They spelled Smoky correctly. Lol @dtraleigh and @OakCityDylan.
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Why does the city keep pushing this on the developers, it should be the cityâs responsibility. Even if this request is denied and Kane decided to develop within the 12 story limits, the city will still not get any affordable housing and property values will still increase. I find it crazy to hold the zoning approval hostage like this.
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This rezoning request was on WRAL this morning. I was glad to see it as I think it turns up the pressure a bit. Itâs been covered in the N&D a lot too. That wasnât a typo.
If itâs not approved, $1M towards affordable housing is off the table and on our council membersâ records. @Dan, I think itâs about different views of governmentâs function. Iâm a smaller, less government control person and I think a lot of this community feels the same way. But here is a simple factâŚforcing developers to include affordable housing IN their projects doesnât work. Itâs a long-term liability for the value of the building as well as future tenants (someone has to supplement the ongoing costs of those units forever). Itâs an issue with getting financing for these projects. And quite honestly, the responsibility to provide affordable housing lies with our City (and council) not on Developers. As I have said before, the Council hasnât done their job here so now they are trying this approach with Kane.
And if Kane gives the $1m and future developers arenât required to do the same thing, we ought to ask a lot of questions.
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Golly, it truly isnât that hard to understand. If we allow developers to build larger, expensive/luxury housing downtown, it decreases the demand for expensive/luxury housing on the fringes of downtown, ie. Gentrification.
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So we should only âletâ them build crap on their land instead?
then CC would get complain about how cheap the buildings look 
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[/quote] Iâm a smaller, less government control person and I think a lot of this community feels the same way⌠And quite honestly, the responsibility to provide affordable housing lies with our City (and council) not on Developers. As I have said before, the Council hasnât done their job here so now they are trying this approach with Kane.
[/quote]
I agree that affordable housing is an issue for the city to address, but I donât think that it can be done with a smaller government with less control. It actually requires more government control and much more action.
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I agree that issues like affordable housing are the role of the government (otherwise it doesnât happen). I also believe such issues are more local than national.
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Thank you for that clarification. So, you are not necessarily for smaller, less government control at the local level?
Yes, within reason. When it gets out of control (let me pick on Cary) and addresses issues I consider to be an overreach, then not so much. The role of local government is more important than we give it credit for IMO. You need dedicated, broad thinkers that can see the big picture yet manage growth responsibly. Our Mayor and CC members are essentially volunteers as they are paid next to zero. However, they signed up so I still hold them just as accountable. Being a good local leader means more than listening to your constituents complain.
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moved to Affordable Housing
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I suspect that the motivation for being on the council, because it surely isnât money, is ones own agenda, or something else thatâs personal or involves a passion.
âIâm going to get on that council to do___________â is likely a typical motivation.
Finding/understanding what those motivations are is important because it tells us how to communicate with them effectively.
I suspect that we can all come up with what we think the council should be doing, and that we might often agree. IMO, the council should be focused on âquality of life experiencesâ for its diverse population, municipal financials, safety/security, education (though the schools are at the county level), sustainability, business development/enablement, parks, transportation, and special issues relevant to current forces at play.
Right now, and perhaps exacerbated by some of the news coming out of much, much more expensive markets, housing affordability is top of mind. FWIW, Raleigh isnât anywhere near the crisis thatâs happening in major cities across the country where itâs absolutely ridiculous (SF, Seattle, NYC), and itâs still more affordable than benchmark cities like Austin. And while downtown properties are getting disproportionately more expensive, there are still affordable housing options that are available to those at or near the median incomes of the area. Will they always be the first choice or residents? No, they will not. That all said, we could probably argue until the cows come home about what affordable means, and Iâm not suggesting that people donât struggle. I know that I did when I was in my 20s and making a tiny salary for a college grad (intern architect), but I professionally outgrew that longer term âtemporaryâ situation.
We do have a larger issue with the working poor, and the recent gentrification of the formerly more financially stable neighborhoods in which they lived has only magnified the problems. This needs to be addressed and itâs a much bigger issue than using a couple of large development projects downtown can solve. If the city is serious about it, then theyâd assess a development fee across the board for all construction projects, permits for renovations, etc., and then theyâd create an action plan for how to use that money in support of the need. If they were serious about solving that problem downtown, theyâd look at their own land holdings and existing affordable communities and make better decisions about how to move forward. They wouldnât be cherry picking and picking on a few highly visible projects to score political points. Theyâd look to actually solving for the issues.
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My neighbors and I met with Kay Crowder yesterday to discuss an unrelated issue and she mentioned some of the projects in the hopper. She didnât disclose how she would be voting on Smoky Hollow, but she didnât think it would get the votes with traffic the main issue.
I was surprised that she said she thinks this location is right for high density development, and she reiterated that a 40-story rezoning didnât necessarily mean the developer is planning 40 stories. She mentioned something about lowering parking caps to ease the traffic impacts but that it would result in a slightly smaller building.
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Maybe she knows itâs the right call to vote this through but doesnât want to anger her core voters.
Itâs right on the future BRT line and the CAC and Dev department endorse it.
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So where should I be going for the city council meeting tonight?
City Municipal Complex. 2nd floor.
Are you here? A group of us, about 10, sitting near the front left.
Thanks to all of you who are there. May the force be with you. Canât wait to hear what went down.
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I am here. Thanks!
Just waiting thru all of this wonderful lessons on the Bible till we can get to city business.
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Could we not have this shit done during the daytime sessions?
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