Fayetteville City Council Recap – June 23, 2025
Published on June 24, 2025
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - The Fayetteville City Council met June 23 in the city hall for their City Council regular meeting to discuss matters relevant to the city.
ANNOUNCEMENTS & RECOGNITIONS
- Mayor Mitch Colvin presented Willie Johnson with a key to the city in recognition of her devoted interest and untiring commitment to the citizens of Fayetteville while serving with the Fayetteville Information Technology Department.
- Mayor Colvin presented LaVern Oxendine with a key to the city and coin in grateful recognition of his devoted interest and unwavering commitment to the community.
- Council member D.J. Haire recognized Nero Coleman for his community activism and will be presenting him a Certificate of Service and City coin at his home.
- Mayor Colvin recognized Mr. Tony Brown in the audience for his youth mentoring program and will be recognizing their organization at the August 11 regular meeting
MANAGER’S REPORT
During the City Manager’s report, Assistant City Manager Jodi Phelps reminded residents of the Fayetteville Outfront event that took place at the Bill Crisp Center on Thursday, June 26 at 6:30 p.m. focusing on the Office of Community Safety and their initiatives. John Jones, the new director of the Office of Community Safety was also introduced to Mayor Colvin, city council and the public during the manager’s report.
The meeting agenda was then approved unanimously along with the consent agenda.
CONSENT AGENDA
7.0A1 Over the last several months, the city has experienced an increase in gun violence. In an effort to address the matter Council adopted the Youth Protection Safety Ordinance, with certain amendments to the ordinance that removes penalties for youth.
7.0A2 Council approved a request to rezone a property located at 1055 McArthur Road from Single-Family Residential 6 (SF-6) to Mixed Residential 5 (MR-5). The surrounding development pattern supports a mix of housing types, aligning with the area’s designation as Medium Density Residential.
7.0A3 Council approved a request to rezone rezoning of a 12.53-acre vacant, wooded parcel from Cumberland County’s Planned Industrial (M(P)CU) to Light Industrial (LI).
7.0A4 Council approved a request to rezone a 0.43-acre parcel located at 5324 Raeford Road from Single-Family Residential 10 (SF-10) to Limited Commercial (LC) for commercial use.
7.0A5 Council approved a request to rezone a 2.88-acre parcel at 230 Pinecrest Drive from Single-Family 6 (SF-6) to Mixed Residential 5-Conditional Zoning (MR-5/CZ) to establish conditional zoning to allow for the continued use of an existing 32-unit multifamily apartment complex currently occupying the site.
7.0A6 Council approved a rezoning request to rezone a 0.3-acre parcel at 5414 Yadkin Road from Office and Institutional (O/I) to Limited Commercial (LC), allowing for a broader range of neighborhood-scale commercial uses.
7.0A7 Council approved a request to rezone a property of 1.15-acres located at 3546 Braddy Road from Agricultural Residential (AR) to Single Family Residential 15 (SF-15). This rezoning will allow to property to be subdivided into three lots and a single-family house to be built on each lot.
7.0A8 Council approved a request to rezone a property of 1.09 acres located at 401 Country Club Drive from Single Family Residential 10 (SF-10) to Single Family Residential 6 (SF-6). This rezoning is intended for mainly single family residential with some accessory dwellings with occasional duplexes and townhomes interspersed.
7.0A9 Council approved the Order of Approval for a special use permit to allow for a reduction in the 100-foot separation requirement to approximately 85-feet between public street right-of-way and an Ice House, located at 2726 Raeford Road.
7.0A10 Council approved the Order of Approval for a special use permit to allow for the reduction in the 75-foot separation requirement to approximately 23-feet between Animal Care Uses and adjoining property lines, located at 4417 Ramsey Street.
7.0A11 Council adopted a resolution to rescind a demolition ordinance for a building on 1083 North Street. The property owner demolished the building before the City could act on the related demolition ordinance.
7.0A12 Council adopted demolition ordinances for one commercial and two residential buildings that were deemed dangerous. City staff will continue to engage with property owners up until the demolition is scheduled to begin, working to either bring the structures into compliance, secure voluntary demolition or facilitate violation abatement with the help of a Community Development grant.
7.0A13 Council approved and adopted a Comprehensive Pedestrian Plan Update for future pedestrian safety improvements that will be incorporated into future fiscal year Capital Improvement Plan.
7.0A14 Council also approved and adopted the Supplemental Fayetteville Comprehensive Pedestrian Plan Study that analyzed pedestrian safety improvement projects to expand the walkable areas around public schools.
7.0A15 Council approved the Watershed Master Plan Overview and final deliverables with proposed solutions for Carvers Creek, Bones Creek, and Cross Creek. These will be added to the city’s Capital Improvement Plan.
7.0A16 A resolution to authorize a supplemental municipal agreement with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) for grant funds awarded from the Fayetteville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (FAMPO) Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) was adopted by Council. This project includes the installation of pedestrian facilities such as sidewalks, multi-use path, pedestrian bridge conversion and accessible curb ramps on US 401 Bypass Skibo Road from Richwood Court to NC 24 Bragg Blvd. The City will fund 20% of the cost to install the sidewalks.
7.0A17 10 recently constructed streets for subdivisions were added to the city’s street system with the approval of Council. The 1.24-mile addition brought the city’s street system total to 755.02 miles.
