Remarks by Megan Patton
54 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 3
“Questions counselor I think this one will be for chair out. Well This case the Clark Avenue one. I was curious about the conversation and deliberation When reviewing the conditions it looked like it had many of the types of conditions were familiar with seeing and had tenant relocation assistance and extended notice periods and then it had had some preservation conditions in it, too, that are escaping me at the moment. So I was surprised to see the denial. Can you speak to how the conversation went and what guided people?”
“So it was more about the existing NOAA and less about the NCOD or preservation side?”
“If you want to make a motion so on the Lewisburg Road one I'd like to pull that out and hold that as a special item to return to our Next meetings with the intention of still achieving the public hearing on November 17th, but to allow the applicant to make changes so if we can pull that out and happy to Move move to adopt the remainder of the hearings”
“Counselor Patton. Yeah, I had similar questions to what I've already heard. So, yeah, I think... it makes sense to me that some of these organizations might be relying on like their understanding of our willingness to participate in order to move forward. So if they've asked us for an amount of money and we're not even telling them if we might consider it, then they are probably gonna make changes to their event or whatever, right? I think it sounds like you just addressed this, but a willingness for them to hear, yes, the City of Raleigh is committed to doing our part related to your…”
“Bynum, I can have questions too. I have a variety, but since you're close, I'll start with code questions. One is around FTDO. There's like a Scribner's error in it, right? That if you're going to use the affordable housing piece, you actually have a bigger lot size than if not.”
“Okay, do we have any sense that that, without resolve, is gonna impact this? What if the property owner wants to build town homes?”
“Okay, got it. And then also code related. In a webinar I attended once on this topic, one of the speakers noted that a code change they had pursued in their jurisdiction was unlimited ADUs. I'm glad to see we have a lot of entitlement available to these folks already, but were there any code changes that were considered or that could even sort of up the ante?”
“Got it. Okay. I have a couple more, but I can pass and come back.”
“I can probably ask offline. I was interested in the second convening and who's like the most appropriate audience. I work with some faith-based institutions in North Raleigh who have expressed interest in this and I just want to get them plugged in at the right part of the stream so they can be most best served.”
“Thank you guys Yeah, I was also going to ask about the PFAS webinar I'll definitely watch it But I was curious if you could in in two sentences for someone who might only be watching right this right now and not go watch that what what are like the takeaways the board would like folks to hear and”
“Three years ago is a long time. Can you help me understand why it's taken so long or what's happened in the intervening time?”
“I wonder if that introduces complications. Like if they're going to square things up privately, then we wouldn't pursue asbestos testing. We wouldn't spend our staff resources on like asbestos testing if we thought they were going to also be doing the same.”
“I'm not suggesting we hold it until February. I'm saying this has been with code enforcement for three years now. So I'm certainly not suggesting we hold the hearing open. I'm saying I don't think we should give cursory approval with some kind of delayed effective date or anything. I think we should either approve it or... deny it today.”
“So when I look just at the conditions, it has some things that would typically not be aligned with my priorities, like closing off the grid or prohibiting multi-unit living on Falls of the Neuse Road. But then when I read more in the staff report, it sounds like the intent of the applicant is to update their signs, which they cannot do under their current zoning, and I know the applicant will speak and I wouldn't ask you to opine on their intentions, but this wouldn't be the first time we've heard of churches needing to seek rezoning to update their signage. Can you speak to the broad policy…”
“You're saying this case doesn't seem to be similar to the trend?”
“Thank you. Councillor Patton. Yeah. Hi. Thanks for all that. So I'm still trying to wrap my head around what is a specific policy constraint that's preventing you all from doing what you want to do or, like, I guess how much larger is the sign going to be or what's preventing you from doing this by right today?”
“Yeah, more thanks to staff coming from me. We had tornadoes in Raleigh not too long ago, but staff's response was really amazing, very swift, very thorough. I'm grateful that there were no injuries, but within minutes of the emergency, RPD was on the scene. Obviously, a lot was happening for command staff. behind the scenes where they were out of visibility. But even within hours, I rolled up with my not at all helpful loppers and wheelbarrow. But you all showed up with the heavy equipment that actually started clearing trees out of the roadways and making sure people's lives could get back…”
“Hi, thanks for going through this. We know there's been a lot of community interest in particularly the downtown station, but also this move, this consideration of whether a move away from Hub and Spoke to a more gridded system, as you called it, is the right move for the system today. So I appreciate you going back over that. In each of these things, you outlined the timeline. Are they proceeding on parallel tracks or in sequence?”
“Yeah, I think for community interest, I think the community would prioritize this one, so I'll just flag that. And is this one, the downtown transit facilities, at our retreat you highlighted that we serve six million buses go through our station and two go through the Go Triangle station or something like that?”
“So a staggering difference. So that step, the downtown transit facilities part, that is where we would evaluate if it might be appropriate to distribute some of the lines over to that one.”
“One last one for me, and then I'll make the motion. It's just that if folks who are interested in the outcomes of these studies, should we expect that we'll see you back at this podium in nine months?”
“Great, thank you so much, I appreciate it. And so with all of that, I will move to authorize the city manager to, whatever you need me, move to authorize the thing.”
“I'm happy to make a motion. Yeah, I appreciate this opportunity. I appreciate you evaluating it. You know, these are volunteers, and I think some of these subcommittees have like two and three people on them, and I think offering these Volunteers and staff more flexibility and how these subcommittees are meeting will just facilitate the flow of their work more easily and so I would motion to proceed with option two which allows the Subcommittees to meet differently than their parent commission second All right all in favor that motion aye aye all opposed nay, and that is unanimous.”
“I did have a question. When will we see the bridge, did you say with the timeline?”
“All right, well, motion to authorize the execution of the First Amendment.”