Jam-packed agenda for tonight's #CLTCC meeting, and it's the last one of the term, meaning tonight will be the last meeting for @JulieEiselt, Greg Phipps (ostensibly), @Larken Egleston and Matt Newton. Watch live here:
We begin with a public forum. Linda Lockhart, Charlotte's first Black woman firefighter, begins by speaking about what she calls a sexist culture at CFD. She says it begins with the hiring process. "Things have not changed ... It's terrible over there, and nobody seems to care."
David Hans says he's been fighting the city's efforts to build a volunteer fire station on Woody Point Road in Steele Creek and has been ignored by council members and city staff, which he claims is a violation of their code of ethics. It looks like that's a wrap on the forum.
.@JulieEiselt pulled one item from consent: a $2.9M contract with WPTP Brevard Holdings to design the redevelopment of the Charlotte Transportation Center, which John Lewis assures her is for design *options" that they will bring back to council.
Nothing will be finalized re: putting the CTC underground, whether the Blue and/or Silver Line will run through it, etc., with this vote. It's just to get them started on researching design options. (Vote passes 7-2 on party lines)
Moving onto the Unified Development Ordinance, there's a motion to suspend a rule that -- due to the recent lifting of the state of emergency in NC -- prohibits virtual participation in #CLTCC meeting so that Renee Johnson can participate in the UDO vote and tonight's meeting.
City attorney Patrick Baker doesn't recommend council suspend the rule to allow Johnson to participate, as any item council votes on thereafter could potentially be legally challenged in court and/or overturned.
.@JulieEiselt says the next council should have a serious discussion about these rules and how they work outside of a state of emergency because "COVID will be here forever." She doesn't want to suspend the rule tonight because of the concerns raised by Baker.
In case she's not allowed to participate tonight, Renee Johnson sent a statement that @Watlington4CLT just read into the record, in which Johnson stated that she has tested positive for COVID and apologized to her constituents for not being able to attend tonight's meeting.
.@DimpleAjmera agrees with @Watlington4CLT and encourages council to allow Johnson to participate, says it's worth the risk over allowing an entire district to go without representation on a night with such important votes as tonight.
The motion to suspend the rules and allow Johnson to participate fails 6-3, with @DimpleAjmera, @Watlington4CLT and Matt Newton the only Yes votes.
Moving onto the UDO discussion, Ed Driggs says he's regretful that an important document that's been formulated over six years was turned into a social issue (single-family zoning) pitting one group against another. Calls it "inimical to our efforts to build a more just society."
.@Watlington4CLT proposes amendment to UDO that would delay any implementation of new policy that allows duplexes and triplexes in neighborhoods currently zoned for single-family housing until four months AFTER the city adopts an official anti-displacement policy.
Matt Newton says he fully believes the UDO as it is currently drafted will only act to expediate the gentrification that is already occurring throughout Charlotte. He says the most vulnerable neighborhoods to be affected are in east and west Charlotte.
.@FinTechInnov8r says he will support @Watlington4CLT's amendment but emphasizes that any work they're asking to be done around economic impact is what he and others have already been calling for and he doesn't appear to have much confidence that it will get done correctly now.
.@SenatorMGraham speaks in favor of the UDO, stating that "gentrification is not coming, it's here." He says there is work being done to protect "inner city communities" that are vulnerable to displacement and that tonight's vote is "a comma and not a period."
.@Larken says he won't support the proposed amendment because there is no legal standing for the current council to force the next council to do anything, such as approve an anti-displacement strategy by August 2023, which this amendment aims to do.
"This wasn't 11 council members and the Mayor who sat around and decided what we wanted this to look like," says @JulieEiselt. She points out the multiple committees, years of community engagement and countless other folks who have helped formulate the UDO.
Eiselt says she supports "the spirit" of the amendment, but the UDO doesn't go into effect for nine months. But it forces the future council to take a vote, and if they don't it could threaten the implementation of the UDO and for that reason she can't support it.
"When you replace one home with three or four homes, you get more housing. When you get more housing, you can supply more demand. When you better match supply with demand you get more pricing stability," says @BraxtonWinston.
.@BraxtonWinston emphasizes that the UDO does not abolish single-family zoning, it abolishes exclusionary zoning. He says any further delay in passing the UDO "will further extend prime conditions to develop an inequitable city."
Newton: "When you allow developers to upzone by a factor of 2,3, or 4 times w/o them even having to meet the community or comm. representatives and without a mechanism to mandate affordability or home-ownership, it's the developers and investors who win and not the community."
.@DimpleAjmera says she shares the worries of her colleagues who are concerned about gentrification and displacement, but the Charlotte Neighborhood Equity and Stabilization (NEST) Commission's endorsement of the UDO gives her faith in the document and she will vote in support.
The amendment fails, the UDO is approved in a 6-4 vote. (@FinTechInnov8r, @Watlington4CLT, Ed Driggs, and Matt Newton are No votes)
Shawn Heath is now presenting council with an opportunity to keep Peppertree Apartments as naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH) for at least 20 years through city/county subsidy program. At nearly 300 units, it's far larger than any of the city's previous NOAH projects. 
Here's a look at how the $55.8M project would get funding.
The Peppertree apartment complex is located in east Charlotte at the corner of Central Avenue and Kilborne Drive.
Great news for people going through bad news: #CLTCC just updated the city's Sewer Backup Policy to increase the amount the city awards to folks who have experienced sanitary sewer backups on their properties due to blockages in the city sanitary sewer system from $15K to $45K.
Council approves $5M in ARPA funding for the establishment of The Umbrella Center, a multi-agency service center housing agencies and organizations that assist victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, elder and dependent adult abuse, human trafficking, and child abuse.
The Umbrella Center is expected to open no later than September 2024.
Council votes to strengthen the city's Source of Income protections in city-funded properties.
Tonight's vote on social districts will simply allow city to begin process of implementing SDs, but not create any. @Larken says it will be up to the next council to ensure that social districts are implemented in a way that is not detrimental to the residents around them.
The council has heard concerns about public safety around social districts, which would allow for drinking outdoors in certain neighborhoods, and environmental issues, as other municipalities have implemented single-use plastic cups to be used in social districts.
Council votes unanimously to approve an ordinance that will allow for social districts to be created in the city. City manager's office will open a portal to begin receiving feedback from community leaders who would like to see their neighborhood turned into a social district.
Before voting on $6M in annual funding for the arts, @FinTechInnov8r says the original plan for this new funding strategy, which matches private funding of $6M a year for three years, has left council's policy vision behind and been hijacked by the new A&C Advisory Board.
City manager Marcus Jones admits there should have been more transparency and/or concrete rules around how much funding @ASCCharlotte receives. @CLTMayor says that, if there's anything she hears most consistently from her colleagues, it's that ASC is "a problematic institution."
"We were crystal clear that we were supposed to work together to create that policy vision statement, and that was ignored," say @BraxtonWinston. "It was even clear from the advisory board that they did not have clarity on some of council's desires..." (cont.)
"...but instead of the work being done to present clarity between council and the Advisory Board, it was decided that the committee was just going to decide on their own what the council intended."
.@JulieEiselt says that if the Arts & Culture Advisory Board (ACAB) gave the ASC money to pay their debts, she didn't know that at the time and she doesn't support that decision, but she supports the ACAB model as it stands, there just needs to be more communication with #CLTCC.
The motion to approve the $6M in arts funding passes 6-3, with Driggs out of the room and the No votes coming from @BraxtonWinston, @FinTechInnov8r, and @Watlington4CLT.
Council moves into a closed session and that's a wrap.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
