Are Raleigh’s zoning laws protecting neighborhood charm—or zoning it out?
By Abigail Celoria Francis & Melissa Howsam
Raleigh loves to talk about preserving neighborhood character. But here’s the irony: Some of the very places that give our favorite neighborhoods theirs might not be allowed under today’s zoning laws.
From corner groceries to neighborhood cafes, the businesses that once dotted Raleigh’s residential streets are now far harder to open. And as the city continues to grow, and the debate over what that growth should look like heats up, so does the question of what we’re actually trying to preserve.
And while Raleigh’s growth has sparked plenty of conversations about what belongs in residential areas, the question of whether a neighborhood should include a few businesses of its own is a different kind of development debate.
At-Large City Council Member Jonathan Lambert-Melton has long argued that allowing more retail in residential areas could mean fewer car trips, easier access to groceries, and neighborhoods where there’s more to do than just lay our heads. Some of Raleigh’s most popular ones, he points out, already have it.
THE WORKS: Boylan Heights’ Rebus Works has been a go-to neighborhood hot spot for over two decades.
Case in point: “Rebus Works in Boylan Heights, and SmokeStacks Cafe, which was a corner store called Quality Grocery in Oakwood,” says Lambert-Melton. “Those are things that existed before we implemented modern zoning laws and carved up how our cities are built.”
While Raleigh zoning regulations date back over a century to 1923, the lean toward mixed-use districts comes thanks to the latest major overhaul in 2016 via the Unified Development Ordinance—thus allowing more residences, offices and retail to coexist.
But mixed-use doesn’t mean anything goes. What a property owner can actually open in the 10% of those designated residential areas still depends on the zoning specifications—which, in this case, largely dictate what kinds of retail businesses can operate and where. For someone hoping to open a small business in—or bring one back to—a neighborhood, that can mean navigating a process far more complicated than simply renovating a building and hanging up an “open” sign.
Cities like Austin, Minneapolis and Charleston make room for neighborhood retail through more detailed mixed-use zoning. Raleigh already has a similar framework, but expanding where and how small-scale retail is permitted could help bring more everyday shops and services within residential neighborhoods. District A Council Member Mitchell Silver supports using the next Comprehensive Plan to further identify neighborhoods where small-scale retail and services could make sense.
As it stands, Oak City’s current zoning laws can leave longtime neighborhood businesses in a tough spot as well. Raleigh native Jessica Peacock went through the arduous process of rezoning Peacox’s Community Market, a property her family operated as a corner grocery since the 1960s.
“I thought it was just a matter of fixing it up and opening up the doors,” she recalls. But because the store had been closed for a decade, its grandfathered status had expired—and reopening meant navigating the new rules.
Paperwork, fees and community meetings eventually paid off when Peacock got the property rezoned from residential mixed-use to neighborhood mixed-use in 2023—which would allow retail at the location. But bringing the building up to code proved too costly, so this summer, her family sold it instead.
It’s a particularly telling outcome: Peacock ultimately secured the zoning change she needed, but the family business still didn’t reopen. The property could once again accommodate retail, yet the financial hurdles remained. And for anyone hoping to revive a similar neighborhood institution, her experience illustrates how clearing one regulatory hurdle doesn’t necessarily mean reaching the finish line.
Of all the issues he’s championed, Lambert-Melton says neighborhood retail has seen the least progress during his time on City Council. The sticking point? Residents’ concerns about crime and preserving neighborhood character.
Peacock, however, argues that the conversation is missing something. “It’s about ownership,” she emphasized. “It’s about how the store is operated. It’s about somebody’s investment in their community.”
And that’s where the conversation gets complicated. A neighborhood coffee shop might sound charming in theory, but the prospect of commercial activity next door raises a different set of questions for the people who already live there. How much change is too much—and who gets to decide? After all, preserving Raleigh’s neighborhoods shouldn’t mean zoning out the very things that give them character.
