Backyard: North Raleigh

The first-ever Backyard: North Raleigh — the October 6 council docket, the North Hills tower filing, Capital Boulevard's 2031 start, and a nonprofit rebuilding donated laptops.

• October 6 public hearings at City Hall: Council takes comment on rezoning Z-43-25 at 6309 Litchford Road, a Midtown Market Avenue street closing, and a city-wide data center moratorium at 7 p.m. City of Raleigh Raleigh eScribe
• Sign up to speak by 3 p.m. Friday, October 2: speakers at a public hearing must sign up in advance and speak in person. Presentation materials are due by 5 p.m. that Friday, emailed to [email protected]. City of Raleigh
• North Hills towers: Council approved Kane Realty's rezoning 6-2 in January across 11+ acres near Six Forks and Lassiter Mill, and Kane filed plans in April for a 15-story, 246-unit tower with 18,000 square feet of retail. WUNC WRAL Bisnow
• Capital Boulevard Watch: NCDOT's U-5307 upgrade would rebuild about 10.5 miles of U.S. 1 from I-540 to Wake Forest with no traffic lights (Segment A runs from I-540 to Durant and Perry Creek roads); geotechnical work began in June and construction is set for 2031. NCDOT Town of Wake Forest
• The 540 Watch: Complete 540's final 10-mile phase, between Garner and Knightdale, remains targeted for late 2028; nothing on North Raleigh's stretch is closed. NCDOT ABC11
• Schools: The Wake County school board approved $17.6 million in budget adjustments in August; October bonuses depend on employment as of October 1. WUNC WRAL
• Rewind: North Hills became Raleigh's first enclosed mall in 1967; Kane Realty bought it in 2001 and rebuilt it as a mixed-use district. North Hills

Spotlight: HUBZone Technology Initiative (HTI), a North Carolina nonprofit based in Henderson: HTI securely wipes donated laptops and rebuilds them as Chromebooks for students, families, veterans and job seekers, with more than 3,500 laptops collected and 2,500+ devices distributed as of 2024. Donate a laptop

Events:
- Tuesday, September 29 — Wake County State of the County Address, Wake County Justice Center, 300 S. Salisbury St., reception at noon, free. wake.gov
- Monday, October 5, 5 p.m. — Wake County Commissioners regular meeting, Justice Center Room 2700, 301 S. Salisbury St., free. wake.gov
- Tuesday, October 6, 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. — Raleigh City Council afternoon session and public hearings, Room 201, Raleigh Municipal Building, free. raleighnc.gov

Send us your news and events.

Disclosure: Backyard's creator works with HUBZone Technology Initiative (HTI), which has been featured on this show.

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:04 A rezoning on Litchford Road
0:13 Hey, neighbors: episode one
0:50 Three items, October 6
1:32 Your deadline is October 2
2:10 North Hills towers and Capital Boulevard
3:46 $17.6 million and October 1
4:52 North Hills, Raleigh's first enclosed mall
5:19 Spotlight: HUBZone Technology Initiative
6:40 State of the County and two meetings
7:18 Send us your news

Lainey Carrow and Sam Pruitt are AI voices. Every episode is researched from public sources, written with AI, and reviewed by a human editor before release.