Residents of Historic Oakwood told the Raleigh City Council that recent and proposed rezonings risk converting long-standing homes into offices or event spaces, eroding the neighborhood's residential character and community traditions.

Matthew Brown, whose neighborhood hosted an estimated 6,000 visitors for Halloween according to Raleigh Police, asked council to deny rezoning case Z‑25 (101 North Bloodworth Street), saying the applicant’s plan to upzone the property to neighborhood mixed use would remove housing from the neighborhood, increase parking pressure, and not support transit ridership or live‑work uses. “When homes become offices or salons, nobody gives out Halloween candy, nobody decorates for Christmas, nobody plants trees or flowers,” Brown said.

Mark Spankate similarly asked the council to reject Z‑25 and cautioned that approving one upzoning invites more: he pointed to a recent Z‑31 case that converted a long-time residence into commercial mixed use and said that precedent led to amplified events and late-night activity in a residential setting.

Chris Crew praised recent preservation actions (citing the Hillsborough Street Holiday Inn and another structure) but asked the council to reconsider a policy that bars unaccompanied children under 8 from participating in the Raleigh Christmas parade, saying the restriction reduces opportunities for the youngest participants and may undermine the parade’s future.

What happens next: speakers urged council to deny upcoming rezoning requests and to align the comprehensive plan and the Unified Development Ordinance to reduce ad‑hoc rezonings. No formal rezoning decisions were made in this public-comment session.