Since 1961, the NC Awards have been handed out annually in four categories: public service, science, fine art and—you guessed it—literature. But this isn’t a one-book, one-breakthrough kind of honor. The Awards recognize “significant contributions to the state and nation”—a nod to the full scope of a recipient’s career.
Mott is the lone literary honoree alongside five other NC standouts: artist Beverly McIver; scientist Lindsay Zanno; and public servants Richard Petty, Lt. Gen. Kevin Vereen and NC State Chancellor Emeritus Randy Woodson. They’ll all be Raleigh-bound in November, when they gather at the Lenovo Center to accept the state’s highest civilian honor.
For Mott, this one came without the usual buildup. In the literary world, it’s common to know you’re in the running from the start—and to follow along through the judging process. That’s how it went with the National Book Award: He knew Hell of a Book was in the mix when his publisher submitted it in 2021—then watched it go from longlister to finalist to winner of one of the nation’s most prestigious literary prizes.
But the NC Award process started—and ended—with a phone call.
“The caller ID comes up, and it’s Josh Stein,” Mott laughs. “Sure enough, it was the governor on the line, saying, ‘Hey, just wanted you to know you’ve been chosen for the North Carolina Awards.’ It was very surreal.”
Hell of a Book is the most decorated novel of his career, bringing home seven other accolades along the way. For Mott, it’s also the one he’s proudest of.
“It took an event and a moment from my life here in this same small town of 600 people that happened when I was 11 years old,” Mott says, in reference to the shooting and death of Bolton’s first Black mayor, Sidney Bowen. “It took me decades to finally process that into something that I could write about and try to actually share with others in a meaningful way.”
But it isn’t just Hell of a Book. All of Mott’s novels find their way back to NC—whether through characters or fictional towns—meaning you just might see your own experience reflected in his pages.
That’s what’s made this particular honor hit home: knowing the impact he’s trying to have not just as an author, but as a NC author, is recognized.
“It feels meaningful because we all claim locations,” Mott reflects. “I’ve lived in NC my entire life, so I very much count myself as a true-blue North Carolinian. So to have that state recognize me back for doing the work I do is just really fulfilling and meaningful in a personal way.”
Three Raleigh lives changed in an instant. Here’s how they’re finding their way forward.
This August, Raleigh experienced a tragic loss when Hayes Barton Cafe & Dessertery owner Frank Ballard passed away from pneumonia after recently suffering a spinal cord injury from a fall down the stairs.
Ballard’s injury was certainly unexpected—but spinal cord injuries affect more than 18,000 Americans each year, according to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center. And when paralysis is part of the aftermath, independence takes on a whole new meaning.
“These are things that could happen to anybody, at any time,” says Sandy Bridger, executive director of paralysis recovery and fitness center NextStep Raleigh.
Adding insult to injury, finding specialized care can mean traveling hundreds or even thousands of miles. But in Raleigh, NextStep is working to close that gap—and help people reclaim pieces of everyday life along the way.
The nonprofit’s roots trace back to 2015, when Whiskey Kitchen co-owner Michael Thor was in an accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. For three years, he worked toward recovery at Atlanta’s Shepherd Center, but he couldn’t stay away forever.
That’s when his mom, Karen, decided to open NextStep Raleigh, to give her son—and other paralyzed locals—the kind of activity-based therapy they need.
The Oak City outpost is one of 10 NextStep locations serving people whose paralysis stems not just from spinal cord injuries, but other causes like multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and even traumatic brain injuries. In step with LA’s OG model, the Raleigh gym uses activity-based therapy to strengthen clients and support recovery over time.
It’s easy to assume that once you lose motion somewhere, you can’t get any bit of it back. That’s what Bridger herself thought when she came to NextStep 21 months ago. But she’s since learned that the nervous system has a remarkable ability to adapt and reorganize—a process known as neuroplasticity.
“Neurons are the social butterflies of the human body,” she analogizes. “If you give them the right environment, they’ll form new pathways to each other.”
