Raleigh city council met Tuesday for their regular session to vote on items such as the five-year consolidated plan and the Buffaloe-New Hope small area plan.
Required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to receive funding, the five-year consolidated plan aims to address housing needs in the city of Raleigh. The document establishes priorities for community development from 2016-2020.
City of Raleigh
The five-year plan studied the housing needs of various residents of the city
Larry Jarvis, the director in the housing and neighborhoods department, made the presentation to council, saying the document was formed after extensive engagement with the community.
Some of the concrete goals of the plan include constructed 90 new rental units and rehabilitating 10 units that are already established.
Councilor Weeks said that he would vote against the plan due to opposition to the plan from his constituency. A vote was taken and the plan was adopted, with Councilor Weeks being the lone dissenting vote.
The Buffaloe-New Hope small area plan was held at the table after neighborhood residents spoke at the meeting, advocating for more pedestrian safety improvements and the need to prohibit fuel sales at the intersection.
The genesis for the small area plan had come from a 2013 rezoning petition, where a developer wished to build a Sheetz gas station on one of the properties at the intersection. Neighborhood residents expressed significant opposition to the petition and a workshop was later held to determine the residents’ vision for the area.
City of Raleigh
The original site plan for the Buffaloe/New Hope Sheetz
The residents, according to the planning staff, wanted neighborhood scale development, where developments would reach no more than three stories in height. The small area plan calls for neighborhood transitions and the mitigation of light and noise impacts from future developments.
City of Ralleigh
Several workshops were held to discuss the Buffaloe-New Hope Small Area Plan
After residents expressed more concerns about the plan at the meeting, council elected to hold it at the table for two weeks to allow for more conversation between city staff and the neighborhood residents.
A presentation was given for the Raleigh arts plan, which is a ten-year master plan designed to strengthen the arts and culture of the city of Raleigh. The objective of the plan is to see Raleigh nationally recognized as an entertainment, cultural, and tourism destination.
The process will move to stage three in June, when the plan will be drafted, finalized, and then presented to city council. Stage three will include a vetting process of the plan, through the steering committee, arts commission, and meetings in town hall.
In the report and recommendation of the budget and economic committee, approval was given for the parking allocation within the Blount Street parking deck for Edison Tower. The item generated discussion, as the budget and economic committee had placed approval of the parking allocation contract contingent on parking spaces being allocated also to Cooper’s BBQ.
JDavis Architects
A rendering of the Edison
Councilors Maiorano and Baldwin were concerned that this would tie up a major downtown project if the parking spaces wouldn’t be able to be allocated to Cooper’s BBQ. It was decided that the applicant would be able to come back before council if the parking allocation agreement with Cooper’s BBQ could not be secured.
The consent agenda passed in full.
