Arena Out-Parcel 3
Staff Resource: Curt Walton, 704-336-5019 - cwalton@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Arena Out-Parcel 3 is a 0.30 acre tract of land immediately adjacent to the arena at the corner of Trade and Caldwell Streets. Parcel 3 became available during the final arena design process and the placement of the building on the site.
In June 2005, City Council agreed to sell the property, set the price for the land at $2.1 million and authorized staff to solicit proposals for private sale of the property with no development restrictions other than those imposed by UMUD. Staff has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit potential purchasers of the property. Proposals will be received by the end of April.
The processes for the arena out-parcels have gone through Council's Economic Development and Planning Committee, including the recommendation for Parcel 3 to establish the price at $2.1 million. Staff will review the proposals received through this RFP process and bring a recommendation back to the Economic Development and Planning Committee later this spring.
April 3 Council Workshop
Staff Resource: Julie Burch, 704-336-3187 - jburch@ci.charlotte.nc.us
A quarterly policy retreat was originally scheduled for Monday night, April 3. Policy retreats have been held with past Councils to provide time for in-depth discussion and early guidance to staff on a developing policy issue. Staff did not identify any topics for discussion in this format for April. We have scheduled a regular Council workshop for this night instead. Topics will be: the Charlotte Housing Authority business model, the Transportation Action Plan and a follow-up report on the results of hosting the CIAA tournament. The Citizens' Forum will follow. The meeting will start as usual at 5:15 pm in Room 267.
Charlotte Regional Partnership
Staff Resource: Tom Flynn, 704-432-1396 - tflynn@ci.charlotte.nc.us
The Charlotte Regional Partnership is restructuring their board and committee structure to strengthen volunteer involvement in the Partnership's activities and program of work. Attached is a letter from Ronnie Bryant, President and CEO, and the Executive Summary explaining the proposed changes.
The changes would take effect in June 2006. The proposed changes do not affect the City's representation on the Board of Directors. Council member Lassiter, who serves on the Board of Directors, would also serve on the Executive Governing Board.
Police Response to Latin American Coalition Rally
Staff Resource: Darrel Stephens, 704-336-2337 - dstephens1@cmpd.org
On Monday March 27, the Charlotte Observer published a complaint indicating that CMPD was unaware of the Latin American Coalition Rally held in Marshall Park on March 25 and did not provide an adequate police presence.
CMPD received the Notice of Intent to Picket from the rally organizer on March 17. The Latin American Coalition estimated the number of participants at less than 1,000 people. Notification of the event was forwarded to the Central Division Captain and members of CMPD's Criminal Intelligence Division. The Criminal Intelligence Division received no information that there were any issues of concern regarding the rally. A similar event had been held in Marshall Park on March 4, 2006 with approximately 100 people attending.
Based on the attendance projection, the lack of any identified issues, and no history of problems at the prior event, the Central Division assigned three bike officers to monitor the rally. There were also eight Central Division line officers available for calls for service who could respond should the need arise. There were approximately 100 participants in Marshall Park when the rally began. At approximately 3:15 pm, a citizen came to the Law Enforcement Center to complain that thousands of people were in Marshall Park. The on-duty supervisor for the Central Division and the Captain from the Criminal Intelligence Division were contacted and both immediately responded to Marshall Park to evaluate the situation. They found that a large number of participants were gathering at the park and immediately requested additional marked units to assist with the traffic. There were ultimately 16 officers assigned to the event, including the three bike officers who were originally assigned to the rally. The officers were assigned to specific intersections to assist with vehicle and pedestrian traffic. A detective from the Criminal Intelligence Division was brought in to monitor the event and the uptown camera system was monitored as well.
At the peak of the event, the crowd was estimated to be 8,000 people; however, the crowd was very fluid as people entered and exited the park. The majority of the participants were families and the crowd was orderly. There were no arrests or enforcement action during the event. When the event ended at approximately 6:00 pm, the crowd dispersed quickly and all officers had cleared from the area by 6:20 pm.
After the reports of inadequate police presence, organizers of the event contacted News 14, asking them to report that they had no issues with the Police Department regarding their handling of the event and that the complaint had not come from them.
Charlotte Marathon and Major Event Planning Review
Staff Resource: Emily Westbrook, 704-432-2076 - ewestbrook@ci.charlotte.nc.us
In January, City staff began a review of the its procedures for handling major event requests and implementation in an effort to lessen the impact on police services and to better communicate event information to the public. We have made progress and will be meeting with two neighborhood associations in April. We intend to make recommendations to Council's Community Safety Committee on April 27.
Last week, staff informed the Community Safety Committee that we needed to make a decision on the 2006 Thunder Road Marathon proposed for Saturday, December 9. We indicated that we intend to approve the permit, contingent upon some alterations to the route to lessen the impact on certain neighborhoods and a better communication plan to residents and businesses along the route. The Committee and the Police Department support approval of the permit request.
Early approval will allow the City to begin planning and reduces the likelihood that we will over commit City resources in the weeks leading up to and immediately following the marathon. The police department supports this decision.
