They make those daylight lights that put out the full sun spectrum.
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Would love to see all three go up at once. Call it âNimbygeddonâ.
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Sad I wonât be able to join in on the fun (will be out of town for work) but look forward to seeing all the green shirts! I just sent my email at leastâŚ
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Today is a beautiful day to spend a couple of minutes and send your city council members an email in support of this rezoning! Even better, send an email today and go to the meeting tomorrow with your green shirt on!
Refer to the post Iâm replying to for email addresses and sample emails.
EDIT: @John also found this page that has each council membersâ staff name/emails if you want to CC them.
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Of course the Five Points and Mordecai CACâs have joined the NIMBY fight. Sucks the leaders of the CACâs basically set the narrative that just assume that the whole neighborhood is against any development. Tried to help change the narrative. Welp.
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Hereâs the body of what I wrote.
I am writing to you in support of the rezoning of the properties at the NE corner of Peace and West.
Before going on, hereâs a little about me for context. I have been a downtown proper homeowner in this Peace St. corridor for over 29 years. I first owned at the Cotton Mill, and now at the Paramount on Boylan. I have put my money and my feet where my mouth is in supporting the cityâs vision for a walkable, urban neighborhood in this NW quadrant of Raleighâs actual downtown boundary. I pay the municipal service district fees/taxes, and I am delighted to be part of moving Raleigh forward in a more economically and environmentally sustainable way by walking more, using my car less frequently, and not sprawling the cityâs growth to levels which will undoubtedly become exponentially difficult to sustain. I strongly believe that those of us who live in this way that give more than we take when it comes to creating a viable Raleigh for the future.
Iâd also like to say that I am not against community voices and action when those voices and actions make our city better. For example. I am indebted to the voices in the late 60s and early 70s that successfully prevented a freeway from plowing through our downtown and destroying it like what happened to so many American cities following WW2. I am also indebted to the DIX306 grassroots action that eventually led to city acquiring what is quickly becoming a crown jewel for our city. What these community actions have in common is that they were for the betterment of the city itself, and not self interest of a few at the expense of the betterment of the city.
As Iâm sure that you already know all of the objective reasons why this rezoning makes sense from the unanimous recommendation of the planning commission, twice. I am also sure that you know that it aligns (If I remember correctly) with the guidance that was provided at your council retreat. I did watch the entire retreat on YouTube over the course of several daysâ lunch hours.
Itâs very clear to me that the actual resistance to this rezoning is laser focused from a few blocks of single family homeowners who believe that their personal interests supersede those of downtown and the entire city. While they simply donât want a tall building anywhere near them despite it being proposed in downtown proper, Iâve watched their messaging shift around until it landed on the scary âin the shadowsâ narrative that has animated fears in people. So, letâs look at this shadow issue for what it really is. As we know, the Sun rises in the east, and that rise shifts north and south along the calendar year as the Earth rotates on its axis and circles the Sun. What is being used in the âshadowâ narrative is that at a certain time of the year, and for a very short period of time, the proposed buildings will cast a shadow as the Sun rises. Oddly, this same dynamic plays out across the entire city and in downtown without any issues whatsoever and nobodyâs lives are ruined. Itâs a manufactured fear, yet itâs the cornerstone of the resistance messaging because playing it out any other way will be perceived as standard NIMBYism. Interestingly, the new tower at the Creamery will rise even closer to residents across the street at the Gramercy apartments and nobody is in arms over that. Or, perhaps, they donât âcountâ because they live in multi-family and are renters?
Historically deference has been paid to the single family homeowners on the edges of downtown. You canât park on public streets in their neighborhoods late at night, but thereâs no such restriction in front of my home just south of Peace on Boylan. There are literally barricades on weekend nights that prevent folks from even driving on Boylan north of Peace while the city literally pushes folks to drive through Boylan south of Peace by closing Glenwood. There is clearly an over-representation of their voices over ours, and those of us who are in (and own) in downtown proper.
The No on Z-12-25 group keeps pushing the âif they do it to us, they can do it to youâ narrative through their panicked Livable Raleigh group, but the reality is that Livable Raleigh keeps âdoing it to downtownâ, and at the expense of others and the city. I know that they are well organized and will come with a physical outsized voice, but I assure that there is a lot of support for continued densification and growth in the city center. It just doesnât come from traditional sources. You see it on message boards, Reddit, Instagram, etc. Thereâs a lot of enthusiasm for continued downtown Raleigh growth coming from its residents, its aspiring residents, and fans.
Lastly, we know that increased housing densification activates more walkable and dynamic cities and provides more revenue than they require to sustain. We also know that the city center is the calling card for how we are perceived in the national and global marketplace, and by future generations of residents. Not only do we want to keep the best and the brightest, but attract the best and brightest from elsewhere. Bravely approving a rezoning like this one in the actual downtown proper footprint enable Glenwood South to continue transforming into a better version of itself by adding more residents and foot traffic daily instead of just late nights on weekends. This rezoning is a step in that direction that will make the greater area more vibrant for all of within the district, and yes for the residents on its perimeter as well.
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Stef is so grumpy! Mike, you clearly donât know what youâre talking about since you donât have the same opinion as Stef.
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I like what @John sent but in case the Mayor didnât have time to read all that, my letter was a bit more concise. Not better, just to the point. Approve the rezoning and donât let the NIMBY control good development for the rest of us.
