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Council approves Grove Avenue rezoning with tenant-notice and relocation assistance condition
Summary
Raleigh approved a rezoning on Grove Avenue from R-6 to R-10 that includes tenant-protection conditions: 90 days' notice and $2,000 relocation assistance when leases are terminated due to redevelopment; the condition applies to existing and future tenants and is triggered by redevelopment actions before demolition permits.
Council unanimously approved a rezoning for roughly 2.5 acres on Grove Avenue (Z-2725) that includes tenant-notice and relocation-assistance conditions aimed at protecting residents in naturally occurring affordable housing units.
Worth Mills, counsel for the applicant, said most units at 721 Grove are month-to-month leases and described the condition requiring 90 days written notice and a $2,000 relocation allowance when a lease is terminated because the property owner elects to redevelop. Staff and the city attorney clarified triggers: nonrenewal at natural lease expiration would not automatically trigger the condition, but an interruption/termination of a lease due to redevelopment (for example, a demolition affidavit prior to demolition permit issuance) would.
The revised condition was broadened to apply both to current tenants and to any future tenants who move in after adoption and before redevelopment — intended to avoid perverse incentives for turnover before a site redevelopment. Council asked for clarity about timing and the affidavit required before issuance of a demolition permit; staff pointed to specific language and an affidavit requirement in the adopted conditions.
Why it matters: The change gives limited relocation protections for residents at a site identified as naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH) and is part of a trend in recent cases where council has negotiated tenant-protection conditions in redevelopment rezoning approvals.
Next steps: The applicant will adhere to the adopted conditions; staff will enforce the affidavit requirement prior to any demolition permit.
