Notes from the Davidson Commissioner Chat at the Egg

Melissa Atherton attended the "Commissioner Chat" at The Egg in Davidson on Monday Morning.  Here's a link to the video snd the notes she took.

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● Robert Bullard will give his keynote lecture, “Climate Change as a Human Right: Why Equity Matters,” on Tuesday, 1/23, 7 pm, at Duke Performance Hall on Davidson College Campus. Bullard will also be at an informal drop-in chat on Wednesday, 1/24, 10:15 am, in the second floor lobby of Wall Academic Center at Davidson College.

● Davidson BOC’s Retreat will be held locally Thursday, 1/25, and Friday, 1/26, at River Run Country Club. The retreat is open to the public. Commissioner Jane Campbell said keeping the retreat in town will save $5,000 and create the opportunity for transparency. Commissioner Jim Fuller stated that the board is unanimous in their desire for positive, transparent communication.

● A lawsuit has been filed on Davidson’s Griffith Street Hotel decision. The board will discuss this issue in a closed session on Tuesday, 1/23.

● The vacant storefronts on Main Street have to maintain appearance guidelines. The owner’s corporation is reportedly looking to fill the vacancies with “high-end” restaurants.

● A citizen stressed urgency in protecting the nineteen acres of town-owned land on Beaty Street. The BOC is reportedly looking for a different level of public input. Commissioner David Sitton stated that this is a high priority for him. Commissioner Campbell stressed the need for public discourse and “out-of-the-box” ideas, whereas the Parks and Recreation process could potentially take 15-20 years.

● The Town of Davidson is spending $20,000 on the Mobility Plan. Citizen concerns included sidewalks and safety issues on Watson, Delburg, Beaty and Shearer Road. Mayor Knox recognized that much of the traffic in town is due to people passing through on their way to other towns. He also stated that Davidson does not have three major north-south road options like Mooresville and Cornelius (I-77, Statesville Road and Old Statesville Road) because we do not have Statesville Road. Knox acknowledged that he does not think the Potts-Sloan-Beaty connection will solve our traffic problems. The Mobility Plan will not include safety improvements for bicyclists on Shearer Road.

● Commissioner Sitton is actively advocating for the Comprehensive Plan to start earlier than summer of 2018. He stated that Davidson has a significant infrastructure problem.

● A citizen requested improvements to the public records request process.

● Town Manager Jamie Justice said there is no public input session scheduled for the Potts Development at this time. He stated that the developer, Crescent Communities, will have to present their plan to deal with the recommendations made in Kimley-Horn’s Transportation Impact Analysis (TIA). A citizen questioned why Crescent is being allowed to include NCDOT Project U-5873 in their TIA, but exclude the project/road from their open space calculations. Another citizen questioned why the developer would be allowed to make payments in lieu, rather than improving the intersections. Justice replied that the NCDOT plan has not been finalized yet and the developer only has to mitigate their portion of the total impact.

● A citizen praised the new board and requested continued “healing” after the election.