Calendar:
(See Below)
Monday, November 15
12:00 pm - Agenda Briefing, Room 280
1:30 pm - Council Budget Committee Meeting, CH-14. AGENDA: Review Draft Budget Development Process; Review Budget Prioritization Option
3:30 pm - Governmental Affairs Committee Meeting, Room 266. AGENDA: Discussion of Proposed Staff Legislative Recommendations for 2005 General Assembly Long Session; Update on Process with Holland & Knight for 2005 Federal Initiatives
5:00 pm - Council Manager Dinner, CH-14
6:00 pm - Zoning Meeting, Meeting Chamber
Tuesday, November 16
9:30 am - Retreat Planning Committee Meeting, 15th Floor Small Conference Room
12:00 pm - Housing and Neighborhood Development Committee Meeting, CH-14 AGENDA: Gentrification - Final Report; 2004 Quality of Life Study
Wednesday, November 17
5:30 pm - MTC Meeting, Room 267
7:00 pm - MUMPO Meeting, Room 267
Thursday, November 18
12:00 pm - Restructuring Government Committee Meeting, CH-14. AGENDA: Public Art; Multi-Family Garbage Collection
5:00 pm - Community Policing Retreat, Police Academy. If you have not already done so, please RSVP to Mindy Levine by Tuesday, November 16.
Agenda Notes:
Zoning Dinner Agenda: Connectivity and 2005 Annexation
Staff Resource: Julie Burch, 704-336-3187
As a result of pending rezoning petition # 2004-55 (Daniel Levine, petitioner), Council members have asked several questions about the City's connectivity policy. We are adding this topic to Monday night's zoning dinner agenda.
Information about the adopted subdivision ordinance text amendment on connectivity is contained in a separate item below. At the direction of Council, the Transportation Committee is discussing the issue of connectivity as part of the effort to develop a Transportation Action Plan. The Transportation Action Plan will establish broader transportation policies to enhance mobility and accessibility in the community.
The proposed 2005 annexation is already scheduled for discussion Monday evening at dinner.
In your packet today is additional information and staff recommendation about the proposed annexation of the Mallard Creek Church East area. Council action on the proposed 2005 annexation areas will be requested at the November 22 business meeting.
2001 Subdivision Ordinance Connectivity Text Amendment
Staff Resource: Linda Beverly, 704-336-5719
Considering the pending rezoning petition # 2004-55, Daniel Levine, and questions raised related to connectivity, staff wishes to clarify the process used to develop the subdivision ordinance text amendment language and intent of the adopted changes.
Council discussed Smart Growth principles and strategies such as connectivity at the February 2001 Annual Retreat. On March 26, 2001, as follow-up to the retreat, Council adopted the principles and a specific action step to develop a Subdivision Ordinance text amendment to add connectivity standards and eliminate and/or reduce the building of new cul-de-sacs and unconnected neighborhoods.
In preparing the text amendment, staff utilized volunteers from the Subdivision Steering Committee as a resource. The Subdivision Steering Committee, established in 1988, is a volunteer working group of staff and development industry professionals that meet monthly in an open meeting to discuss technical and process issues related to the subdivision review and approval process. City Council has periodically requested the Subdivision Steering Committee review proposed text amendments. The sub-committee established to help develop the connectivity text amendment called themselves the Turn-Around Committee.
Staff prepared the text amendment and filed it on May 17, 2001. The new language promoted vehicular connectivity by requiring a street system design of interconnected streets, restricting and limiting the use of cul-de-sacs, requiring multiple connections and more than one point of ingress and egress. It eliminated language that prevented through traffic movement between new and existing developments while establishing new requirements to discourage cut-through traffic, disperse traffic impacts and reduce speeding. The new language also had standards that allow the flexibility not to require connections when there are circumstances such as incompatible land uses present.
Notifications and advertisements were processed in the same manner as all text amendments and rezonings. The public hearing was held on September 17, 2001. The Zoning Committee of the Planning Commission made their unanimous decision to recommend approval on September 24, 2001. City Council unanimously voted to adopt the text amendment on October 17, 2001.