That’s why NextStep’s therapy is based in movement—from guided, weight-bearing exercises to assisted standing or walking to electrical stimulation designed to activate muscles and encourage the nervous system to forge those pathways.
And it isn’t one-size-fits-all. Sam Pasnon, a certified exercise physiologist and NextStep trainer for six years, says that while the same principles of neuroplasticity apply, workouts become increasingly tailored to each individual’s needs.
Just like the regimen is different for each client, so are their goals. For some, that may be walking again. For others, seemingly smaller movements—pulling up sheets, picking up vitamins or swiping on lipstick—mean something bigger: getting back to themselves.
Car Crash to Confidence
In 2023, Rahman Mateen was sitting passenger-side on the way back from a party when the driver, who was drunk, lost control of the car. “We hit some trees, then the car ricocheted and rolled seven times,” he recalls.
The crash left him with a spinal cord injury that paralyzed most of his body, minus his arms. His PT at Duke was the first to recommend NextStep—and when he learned of her passing last year, he decided to take the plunge.
In the year that Mateen’s been at NextStep, he’s seen serious progress. While he can’t unclench his hands (yet), he can do more with them, like brush his hair and teeth. What’s more: he says he’s also starting to get sensation back in his legs.
But perhaps the biggest gain of all, he says, is “just being able to look at myself in the mirror and have that same love for myself I did before my accident.” Now, Mateen’s back to hanging out with friends, taking trips and even starting his own small business, The Best of Life Candles.
Coma to Campus
In his second semester at the University of Colorado Boulder, Owen Markham skipped class to hit the slopes. He was barreling down the mountain at nearly 60 mph when he collided headfirst with a tree—and, then, he was lights out for three months.
He had suffered a traumatic brain injury that, when he awoke, left him with balance issues, primarily affecting his left side.
He doesn’t remember exactly how his family found NextStep—but what he does remember is his progression over his two years there. Starting in a wheelchair, Markham graduated to a walker, then a cane—until he was walking completely on his own.
Now, he’s returned to school—this time at UNC Chapel Hill—and spends most of his days walking to and from his psychology classes. “I’m trying my best not to deny that it happened, but to live as if it didn’t,” he says.
Wheelchair to Hiking Trails
On New Year’s Eve 2024, Corrie Cooper and her partner were riding a tandem bicycle when a car hit them from behind. The driver fled the scene, and Cooper, who took the brunt of the impact, suffered multiple fractures in her lower spine that paralyzed her from the waist down.
“Before my injury, I was an athlete,” she stresses. “I was used to exerting my body every single day, and I needed an environment that was going to give me that.”
After insurance stopped covering her rehab, she found NextStep online—and funds raised through a GoFundMe organized by her sister helped cover the cost, allowing her to continue therapy in her own city and progress from a wheelchair to forearm crutches that help her regulate her gait.
Though she left after a year and a half to focus on other therapies, she says NextStep was integral to her recovery, helping her build endurance and giving her an environment she looked forward to being in every week. Now, Cooper’s back on the trails she loves, hiking, backpacking and finding joy in nature again.
Stand With NextStep NextStep’s annual Stand Together Gala is the org’s biggest fundraiser of the year. This year’s event, held in partnership with Aaron Lambert of Boatman Spirits Co., brings together local bites and drinks, an after-hours disco, and stories from the people NextStep serves—all to support another year of operations and scholarships for clients who otherwise couldn’t afford it. Nov. 1,Boatman Spirits Co.,nextstepfitness.org/events-2
The fine-dining-to-neighborhood-market pipeline isn’t exactly crowded, but local chef Stacy Murphy is making the leap anyway. An Emeril’s alum—the only two-star restaurant in the inaugural Michelin Guide American South—Murphy opened Gallicchio’s Market & Eatery in the former (ish) delicatessen space Oct. 8, bringing a distinctly Italian flavor—and NOLA-style service—to the neighborhood.
