavinLivesRaleigh. Have you written Kay and her peers about your thoughts? Many many many here agree, but this forum isn’t a direct link to the council. I don’t know the email address to city Council off the top of my head, but many here do. I encourage you to share your feelings with them.
Here is the update I just got on Smoky Hollow Phase 3.
“Quick update on Kane phase 3 rezoning request. It came before city council a few weeks ago and they referred it to growth and natural resources committee (made up of anti development council members). The GNR committee today voted to recommend approval of the rezoning request after Kane offered to contribute $1mil to city’s affordable housing fund. They also stipulated that a traffic study be done at the time of site planning (which comes after rezoning). Basically all this means that it’s pretty certain at this point that rezoning will go through. City council will have to schedule a public hearing at some point.”
Sounds like a decent outcome. Might a traffic study in this context cause the developer pay for a traffic signal at the Johnson/Harrington corner, for example? Or maybe move a driveway from one spot to another? I do not believe a signal is planned at that corner as a part of the NCDOT Capital Blvd project which I frankly consider as an omission.
The Kane representative addressed that at one of the community meetings. Basically, they cannot put up a new stop light at an intersection like that until they can study the traffic and they cannot study the traffic on the road that does not exist yet (new Johnson, etc.).
$1 million? Damn the city is a cheap date. If this is actually going 40 stories, that’s just another added 1% to the cost of the project, maybe even a fraction of a percent.
And the city is a super cheapskate for that price. 40 Stories are like 200+ Million Dollars, right? Especially if you count road construction, and I think Phase 3 has much more extensive site preparation?
I’m very pleased to hear it did not get stuck on politics. Surprised, but it’s Kane so not surprising. Maybe they should create a Kane Committee to handle all of the development, and all of the approvals just reroute to his offices, I think that would work out best for everyone.
Why is he obligated to pay this at all though? Is the premise that this development is going to drive up housing prices? I thought $1M seemed like a lot since Kane could argue this is increasing the tax base but what do I know. Either way, glad it’s moving forward.
This definitely shows you how politicized the rezoning process has become. Rather than being logical and evaluating rezonings based on our comprehensive plan, staff reviews, and planning commission, the council has to show that it is doing something. They have to show that they are relevant to the conversation. The council of No subset, and their direct supporters, feel they have to respond to the growing concern of affordable housing.
Kane played it well by offering that $1m towards affordable housing. He gave them an out, allowing them to support the rezoning (which is what the pro-growth crowd wants) AND share that they did something towards affordable housing.
I hope a future council can take the politics out of Raleigh planning but I doubt that will ever happen. I don’t see this as a victory for affordable housing as this council still hasn’t delivered a solid plan for it. Their strategy is to strangle developers for what they want.
That’s because it’s not really about affordable housing just like Mendel expressing concern about the Dix Master Plan wasn’t actually about gentrification concerns. They’re just trying to keep Raleigh from changing and/or if it does change, it changes slowly and under their terms. They know they’d get pilloried if they just came out and said “Keep Raleigh Small” so they couch it in these terms without giving real specifics or accepting compromises.
On one side of the coin, she was against short-term rentals (STR) due to the concern about removing housing from the market, changing them from rentals to STRs. She says this would affect housing prices. (AKA they will go up)
Now, since she seems to have an understanding of market forces on housing supply and prices, she continues to be against density which is baffling.
This case-by-case council meddling has got to be reined in. Let’s get a mayor that can get the council to work on larger projects and let staff, the commissions, do their work.