Mr. Levine's rezoning petition seeks to rezone his property from an Industrial to an Office/Business zoning classification. A compatible land use/zoning relationship is one of the determining criteria for approving new road connections under the subdivision ordinance connectivity standards. Although to date there have been many questions and discussions related to various development scenarios and possible street connections, the requirements of the subdivision ordinance are not applicable until formal subdivision plans are submitted to Planning in accordance with the Charlotte Subdivision Ordinance. At that time the specific development plans will be reviewed for compliance with all of the ordinance standards and requirements.
Staff will be available at the Zoning Dinner Meeting to answer any further questions.
Information Items:
South Corridor Light Rail Project Update
Staff Resource: John Muth, 704-336-3373
The South Corridor Light Rail Project (SCLRP) is preparing for construction and procuring contracts for Charlotte's first-ever rapid transit line. Demolition and asset acquisitions have already started and are on schedule and on budget. Two construction bids recently received by
CATS came in higher than expected, primarily due to sharp price increases in steel and concrete and a labor shortage in the local construction industry.
- Light Rail Vehicle Maintenance facility: $22 million budget vs. $29 million initial bid
- Road bed, bridges and track work: $93 million budget vs. $123 million initial bid
These bids are still under negotiations and will go down. CATS maintains its commitment to stay within the established $398.7 million budget and schedule.
We have some concerns that local media will inaccurately report project cost overruns. Such reports would be inaccurate because they would reflect an impact before the final, lower cost of the contract is established and because they would isolate this bid out of context of the total project costs. It is important to emphasize these points:
- The final cost of these contracts has yet to be established.
- There are cost savings on other contracts that will offset increases.
- As with all construction projects, a contingency fund was established at the beginning of the project to help absorb unexpected costs.
While steel price increases were anticipated, the magnitude of the increases significantly exceeded all projections. A Project Risk Assessment conducted by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) with CATS in June 2004 indicated that the projected increases in steel prices would be $1.5-2 million. The Risk Assessment found that the Project had an 82% probability of coming in at or under the $398.7 million budget.
To bring costs in line with budget, CATS is taking the following actions:
- Working with the low bidder to reduce contract amounts
- Assessing elements of each contract to determine areas that can be refined while still maintaining the safety and reliability of the light rail service.
These steps are in addition to measures CATS has previously taken to offset rising costs, including:
- Reduced the length of platforms at light rail stations
- Reconfigured the joint light rail and trolley platform
- Consolidated power substations along the line.
CATS staff is working closely with FTA staff to keep the project moving forward. Mayor McCrory has talked with the FTA Administrator Jennifer Dorn. The FTA Administrator indicated the Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) is moving through the process as expected. Of similar projects that have pending FFGAs, the South Corridor Light Rail Project has received favorable ratings and favorable cost-effectiveness numbers. Other contracts and agreements already committed by CATS are currently on schedule and on or under budget:
- Light Rail Vehicle Purchase: On budget and on schedule
- Demolition contract: $75,000 under budget and on schedule
- Utility relocations: $2 million under budget and on schedule
- Insurance: $500,000 under budget
- Real Estate acquisitions: On budget and on schedule.
The South Corridor Light Rail Project is approximately 10 miles long, running south from Uptown Charlotte to Interstate 485, with 15 stations along the light rail alignment. The system will operate on separate tracks within the existing railroad right-of-way.
Stonehaven Neighborhood Sidewalks
Staff Resource: Vivian Coleman 704-353-0481
This memorandum responds to four questions raised by Council member Mumford regarding sidewalk facilities in the Stonehaven neighborhood.
What would be the cost of completing the sidewalk system on at least one side of Thermal Road and Boyce Road between Monroe and Sardis? Staff determined where there are existing
sidewalks in the neighborhood and estimates that it would cost approximately $700,000 to complete sidewalks on one side of sections of Thermal Road, Sebrena Place, Terrace Drive and Boyce Road to accommodate pedestrian travel between Sardis Road and Monroe Road.
How would these sidewalks rank in the current sidewalk program? Thermal Road ranks 241 out of 611 sidewalk requests, Boyce Road ranks 310 out of 611 sidewalk requests and Terrace Drive ranks 442 out of 611 sidewalk requests. A request for sidewalks for Sebrena Place has not been requested and therefore has not been ranked.
