Agenda Notes:
Agenda Item #45: Children's Theatre Property on Morehead St.
Staff Resource: Curt Walton, 704-336-5019
In October 2005, Children's Theatre will move from its existing location on East Morehead Street to ImaginOn on East Sixth Street. The City owns the land and building on East Morehead Street and the Children's Theatre has leased the space for $1 per year.
In April 2001, City Council authorized the Right of First Refusal to purchase the property upon Children's Theatre's departure to Morehead Properties, Inc., which owns the property adjacent to the City's property. The right of first refusal requires the City to offer the property to Morehead Properties for appraised fair market value prior to placing it on the market or accepting an offer to purchase the property from another buyer. A new appraisal of the property was conducted earlier this year and a value of $1,116,900 was established. Morehead Properties has offered to purchase the property for the full appraised amount, so staff has begun the process of selling the property to Morehead Properties, with closing to occur in October 2005. Council designated the proceeds from the sale of the property to the arena financing model in 2003.
Morehead Properties requested the City, as the current owner of the property, to allow them to file a petition to rezone the property prior to the sale. Doing so avoids an approximate delay of 6 months in re-development of the property after closing. City staff concurred with the request. Morehead Properties has paid all costs associated with the rezoning. Petition No. 2005-90, which is Agenda Item #45, is scheduled for a public hearing at your June 20 Zoning meeting. The petition requests a change in zoning from O-2 (Office) to MUDD-CD (Mixed-Use Development District-conditional). The request is consistent with the Central District Plan.
There will be two additional actions relative to this property on upcoming agendas: a decision on Petition # 2005-90 will be on your July Zoning agenda and adoption of a resolution to sell the property to Morehead Properties, Inc. will be on your agenda in October 2005.
Information Items:
Transfer of Zoning Services
Staff Resources: Stanley D. Watkins, 704-336-3796, Debra Campbell, 704-336-2671 and Jim Schumacher, 704-336-3656
Effective July 1, 2005 City Zoning Services (zoning administration, enforcement and plan review) will transfer from Mecklenburg County to the City of Charlotte. The transfer of these services was authorized by City Council on April 25, 2005 and by the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners on April 19, 2005. The zoning responsibilities will be shared by three key business units - Neighborhood Development, Planning and Engineering & Property Management. The following zoning responsibilities will transfer to the City:
- Zoning appeals and variances
- New commercial zoning plan review and inspections
- General zoning enforcement
- Residential and sign permits
The City’s goal for the first year is to maintain current service levels as we work to improve existing business processes and identify service enhancements. Information will be sent to key stakeholders to provide information about the transfer of services.
North Carolina Debt Setoff Update
Staff Resource: Greg Gaskins, 704-336-5885
The City Manager's Report dated February 23, 2004 informed the Council that Finance had begun participation in the North Carolina Debt Setoff Program. Finance adopted a gradual implementation approach to ensure that debts submitted under the program were accurate and citizen's identities were properly verified. In January 2005, CDOT also began utilizing the debt setoff program for ParkIt, SafeLight, and SafeSpeed citations. Year-to-date, a total of $39,566 has been collected as a result of the program, including $34,328 by CDOT and $5,238 by Finance. Increased collections may be anticipated as more City delinquent receivables are added to the program.
CharMeck 311 Go-Live Update
Staff Resource: Saskia Thompson, 704-336-4947
Staff is in the final stretch of preparing for the launch of 311 on July 5 and a number of activities are occurring in parallel. Over the next two weeks, call centers in Solid Waste, Transportation, and the Customer Service and Information Center will move out of the CMGC to the new site. Staff from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities, Non-Emergency Police Services and the Tax Office will also relocate to the new site and phone lines associated with each of these departments will be redirected. Recorded information will indicate that the caller has reached CharMeck 311 after the lines have been switched. We are communicating with the public about these changes.
