Information Items:
Street-Level Retail at the Arena
Staff Resource: Curt Walton, 704-336-5019 -- cwalton@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Letters of Intent were signed this morning to lease the 8,000 square feet of retail space along the Trade Street side of the arena. Dunkin' Donuts/Baskin Robbins will occupy approximately 1,800 square feet of the space, Matt's Chicago Dog will occupy approximately 2,000 square feet and Red's Carolina BBQ will occupy approximately 4,200 square feet.
The initial lease term for each is 10 years and the first year rents range from $18 per square foot to $25 per square feet, depending on the amount of up fit the space requires. Up fitting the space will begin as soon as leases are signed and the spaces should be occupied in no more than six months. Proceeds from the leases are dedicated to the annual capital maintenance cost for the arena, into which the City and the Charlotte Bobcats contribute $250,000 annually.
Correction: October 10 Public Display of Hanguns Presentation
Staff Resource: Keith Parker, 704-336-3855 -- kparker@ci.charlotte.nc.us
During the October 10 dinner briefing, Chief Darrel Stephens presented information and answered questions regarding the public display of handguns. In his presentation, the Chief said that there were four incidents involving the public display of handguns in the center city in recent weeks.
At that time, the Chief indicated that two of the incidents were reported by officers and two by citizens. After the presentation, the Chief learned that there had been a misunderstanding at the staff meeting where this had been discussed and that all four incidents had actually been reported by police officers.
Staff regrets that the presentation included inaccurate information. The presentation was based on what the Chief believed to be the facts at the time.
NCDOT Review of Subdivision Plats in the ETJ
Staff Resource: Danny Pleasant, 704-336-3879 -- dpleasant@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Over the past three weeks, City staff became aware of a problem with North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) acceptance of streets built through the subdivision process in the City’s extra-territorial jurisdiction (ETJ). This problem temporarily disrupted the ability to record plats. As a result, developers were unable to sell lots; and, streets intended for public maintenance have not been accepted.
Specifically, NCDOT has been signing final plats for subdivision developments with a disclaimer indicating that proposed public streets within those subdivisions would be ineligible for State maintenance. General Statute 136-102.6 requires that streets outside of municipal boundaries are either: (1) private streets labeled as such; or (2) public streets that must be certified on the recorded plat by the NCDOT Division of Highways "as being in accordance with the minimum standards of the Board of Transportation for acceptance of the subdivision street on the State highway system for maintenance."
Therefore, a plat or map for subdivisions in the ETJ must have a certificate of approval by the NCDOT Division of Highways prior to recordation. In addition, the City’s subdivision ordinance requires that subdivision streets in the ETJ be designed to meet or exceed state standards.
The City Manager’s Office asked Charlotte Department of Transportation (CDOT) staff to lead an interdepartmental team to facilitate a resolution to this issue. This team recently met with NCDOT and had a positive meeting. The following are questions raised by City staff at the meeting and actions agreed to by NCDOT (a full summary of the meeting minutes is attached):
What is to be done with the plats that have been recorded with NCDOT’s disclaimer?
NCDOT agreed to allow developers or property owners to petition NCDOT to accept streets within the ETJ for maintenance regardless of any disclaimers that they have placed on the plats in the past. NCDOT will review the petition, evaluate the streets, and accept them for maintenance if they are acceptable.
What can be done to accelerate the review of plats currently under review? (Currently, there are approximately 90 plats in the ETJ currently under review. The City cannot finalize and record these plats until NCDOT certifies they are in compliance with state standards. Before certifying compliance, NCDOT will want to review the plats and the associated subdivision plans. This will cause a delay in plat approvals and may generate additional review comments.) Presently, NCDOT agreed to review each plat currently in queue on a case by case basis for compliance with NCDOT standards and approve those that meet or exceed standards, including exceptions that will allow approval. City staff will work side by side with NCDOT as necessary over the next few weeks to assist them during this intensive review period. Should a street not be acceptable for state approval, NCDOT will provide comments to the developer.
How will we address this issue moving forward?
In the future, NCDOT agreed that they will no longer place disclaimer notes on the plats stating non-compliance with state standards and/or that the streets are not eligible for NCDOT maintenance. NCDOT will either stamp the plats certifying compliance with state standards or disapprove and provide comments to the developer. NCDOT also agreed to start performing concurrent preliminary subdivision plan reviews with the City. The City will not approve preliminary subdivision plans without NCDOT approval.
To help facilitate concurrent reviews, City staff will prepare a comparison of NCDOT and City street standards applied within the ETJ and meet again to agree upon the City standards that are acceptable by NCDOT.
NCDOT staff understands the magnitude and urgency of these issues and agreed to work with the City to resolve them over the next few weeks. City staff will keep Council and the development industry informed as we continue to work with NCDOT and the development community to facilitate a resolution.
USDOT Approved Air Quality Conformity for Charlotte Region
Staff Resources: Norm Steinman, 704-336-3939 -- nsteinman@ci.charlotte.nc.us and Eldewins Haynes, 704-336-7621-- ehaynes@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Last week, the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) forwarded a conformity determination letter stating that the long-range transportation plans for the Mecklenburg-Union, Cabarrus-Rowan and Gaston Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) will conform to the state of North Carolina’s plan for our area to meet the new 8-hour ozone standard. The letter, effective October 1, 2005, allows federal-aid funding of roadway and transit projects to continue throughout the non-attainment area that includes Mecklenburg, Union, Cabarrus, Rowan, Gaston, and Lincoln Counties and the southern portion of Iredell County.
On July 7, 2005, the NC State Board of Transportation made changes to the 2006-2012 Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP). To show the revised TIP will help our area meet the 8-hour ozone standard, the MPOs and RPOs needed to adopt the changes as amendments to their TIPs and long-range transportation plans, as well as to adopt an amended conformity determination. CDOT staff worked with staffs from the MPOs and the RPOs to develop this latest regional, 8-hour conformity document.
This is the third transportation air quality conformity document that we have prepared this year. In April, we prepared, and the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) approved, a conformity document for Mecklenburg County under the previous 1-hour ozone standard. Then, in June, CDOT staff worked with staff from the MPOs and the Lake Norman and Rocky River Rural Planning Organizations (RPOs) to develop a regional, 8-hour conformity document, which was also approved by USEPA.