How are collector streets, such as Thermal Road, considered in the current Sidewalk Program? Sidewalks requested on collectors are ranked on the Non-Thoroughfare Sidewalk Request List. Requests originate from citizens and are evaluated by staff based on the sidewalk ranking criteria. There are fourteen (14) criteria that include factors such as traffic volumes, proximity to schools/libraries and parks, proximity to transit, and length of the sidewalk request. When requests rank at the top of the list, they are programmed for design and construction.
Are there many collector streets without sidewalks? Staff estimates that of the City's 636 miles of collector streets, there are over 220 miles of collector streets with no sidewalks on either side of the street.
The City's sidewalk program allocates approximately $5M a year to constructing sidewalks on both thoroughfares and local/collector streets. The $5M is generally allocated equally to both thoroughfares and local/collector streets. If some of the Stonehaven neighborhood sidewalks were advanced ahead of other sidewalk projects, higher ranked sidewalk projects would be delayed.
Economic Outlook Conference - December 20
Staff Resource: Tom Flynn, 704-432-1396
The Charlotte Chamber will hold its third Annual Economic Outlook Conference on Monday, December 20 at 12:30 pm at the Marriott City Center. The conference will feature Ken Lewis
(Chair of Bank of America); Ken Thompson (Chair of Wachovia); Paul Anderson (Chair of Duke Energy); and, Jeffrey Lacker (President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond). UNCC Chancellor Jim Woodward will present the first annual Charlotte Regional Business Index, developed as a joint project between the Urban Institute and the Charlotte Chamber.
Please call Angela Grier, Economic Development Division, at 704-432-1395 if you would like to attend.
Utilities Earn National Excellence in Management Recognition
Staff Resource: Doug Bean, 704-391-5070
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities has been selected to receive the Excellence in Management Recognition from the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies (AMSA).
The recognition from this national wastewater industry group acknowledges Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities for implementing progressive management tactics during recent years that include strategic planning, optimized operations and maintenance practices, effective financial and budgetary practices, win-win partnerships and watershed-based activities. Utilities was also selected based on the high performance of its five wastewater treatment plants as well as other criteria including safety awards, public education and pollution prevention activities.
The award will be presented at AMSA's winter conference in San Antonio, Texas in February 2005.
Urban Land Institute Award
Staff Resource: Tom Flynn, 704-432-1396
The Urban Land Institute selected First Ward Place/The Garden District as one of ten winners of their 2004 Awards for Excellence. The ULI Award of Excellence recognizes leadership, contribution to the community, innovation, public/private partnership, response to societal need and financial success.
Report on Sprawl in Fifteen Cities
Staff Resource: Steve Patterson, 704-336-8308
A recent growth study showing that Charlotte had the worse case of sprawl of 15 cities is a little misleading. The study was conducted by Northwest Environment Watch, based in Seattle.
The study had a regional focus that included Cabarrus, Gaston, Lincoln, Rowan, Mecklenburg and Union Counties in North Carolina and York County in South Carolina. These counties were included in our previous Metropolitan Area as defined in 1990.
The study concludes that Portland area land use policies were successful in minimizing sprawl between 1990 and 2000 for their eight county region. This was in part due to greater Portland's urban growth policies-particularly Oregon's 30-year-old land use laws and Washington's more recent Growth Management Act. The study also mentions that it is more difficult to control sprawl in areas with abundant rainfall and Portland was able to control sprawl despite the fact that it had the fourth highest amount of annual rainfall of all of the cities in the study. The Charlotte Region ranked third in rainfall.
Charlotte is combating sprawl by promoting the centers and corridors concept that directs higher density growth to transit station areas and corridors. The City's General Development Policies will link higher density rezoning and subdivision approvals to surrounding complementary land uses.
The City is also an active participant in two major regional initiatives, SEQL (Sustainable Environment for Quality of Life) and the Regional Planning Alliance. Both of these initiatives are aimed at sustainable growth and quality of life strategies for Charlotte and the surrounding fifteen county bi-state region.
A copy of the study is attached.
