Raleigh City Council is set to talk about a major road re-zoning project to build a bus line along
.
At today’s special city council meeting the topic of discussion is what will happen to New Bern Avenue and should the city rezone more than 700 acres of land there.
This is on the latest amendment to the 2030 comprehensive plan, specifically the New Bern leg of the bus rapid transit.
The BRT line will run 5 miles down New Bern between downtown Raleigh and WakeMed and New Hope Road.
The proposed zoning changes being pushed back on would impact about 744 properties.
This will allow taller buildings and allow more apartments and townhomes to be built there.
So far, the city has invested more than $2 million to build more affordable housing, help people buy homes for the first time, and prevent the displacement of existing residents.
But longtime residents of the area are concerned about gentrification.
They fear this will encourage developers to build expensive housing and lead to the displacement of black residents and black owned businesses.