Honorable Mayor Cowell
I am writing to express my sincere hope that you will consider passing the rezoning request for the West at Peace Project. I have followed this project since it was first introduced to the public back in the early summer. From a planning perspective, I personally like this project for Raleigh and feel it will add needed density in a growing urban environment.
We are always going to have those folks in our community who want things to stay the same. Small town feel and all of that. I believe we can do both. We can keep Raleigh with the same community feel and vibrancy it has always been. But it doesnât have to be at the expense of good development. Pretending we donât have 66 new people a day moving to our area is both naive and detrimental to effective planning for our future.
I am hopeful that you and the City Council will approve this rezoning.
Thank you for all you do!!
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I sent the Mayor and the council members that are on the Safe, Vibrant & Healthy Community committee an email a few weeks ago, and it wasnât short. Janet replied nearly immediately while I never even heard back from some of the others. I was duly impressed with her rapid response.
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I thought it was well thought out and excellent. I am glad she is hearing from those of us on the other side and responding back. I also hope the Council can stand up for good development. This project is not going to happen at 12 stories. Like it or not, that is the reality of development and developers. The site has unique constraints and the world we now live in is too costly to make the numbers work unless the density can justify the development. We spend so much time trying to explain away shadows when the core question should be - is this a really good well thought out project that adds needed density and overall benefit to the community at large?
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This is why itâs important that as many of us send emails and/or attend the council session in person tomorrow. If we donât speak up, all the council will hear is the NIMBYism.
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I am concerned that yâall are getting drawn in by the âconceptualâ plans. Understandable-- but you canât count on anything unless itâs in the conditions, and the conditions proposed by the developer fall well short of "requiringâ some of the nicer things shown in the renderings.
- Pedestrian entrances are required (by UDO for DX-*-UG zoning) but there is no requirement for retail at all, let alone multi level retail
- The conditions specify a passageway per the UDO. Minimum corridor width of 20 ft, paved width 10ft. Nice to have the connectivity but a âgrand staircaseâ could easily get VEâd down to something utilitarian and narrower.
Not a showstopper per se but I would rather have seen the developer put a bit more skin in the game with those conditions.
Do or die at this point, hope it passes and hope the developer actually follows through and implements something close to the concept
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I am more than happy to have the developerâs feet held to the fire on conditions, and if thatâs what livable Raleighâs focus was, Iâd be fine.
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One step at a time. Approve the new zoning.
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Perhaps the developer is holding back to have something to âgiveâ tomorrow at the meeting? This will allow reluctant councilors to vote in favor while âfighting for the peopleâ.
Email I just sent (I hope you all will enjoy some of my signature ALL CAPS emphasis on key words):
"Hello to the City Council, Mayor Cowell, and my District E rep Christina Jones,
I am writing to you today to voice my ABSOLUTE SUPPORT for the rezoning proposal at the NE corner of Peace St. and N. West St.
I first would like to express that the previous councilâs ultimate NO vote last time around - when the developer was even including park funding as a condition of the request - was a massive mistake. This is now a great opportunity to rectify that mistake.
I am not a property owner in the adjacent neighborhood(s), but I believe the shameless NIMBYism of said neighborhood towards this objectively beneficial proposal is a ridiculous âexampleâ to use in even considering voting down this rezoning request, yet again. Since you all represent the entire city, and not just property owners in SFH (that chose to buy property in a growing CITY), I urge you to consider the base facts, and not just the emotionally charged outburst of a vocal fewâŚ
The proposal is already in-line with and unanimously approved by the Raleigh Planning Commission, includes a massive influx of additional housing units (something Raleigh will always need, so long as our growth continues - and it will continue), new retail/restaurant/services opportunities directly alongside what will soon be a beautiful new park, and not to mention (though least of all) a grand-entrance development for anyone entering the city from the North (which does include me).
While I may not own property nearby, I do rent a practice space right off West St (I am a local musician) and this development would still have a direct impact on my daily life - and certainly not all for the better (during construction, Iâm sure access to my practice space will be affected for a while- and may ultimately be erased in the near future when that property becomes too valuable for the current owners to keep it as-is). However, because I KNOW that the benefits FAR outweigh any perceived negatives of this rezoning, I STRONGLY urge you to vote to APPROVE the request. Thank you for your time and all that you do for our city,
Jake (full name redacted for dtraleigh community)"
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DX zoning is required to be mixed use, is it not? Or did a miss something with the zoning designations as they are written in the code? That would mean that retail (or office would have to be made part of the development) in order for the development to ultimately be approved at site plan? As for the connectivity - not sure on that one, but it could easily be added as a condition of the rezoning.
I canât imagine anyone wanting to develop a residential tower in downtown and not have it be at least mixed use with retail at the ground level. I canât imagine that the city would want that either.
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Yeah and DX is a zoning that requires mix because of its urban nature. I would bet you a beer on that one. I am almost 100 percent sure. And you are right. That is why ALL these high rises have a retail component on the ground floor. No one wants to live around areas that have nothing but apartments.
Form based zoning districts are about form, not use. Check the UDO. I did. I donât believe any districts actually require it.
-SH frontage makes it hard to meet the form based requirements without retail, but this is not -SH; itâs -UG.