Named after Murphy’s late grandfather, the North Person Street spot draws on influences from her extensive culinary career. After graduating from the Connecticut Culinary Institute, she staged at renowned New Orleans kitchens Commander’s Palace and Herbsaint before joining Emeril’s under executive chef Chris Wilson—eventually relocating to Raleigh with her husband and son in 2014.
Murphy recalls the intensity of NOLA’s F&B industry: “They pride themselves on hospitality,” she explains. “There’s generations of servers and cooks—it’s an art. That really gave me this love of the kitchen, and it set the tone for what I wanted out of my career.”
That approach will carry into Gallicchio’s, where Murphy will bring the Italian flavors she grew up with in the Northeast to the Oakwood neighborhood.
“I took for granted the amount of Italian restaurants and markets there were because they’re everywhere there,” she recalls. “Anywhere you go within a 5- to 10-mile radius, there’s an amazing place where you can get pastry, antipasti, prepared foods and whatnot.”
That’s where the market part of Gallicchio’s will come into play. Up front, patrons will be able to grab housemade provisions to-go, mimicking the antipasti and prepared meals of the markets Murphy grew up with—plus artisan bread made with the guidance of former Night Kitchen owner Helen Pfann.
For those who wish to sit and stay awhile, the eatery will shift from provisions to made-to-order fare, from polpette and crostini to a rotating fish special and muffuletta—alongside wine and beer. The goal, Murphy says, is to be rich enough to satisfy, but “light enough that people could eat here every day.”
Gallicchio’s shares space with Person Street Pharmacy, where months of renovation have transformed Murphy’s half into a warm, casual space that evokes a neighborhood trattoria. It’s a decidedly more casual stage for Murphy—but one built on the same hospitality that shaped her career.
Call it DTR’s missing ingredient. Sure, Raleigh has no shortage of places to eat, but for daily needs, the options are surprisingly slim—until now. Enter Wolfside Urban Market, opening as early as November in the former Dollar General Express (DGX) space on East Davie Street, bringing a gourmet neighborhood grocery to one of Downtown’s biggest retail gaps.
While Publix and Weaver Street Market serve parts of the city core and niche spots like Alimentari scratch a specialty itch, the southeastern edge has largely been without a convenient place to grab groceries since DGX shuttered in late 2024 after a rocky seven-year run.
Wolfside is betting on a different model: local. Gregg Sandreuter of HM Partners, who handles the space’s leasing, says it took patience to find the right tenant—and grocery is a harder-to-fill retail category—but he says he’s “excited for Wolfside to be part of the good-news story for Downtown.”
Similar to Durham’s Bulldega Urban Market, which Wolfside owner Vishal Patel ran for years, the Raleigh concept will carry a little bit of everything. Rather than a traditional grocer, Patel envisions a one-stop neighborhood shop. Beyond NC-grown produce, pantry picks, restaurant-made freezer finds and fridge staples, an in-store sandwich bar and carefully curated products invite shoppers to linger—and discover something new. “That’s the experience I want to bring to Raleigh,” he says.
Photo by Leo Suarez
The real draw, though, is the commitment to local. Bringing Bulldega’s emphasis on Bull City brands to Raleigh, Patel expects roughly a third of Wolfside’s shelves to be devoted to Oak City names—with faves like Videri, Michael’s English Muffins and Trophy Brewing already on board.
For Patel, it’s about more than filling shelf space—it’s about giving small local makers another place to be discovered while helping shoppers stumble upon products they might otherwise never try.
“Once [Raleighites] see what we’re offering and our level of customer service, I hope they’ll at least come say hi,” he says. “We want customers to feel like they know us and we know them—and that we support each other.”
Ultimately, the opening marks another step in Downtown’s evolution—from a place people drop in to a neighborhood where people truly live. As more apartments, offices and businesses continue to fill in the urban core, everyday conveniences like grocery stores have become just as important as destination restaurants and bars.
With nearby residents, college students and 9-to-5ers all within reach, Wolfside has the ingredients to become the community space Patel envisions—and exactly the kind of neighborhood staple DTR has been missing.
