(Above) A slide from a presentation by Wilmington City Council Candidate Richard Collier to a municipal board in Southeastern North Carolina; public records show he frequently represents and advocates on behalf of housing developers despite his claim he’s not in real estate. McKim & Creed is Collier's employer. Collier's pro-development voting record on the Planning Commission is presented below.
MOST PRO-GROWTH CITY COUNCIL MEMBER: Waddell bested Clifford Barnett by one vote, Mayor Saffo by two, as the most pro-development council member. Planning Commission alums scored 100% on pro-development.
Early voting is underway, and Election Day is Tuesday, November 4. Talk to ten Wilmington voters and most will mention some version of the same concern: over-development and what comes with it. Congested roads. Police staffing stretched thin. Infrastructure lagging behind new housing builds.
This election offers plenty of promises about protecting trees and preserving neighborhood character. But for candidates who already have voting histories, the most reliable indicator is not what they say now. It is how they voted when the rezonings for developments came up for a decision.
Wilmington City Council and Planning Commission vote tallies compiled by Voices To Votes NC show an extraordinarily strong lean toward upzoning over the last four years.
Within that parameter, Council Member Luke Waddell cast the highest number of “Yes” votes to approve development-requested rezonings, totaling 86 votes in the affirmative (Waddell was absent for one vote). He did not vote against a single rezoning request, making him the most developer-friendly among all sitting City Council Members.
Among those seeking re-election this year, all members except Clifford Barnett approved 100% of the rezoning requests across in the last four years. Barnett is the only member to cast any “No” votes on rezonings, and he did so only twice across 87 separate votes.
For Wilmington’s 2025 municipal election, there are only two candidates running explicitly on the idea of pulling back on development: mayoral hopeful Billy Craig and council candidate Kelly Roberts. Both have discussed a moratorium or a similar pause on large development rezoning requests. As a part-time real estate agent, Craig has also said he is willing to forego personal real-estate sales in New Hanover County while in office if elected.
What follows is an analysis of the last four years of votes, as curated by Voices To Votes NC, for this year’s Wilmington City Council candidates with a recent record on the City Council (pdf) or Planning Commission (pdf).
Wilmington City Council Candidates and Their Voting Records
What the numbers show
Voices To Votes NC analyzed Wilmington City Council votes from January 2022 to September, 2025 on rezonings and related motions (Voices To Votes NC 2022–2025 report). Highlights from the last four years of rezoning motions and votes for sitting Council candidates seeking new terms:
- Most Proposed Rezoning Motions: Clifford Barnett, 43
- Most Seconded Rezoning Motions: Luke Waddell, 25 (Barnett, 10)
- Most “Yes” votes on rezonings: Luke Waddell, 86
- Most “No” votes on rezonings: Kevin Spears, 14
- Most Absences recorded: Charlie Rivenbark, 6; Bill Saffo, 3; Kevin Spears, 1; Luke Waddell, 1; others, perfect attendance
The foremost finding is not just who said “Yes” most often. It is how rarely Council said “No” at all. In roughly 87 rezoning votes during the 4-year period, only a single rezoning request failed. Notably, that denial was not a high-density housing proposal; it was for a Circle K gas station. It came on February 6, 2024, when the applicant sought to change a site at 1618 Dawson Street from UMX to CB(CD) to allow fuel pumps. The motion to approve failed on a split vote; Saffo, Waddell, and Barnett voted Yes, while Spears, Joyner, and Andrews voted No; Rivenbark was absent.
Industry Ties and Patterns
Two of the candidates on the ballot hold real-estate licenses: Mayor Bill Saffo with Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage and Luke Waddell, who owns Cadence Realty. Their voting records show high approval rates on upzoning measures in the Voices To Votes NC analysis period. While Clifford Barnett is not licensed in real estate, he cast 85 votes in support of rezonings and only two No votes against. In terms of total votes cast, he is one vote shy of Waddell, who leads the entire City Council with 86.
For Wilmington voters who prioritize slowing growth, the big picture is clear: the candidates with voting histories voted to approve rezonings for thousands of housing units within city limits since 2022 — though the exact number was not provided in the Voices To Votes data.
(Below) Rezoning voting records by current Wilmington, NC City Council members (2022–2025). Totals are lower for Andrews and Joyner since they are only halfway through their terms. A 'Yes' vote means the member voted to rezone at the request of the developer. (Data source: VoicesToVotes.org)
Planning Commission alumni running for Wilmington City Council
Two additional candidates on Wilmington’s 2025 municipal ballot, JC Lyle and Richard Collier, have Planning Commission experience; Lyle’s service ended in 2024, while Collier continues to serve on the commission.
What Does the Planning Commission Do?
The Planning Commission is the public’s first official look at most land use requests, of which, rezoning is a large part of that workload. It reviews staff analyses, conducts public hearings, and votes to recommend approval or denial. After the Commission’s recommendation is voted upon, the Wilmington City Council makes the final decision with their own vote. It takes the Commission’s recommendation into account along with additional testimony and negotiated conditions.
Rezoning voting records (2022–2025) for Wilmington Planning Commissioners JC Lyle (former) and Richard Collier (current). A ‘Yes’ vote in the "Yes (rezoning)" column recommends City Council approve the developer’s rezoning request. An LDC vote is a vote on changes to the Land Development Code, not requested by an applicant. (Data source: VoicesToVotes.org)
Jeannie “JC” Lyle: a nonprofit developer with a long record on the Commission
Lyle currently works as the Senior Regional Director, Eastern North Carolina, for Wesley Community Development Corporation. On her campaign website, she states that her career began in civil engineering and expanded into nonprofit leadership, including CEO of WARM NC. Her campaign platform addresses development in the city, where she emphasizes building out more housing in the form of duplexes, triplexes and more.