7.0A18 Council approved an updated Conditional Funding Commitment Letter from the developer of Aspen Pointe, SEML Development, LLC. Their application to the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency was updated with a reduced total number of affordable units from 48 to 32 in an effort to reduce cost.
7.0A19 Council approved a resolution to direct $104,000 in Opioid Settlement Funds and the accompanying Special Revenue Fund Project Ordinance (ORD 2026-5) for the continuation of the Fayetteville Police Department Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) Program. LEAD will continue to partner with community alliances to support recovery support services, recovery housing, employment-related services, early intervention and re-entry services.
7.0A20 Council approved a one-year phased rental adjustment for the Fayetteville Regional Airport residential occupants and authorized staff to proceed with execution of the lease agreements. The one-year phased rental adjustment is to ease financial impacts on occupants.
7.0A21 Council accepted two Federal Aviation Administration grants and authorized City Manager Douglas Hewett to execute the agreements. One grant in the total of $476,891 will fund the Airport’s Master Plan Update project and the second grant of $2,142,598 will fund the Taxiways G & F Rehabilitation project. Council also had to approve an amendment to the Capital Project Ordinance 2025-44 and 2025 49 to reflect the funding.
7.0A22 Council authorized to extend the agreement with Cumberland County CommuniCare and appropriate $30,000 for the Reclaiming Futures Youth Mentoring Program.
7.0A23 Council adopted of Special Revenue Fund Ordinance Amendment 2025-4 to ensure appropriations for Community Development Block Grants from 2017-2024 accurately reflect grant funding updates.
7.0A24 Council adopted Capital Project Ordinance Amendment 2025-54 to clarify the appropriation of $224,844 in-lieu of resurfacing funds to the Pavement Preservation Project.
7.0A25 Council adopted a Capital Project Ordinance Amendment 2025-55 and Special Revenue Project Ordinance Amendment to appropriately adjust and fund transit project appropriations to align with grant funding updates. The grants were previously approved, and funding was appropriated for each respective project, but the anticipated funding has changed.
7.0A26 Council adopted Budget Ordinance Amendment (BOA) 2025-14 that increased the FY-2025 operating budgets for the General Fund by $1,989,816, the Solid Waste Fund by $2,700,000 and the Transit Fund by $88,395 to close out the fiscal year.
7.0A27 Council adopt Capital Project Ordinance 2025-45, Special Revenue Ordinance 2025-20 and Budget Ordinance Amendment 2025-15 to appropriate Federal Transit Administration grant funds and corresponding matches. The adopted ordinances authorize the appropriation of a total of $689,978, which includes $587,978 in federal grant funding and $102,000 in required local matching funds to support capital projects, planning activities, safety-related initiatives and contracted services within the city's transit program.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
Council conducted four public hearings.
8.01 The first public hearing was to consider closing a portion of Arsenal Avenue for the North Carolina Civil War & Reconstruction History Center. After the public hearing, Council adopted a resolution and an Order by the City Council of the City of Fayetteville to permanently close a portion of Arsenal Avenue. The motion was unanimously approved, (9-0).
8.02 The second public hearing Council conducted was to consider closing a portion of Bullock Street for Sapona Road Church of God. After the public hearing, Council adopted a resolution and an Order by the City Council of the City of Fayetteville to permanently close a portion of Bullock Street to allow for the recombination and development of the church property. The motion was unanimously approved, (9-0).
8.03 The third public hearing was in reference to an update on the city’s sign code, Unified Development Ordinance Section 30-5.L Signage and other related sections. The Council approved text amendments will offer clearer guidelines on which types of signs are permissible under various circumstances, reducing confusion and the likelihood of non-compliance. The motion was unanimously approved, (9-0).
8.04 The last public hearing was to annex a 12.53-acre parcel owned by Phoenix Global Support, LLC. into the corporate limits of the city. This parcel is located on the eastern side of Airport Road, at the end of Bridgewood Drive. After the hearing, Council adopted the annexation ordinance with an effective date of June 30, 2025. This option affirms the initial zoning while delaying the effective date of annexation to the next statutory threshold, allowing additional time for service coordination or development readiness. The motion was unanimously approved, (9-0).
EVIDENTIARY HEARINGS
9.01 An evidentiary hearing was held for a Special Use Permit request to reduce the separation requirement for an Automotive Wrecker Service in a CC Zoning District at 3003, 3005 and 3009 Murchison Road. Council moved to table this agenda item to a regular council meeting on Aug. 25 due to the applicant not being present. The motion was unanimously approved, (9-0).
OTHER ITEMS
10.01 Council moved to approve the Fayetteville PWC Utility Assessment appeal for property 8048 King Road. The motion was approved with an 8-1 vote, with Council member Derrick Thompson voting opposed. The approved appeal exempts the property owner from the sanitary sewer assessment lien.
10.02 Council moved to remand all the proposed text amendments to Article 30, the Unified Development Ordinance, of the City Code covering sidewalk exemptions during development back to city staff for further consideration, make specific changes and explore the opportunity for a site-specific waiver. The motion was unanimously approved, (9-0).
10.03 Council moved to table the Bicycle Lane Ordinance clarifications and recommendations to the Aug. 4 work session. The motion was unanimously approved, (9-0).
The next City Council Regular Meeting will be held on Monday, Aug. 4 at 2 p.m. in the Fayetteville City Hall. Meetings also air live on Spectrum Channel 7, at FayTV.net and on the FayTV app available on your streaming device.