Design Review Commission approves streetscape alternates to advance Heritage Park affordable housing

The Raleigh Design Review Commission on an unspecified date approved design-alternate requests that will allow modified street and streetscape dimensions for Heritage Park, a proposed affordable housing development bringing 163 units to downtown Raleigh.

The commission heard from applicant counsel Hunter Winstead of Morningstar Law Group and project civil engineer Connor Linton, who said site constraints — including a 30-foot Duke Energy easement, more than 30 feet of grade change across the block and limited leftover area for a required playground — make strict compliance with the Unified Development Ordinance impractical. "In my professional opinion, strict compliance is not physically feasible and imposes unreasonable burden on the site," Linton testified.

Winstead summarized the team's updated request and withdrawals: the applicant withdrew an earlier request to reduce the Dorothea Drive sidewalk from 10 feet to 6 feet after securing two-foot easements on each side of the reduced right-of-way so a full 10-foot sidewalk can be provided; the team also withdrew a request to replace tree grates with a tree lawn in one location. The remaining requests include reducing a planting area from 6 to 4 feet and modest reductions in travel lane and curb dimensions to fit the main-street typology while preserving pedestrian amenities.

Transportation-related testimony — including reference to prior testimony by a transportation engineer tendered as an expert — addressed congestion, sight lines and maintenance responsibilities. The applicant argued the alternates would not increase congestion, would not create additional maintenance responsibilities for the city and are consistent with the intent of the UDO streetscape designations. Commission members asked whether comprehensive-plan issues had been resolved; counsel said staff and the city attorney's office had been consulted, and a commissioner clarified that the city attorney's office did not broadly participate in all discussions; counsel later identified the staff attorney he met with.

Commissioners said the revised aerial materials and diagrams answered many outstanding questions and noted the project's potential to provide needed affordable housing downtown. A motion to approve the design alternates was made, seconded and carried; the commission's written decision will be adopted when the meeting minutes are adopted and then provided to the applicant and other parties.

What happens next: the commission will issue a written decision after the minutes are adopted; any party receiving notice may review that decision and, if eligible, pursue further procedures outlined in city rules.