Speakers press council to boost affordable housing funding and require on-site units near transit

Jessica Turner, a Wakefield resident and member of a Southeast Raleigh congregation affiliated with 1Wake, asked the City Council to increase the annual affordable housing budget to $70,000,000 and to identify 100 acres of city-owned land where 1Wake could build affordable homes and apartments. Turner said the request follows a grassroots listening campaign and petition drive by more than 10,000 members and institutions that 1Wake represents.

A separate commenter (recorded during public comment) urged the council not to allow developers to pay money in lieu of providing actual affordable units in projects near transit. The speaker said the GoTriangle Hoffman project next to Union Station was expected to provide 39 affordable units in a 385-unit development and warned that allowing payment instead of on-site units would undermine mixed-income goals and set a negative precedent. The speaker also referenced the city’s comprehensive plan and UDO guidance and noted a rezoning (referred to in the transcript as Z-5422) tied to downtown transition-area guidance.

Speakers made two distinct appeals: funding and land for large-scale affordable housing development (Turner on behalf of community groups), and strict inclusion of on-site affordable units in transit-oriented developments (public commenter). No formal council action or vote was taken during the public-comment portion referenced in the transcript.

Turner thanked Mayor and council members for participating in a Nehemiah Development visit and asked for closer coordination with 1Wake on building at scale. The affordability advocate who raised the payment-in-lieu concern asked council to adopt clear policy requiring affordable units be integrated with transit and neighborhood transitions rather than accepting cash alternatives.

The transcript does not record any staff response or formal council directives on these requests during the public-comment segment.