Council sets Jan. 6 public hearings on multiple rezoning items; Nash Square plan approved

Council heard the Planning & Development report and set several public hearings for Jan. 6. Bynum Walters presented key items from the Planning Commission report: a Leesville Road rezoning request to remove overlays and rezone to residential mixed use (staff and the commission said the request is consistent with the comprehensive plan); a Gresham Lake Road application to change heavy industrial zoning to industrial mixed use; a North Hills rezoning (Z3425) where the commission recommended approval but Commissioner Ookai opposed increased height and worried about affordable housing tradeoffs; and TC125, an omnibus text change readoption tied to statutory actions.

Separately, TJ McCourt (Raleigh Parks) presented the Nash Square Public Realm concept and said a comprehensive tree-health and risk assessment will be completed by Bartlett Tree Experts as part of a tree succession plan; the design team will coordinate with transportation, stormwater and other departments to treat Nash Square as part of a larger civic campus redevelopment. Council voted unanimously to approve the Nash Square item and to set the listed planning items for public hearings on Jan. 6.

Councilors asked targeted questions about canopy measurements, sight lines, crime-prevention through environmental design, funding and whether the Civic Tower design team participated in the RFQ; staff said the design team includes the master-plan architects in a consultant role and that detailed implementation budgets will be part of future deliverables.