City Council Discusses Home Rental Services, Rex Senior Healthcare
City Council on Tuesday during its regular session discussed a number of items, including home rental services, the relocation of Rex Senior Healthcare, and the sale of Stone’s Warehouse.
A text change regarding home rental services like Airbnb was sent to the planning commission for further consideration. Previous discussion around home rental services surrounded the number of allowable rooms to rent, special use permits, and the desire of some councilors to see a pilot program instead of citywide legislation allowing home rental services to exist.
James Borden / Raleigh Public Record
The Architect Bar and Social House held in January a forum on room-rentals in Raleigh
Mayor McFarlane asked about the issue of tax collection and how much Wake County and the state would collect. City attorney Thomas McCormick said that Wake County would collect the local occupancy tax and that the rest had not been decided yet due to the state legislature being in session.
Councilors Crowder and Odom pushed for a neighborhood opt-out option, where neighborhoods who didn’t want home rental services to be delivered could decline to be included in the plan.
“The biggest problem with this is going to be abuse of the system,” councilor Odom said.
Rex Senior Healthcare to be moved to Rock Quarry Road
Rex Senior Healthcare will be moved from its old site within Stone’s Warehouse to a new site on Rock Quarry Road. Rex Senior Healthcare had been in Stone’s Warehouse since 1997, where it rented a 5,000 square foot property owned by the city. It has 1,700 regular patients, the majority of which are from southeast Raleigh.
The new site will be a part of the Wake Health Services Facility, a 35,000 square foot building that will add 10,000 new patients. It is a one-stop location with a lab, pharmacy, and dental and the relocation cost will be covered by $203,800 from the sale proceeds of Stone’s Warehouse.
Jennifer Wig / Raleigh Public Record
Stone\’s Warehouse on Davie Street.
The sale of Stone’s Warehouse was set for public hearing on August, 4. The property was sold to Transfer Company, LLC, which made a presentation to the budget and economic development committee, selling the committee on its plan for a mix of uses, housing element, and preservation of the warehouse.
Councilor Crowder Pulls Two Items from Consent Agenda
Three items were pulled from the consent agenda with the rest passed in full.
Item 6.4 concerned an interlocal agreement about transit services with the town of Wake Forest. The transit services provide a consistent, high quality bus route for individuals living in the Wakefield area.
Councilor Crowder had questions about the 23 percent of funding from GoRaleigh for the annual cost of the route and whether there was a separation cause in the contract. David Eatman of Public Works said that there almost surely was.
After Councilor Baldwin was excused from item 10.1, which was then approved, councilor Crowder had questions about item 11.2. The item concerns the Jones Sausage Road widening project and required additional funding.
Project savings from another construction project were to be used to close the funding gap. Councilor Crowder wanted to halt the transfer of money until seeing a list of all projects that needed additional funding. After being assured that that list would be made available, the item was approved unanimously.