“57% of the City’s land is taken up by single-family homes on their own lot. We don’t have to build only large apartment buildings to meet the housing demand. We can go to the ‘missing middle’ – duplexes, triplexes, etc.”
JC Lyle.
Selected Commission votes that illustrate her approach:
- CenterPoint, Eastwood and Military Cutoff (2018): The Planning Commission voted 4 to 0 to recommend the CenterPoint rezoning. The minutes reflect recusals for two members, after which Lyle voted to recommend approval of the rezoning. (Commission minutes, June 6, 2018)
- Starway Village, Carolina Beach Road (2021): The Commission voted unanimously to recommend rezoning for a project described in discussion as workforce housing on the former Star Way Drive-In site. As chair, Lyle participated in a 7 to 0 recommendation to approve (meeting record).
- 1320 Independence Boulevard at Oleander (2024): The Commission voted 4 to 1 to recommend O&I(CD). The minutes list Lyle as chair and concurring in approval (minutes excerpt).
Taken together, those votes show Lyle generally recommending approval for large projects.
Richard Collier: civil engineer for McKim & Creed, frequent applicant representative
Candidate Collier works for McKim & Creed, an engineering and surveying firm active across the Southeast with a long presence in Wilmington. The firm’s portfolio lists RiverLights and CenterPoint among its projects. Collier’s campaign site presents him as a civil engineer focused on infrastructure, water quality, and long-term planning priorities.
Was Collier Disingenuous when stating he wasn’t ‘in Real Estate’?
In a May 7, 2025, story about his council run, Collier told Port City Daily, “I’m not in real estate — I’m a civil engineer.” The piece describes his Planning Commission service and candidacy, but obfuscates his responsibilities as a civil engineer. Public records officially present Collier as a representative for some developer clients, advocating for large-scale housing developments.
Civil engineers on real estate projects often serve as the applicant’s lead representative, managing entitlements, answering questions posed by municipal staff and boards, and advocating for approvals at public hearings. This is what Richard Collier does for a living.
It's disingenuous for a candidate to downplay a material fact about one's work in order to distract the voting public away from an issue that might damage their electoral success. It is misleading. His claim that he is “not in real estate” reads like gaslighting.
Documented appearances as a developer representative:
- Canopy Pointe presentation, New Hanover County Planning Board (2020): Minutes reflect Engineer Richard Collier of McKim & Creed presenting the proposed plan for a senior multifamily project. The Board recommended approval with conditions (NHC Planning Board minutes, March 5, 2020).
- RiverLights representation, City Board of Adjustment: Board listings show Richard Collier of McKim & Creed as the applicant’s representative on a RiverLights variance matter related to townhome development, confirming his role as a presenter on that master-planned project (May 17, 2018 board minutes).
- Surf City Creek/Applewood Trace presentations: Video of a Surf City meeting shows Collier presenting at approximately 11:52 for the Turtle Creek/Applewood Trace proposal. Town records from late 2024 include McKim & Creed analysis memos and planning board minutes that reference his role on the project (YouTube stream; Surf City Planning Board minutes, Oct. 10, 2024).
- Pelican Cove, Brunswick County Planning Board: County minutes confirm Collier presenting the Pelican Cove proposal to the Planning Board (archive link).
(Below) A Surf City live stream shows Wilmington city council candidate Collier speaking for his developer client to advance the Turtle Creek housing project, confirming Collier is actively involved in large-scale housing developments in Southeastern North Carolina.
(Below) In the campaign ad below, Richard Collier tells voters it’s time to put an engineer in charge, even though his own work with McKim and Creed helped fuel the congestion and rising housing costs he now criticizes.
How the records align with campaign narratives
The story that the City Council and Planning Commission vote tallies tell is revealing.
City Council rarely says no, and Wilmington’s governing leaders have heavily favored upzoning requests for years. With only one rezoning application denial over roughly 87 votes, the practical neighborhood impacts are cumulative. Each approval pushes allowed population intensity higher and places more strain on already busy traffic corridors and other infrastructure. The effects are compounding, and the full consequences of that posture have yet to be felt.
Reelecting candidates whose records contradict their born-again campaign pledges risks more of the same. The leaders who steered Wilmington to this point showed little foresight; asking voters to trust them to reverse it now requires a real leap of faith.
Based on the Voices To Votes’ voting data and candidates’ stated positions, we endorse Billy Craig for Mayor and Kelly Roberts for City Council. They are the only candidates who have publicly committed to pausing large, high‑density rezoning requests while Wilmington addresses traffic, public safety, and infrastructure capacity. For voters seeking a course correction on unabated growth, their positions align most directly with that goal.
WOW 😱!. What a story! Billy Craig for Wilmington Mayor 🇺🇲! Kelly J. Roberts Jr. for Wilmington City Council 🇺🇲! The inner city of Wilmington is predominantly blue. So, if one Democrat does get elected I think that it may be Clifford Barnett. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result. So, if Wilmington City Voters truly do want change and truly are ready for change then they better not vote for the same people who got us in this mess in the first place. It’s long overdue for things to change in the city of Wilmington! Wilmington City Voters get out there and vote for change!
No matter who runs district representation is a must, carpetbaggers are rampant and no neighborhood is safe